Vikings selected Minnesota EDGE Esezi Otomewo with the No. 165 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Otomewo (6’5/280) spent his first two seasons rotating between three tech and edge, moving to the interior on passing downs. He moved primarily to edge as a junior and started all 20 games in his final two seasons while earning Honorable Mention All-Big Ten recognition. He never put up the kind of standout production you’d like to see when evaluating an edge player, posting just 5.5 TFLs and four sacks over his final two campaigns. However, he has the frame to be a mauler if his game can be refined, and his motor and effort are without question. A knee injury kept him from performing offseason testing, so we only have the tape to go on. He’s raw and needs to enhance his pass-rushing toolbox, as he relies on beating his opponent to the spot off the line rather than out-maneuvering them with his move set. Though he’s going to be a project who will need to be coached up to reach his potential, you can’t teach the kind of body and motor that Otomewo possesses.
