Cleveland Browns select DE Emmanuel Ogbah
By Thomas Moore
The Cleveland Browns added to the defense by selecting Oklahoma State defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah with their second-round pick.
The Cleveland Browns opened the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft by selecting Emmanuel Ogbah, a defensive end from Oklahoma State.
Ogbah played in every game for the Cowboys as a redshirt freshman and tied for the team lead with four sacks. He moved into the starting lineup as a sophomore and won the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year with 11 sacks and 17 tackles for loss.
He was the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year as a junior after posting a conference-high 13 sacks.
The Browns may be looking at Ogbah to help improve one of the league’s worst run defenses as, according to his draft profile at NFL.com, Ogbah is:
"Able to absorb contact and play through it. Tough for linemen to redirect and is too much for tight ends one-on-one against the run. Some of the most power hand slaps you will find in college football. Able to brush away a weak punch with ease. At times, flashes unusual ability to trim the edge with power over speed. Uses power and a late rip move to win around corner. Plus speed-to-power rusher who created instant bull rush movement. Has power to win at the point of attack and capture the neutral zone while posting consistent production. Has posted a full sack or more in 16 of his last 21 games and finished 2015 with 17.5 tackles for losses. Has played both end positions, bumped inside and plays with a hand up and down."
Teams have been divided over Ogbah, especially because some perceived him as a player who takes off plays. But there may be a reason for that, according to The Oklahoman:
"Game film shows lapses in Ogbah’s motor, but consider the workload. The OSU defense faced 1,004 total snaps last season. That’s 105 more than Joey Bosa at Ohio State, 163 more than Kevin Dodd at Clemson, and 181 more than Noah Spence at Eastern Kentucky — all players projected ahead of Ogbah — in the same number of games. Inconsistency is easier to spot when subjected to so many snaps."
"Then there was Ogbah’s Sugar Bowl finale. He squared off against a likely top-five pick in Ole Miss offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil and finished with just three tackles and one pass breakup. However, just a few weeks earlier at Texas Tech, Ogbah tallied seven tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack and two quarterback hurries across Le’Raven Clark — a three-time All-Big 12 selection slated as a first- or second-round pick."
Barring any trades, the Browns will be back on the clock in the third round where they hold three picks: No. 65, No. 76 and No. 77.