Player: Ickey Ekwonu

School: North Carolina State

Height and Weight: 6’4”, 310

Combine Results:

• 40: 4.93
• Bench: DNP
• Broad Jump: 9’
• Vertical Jump: 29”
• 3 Cone: 7.82
• 20 Yard Shuttle: 4.73
• Other Notes: Ekwonu weighed in at about 10 lbs lighter than his playing weight. In terms of the testing Ekwonu was either right around the middle of the pack of the lineman or slightly above. The one thing he tested fairly high in for the lineman was the 40 yard dash. Ickey ran a 4.93 which is pretty good for a guy of his size. I also found out that he was apparently a finalist for the award for best interior offensive lineman. I’m not quite sure how he did that as a starting tackle, but it helps support my take that he should consider a move to guard. In terms of the drills, he looked pretty good, I don’t know that he had the best day though. It probably solidifies his spot in the top 5; a good pro day may create more of an argument for the first overall pick though.

Strengths: Run blocking, pass blocking to the outside, speed/agility to get out in front of plays(pitches, screens), physicality

Weaknesses: Kick slide technique(arms are low/at side), blocking technique(overextend center of gravity), power/inside rushers

Projected Draft Day: Day 1

Player Comparison: Ereck Flowers

Player Summary: Ekwonu is a prospect I heard a lot of hype about, and quite frankly I’m just not as impressed as everyone else. Is he a top 5 or 10 player in this class? Consensus would say yes, but right off the bat I noticed a lot of red flags. The first red flag was that when he kick slides in pass protection his hands are typically by his side or very low. He waits almost too long to shoot his hands into the chest of the rusher. While still talking about pass protection another thing I noticed is that when they rush his inside shoulder, if he does not have help he gets beat pretty bad. Just generally it looked like he struggled more with power rushers and bull rushing more than the speed rushers. The other big issue I noticed with him is that in both pass protection and run protection he can tend to overextend his upper body and throw off his center of gravity. In run blocking the other issue I noticed is that he can tend to make contact with his shoulder first more often than not when down blocking.

In terms of the positives, overall Ekwonu seemed like a fairly strong pass blocker especially when keeping everything head up or to his outside shoulder. He is able to stay with his man and push him out of the play. I thought that Ekwonu showed much more as a run blocker than he did as a pass blocker. He was able to get to the second level with ease, and cleared big holes for the running back when the play came his way. Ekwonu also did a nice job pulling front and backside to get out in front of outside plays like screens and pitches. Overall, Ekwonu seems to be a nice balance of physicality, power, and speed with some minor technique things to clean up.

Some of you may think to yourself why is Ekwonu being compared to one of the many Giants draft busts? The answer is I saw a lot of Flowers’ big issues in Ekwonu such as kick sliding with his hands at his side. That is one huge reason why Flowers failed at being an NFL tackle. I think that Ekwonu is a more athletic and faster version of Flowers; however, much like Flowers I can see a scenario in which Ekwonu gets drafted high and makes a move to guard and finds his home there and excels in the league. Based on the skills that I saw in Ekwonu, guard seems like a better fit for him in my opinion, but either way he should step in day one for whoever drafts him and start as well as make an impact right away.