Player: Olu Oluwatimi
School: Michigan
Measurables:
- Height: 6’2.5” (NFL Combine)
- Weight: 309 (NFL Combine)
- 40: 5.38 (NFL Combine)
- 10 Yard Split: 1.86 (NFL Combine)
- Bench: 29 (NFL Combine)
- Vertical Jump: 29” (NFL Combine)
- Broad Jump: 9’2” (NFL Combine)
- 3 Cone: DNP
- 20 Yard Shuttle: DNP
Graded Offensive Line Traits:
- First-Level Run Blocking: 8/10
- Second-Level Run Blocking: 6.5/10
- Pass Blocking: 7.25/10
- Blitz/Stunt Pickup: 5.5/10
- Pulling(if applicable): 7/10
- Footwork: 5.5/10
- Hands: 7/10
- Initial Contact: 6.5/10
Prospect Grade: 53.25/80; 66.6%- Great starter with the potential to be top tier or elite starter.
Projected Draft Day: Round 3-4
Player Comparison: Shades of Ryan Jensen
Player Summary:
Oluwatimi is a prospect that isn’t really getting the love he deserves. I think it’s because of how deep this year’s center class is. I don’t know if we’ve ever seen a class of centers this deep and this talented. Oluwatimi could’ve been ranked and taken higher in a different year, but he probably falls this year due to who else came out. He’s a 2022 Consensus All-American as well as the Outland Trophy(Best IOL Award) and Rimington Trophy(Best Center Award) winner. I remember Eisen and Jeremiah talking about Oluwatimi at the Combine. I believe it was Eisen that asked why Oluwatimi wasn’t ranked higher as a prospect despite all the awards and honors. Jeremiah decided he was going to answer in a way that made him sound smarter and better than everyone else. He basically commented that those honors and things are voted on by the media and that they don’t really understand what makes a good prospect or something along those lines. I can’t remember exactly what he said but I remember thinking to myself like did he really just say that?
Oluwatimi is on the smaller side for a lineman, he doesn’t have crazy athleticism, and he’s not a flashy player on tape that you could make a highlight reel around. However, he’s tough, he knows what he has to do and most of the time gets the job done. He was also the anchor of Michigan’s offensive line that won the Joe Moore Award(although some believe it shouldn’t have been Michigan). Long story short, he’s reliable and gets the job done and that’s all you can really ask of a lineman.
When you turn on the tape one of the first things you notice about him is that securing and dominating the first level is the priority. A lot of the time he will not climb to the second level until kind of late in the play, if at all. Typically when he does hit second level defenders they’ve already scraped or filled in the hole making his life easier to make the block. If he does climb to the second level early he does have a bit of a tendency to reach and grab for defenders, but he’s pretty good at securing blocks there. Another thing is that Oluwatimi is pretty good with the angles he takes and turning/moving defenders to create holes in the run game. He pulls and is capable of it, although he didn’t do it too much at Michigan. The final note I have is that his lateral movement needs to be coached up and worked on.