Not many players have had the same college football journey that Eyabi Okie-Anoma has had.
Okie-Anoma played for five different programs during his five-year college career. The former five-star prospect played in eight games for Alabama in 2018 and was named to the SEC All-Freshman team before being dismissed from Alabama and then dismissed from Houston shortly after. Both for undisclosed reasons.
After not playing in 2019 and sitting out 2020 because of transfer rules, Okie-Anoma spent the 2021 campaign with UT Martin, where he finished with 36 total tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, and six sacks. His play and potential landed him at Michigan, where he made two starts and had 18 tackles, 6 TFLs, and four sacks as the Wolverines made it to the College Football Playoff.
And in his final season, Okie-Anoma found himself playing for Charlotte, following Biff Poggi from Michigan. Poggi was the associate head coach at Michigan before being named the head coach at Charlotte. Okie-Anoma was voted First Team All-AAC in his lone season with the 49ers.
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Untapped Potential
There’s a reason that Okie-Anoma played for two of the premier programs in the FBS.
The dude can play.
Not only that, but he has all the tools to be successful on Sundays. Okie-Anoma is built like a traditional EDGE at 6-foot-5 and 244 pounds, and he has the frame to continue to get bigger and stronger to go with his length.
Okie-Anoma also has excellent burst off the line of scrimmage, and when put together with his strength, he can land a mean first blow to an offensive lineman and overwhelm whoever is on the other side of him, especially with his relentless motor:
The Baltimore native has shown he has moves to lean on when he’s not bulldozing OL. He has great footwork and athleticism to make life difficult for whoever’s trying to block him. He just needs to become more consistent and aware of knowing when to use those moves.
Okie-Anoma can also stunt and twist effectively to open up space for his teammates while garnering a lot of attention.
Overcoming Past
The worst part about Okie-Anoma’s draft profile isn’t what happens on the field, but it’s what has happened to him off of it that will keep NFL teams uninterested. However, he showed some maturity in the past few seasons after those struggles early in his career.
One thing that can hurt Okie-Anoma on the field is his motor can sometimes cause him to over-pursue. This has been the case against play action as he’ll leave the edge or the flat wide open for the QB to make a play with his legs or complete a short, easy pass.
Eyabi Okie-Anoma Draft Projection
There are certainly parts of Okie-Anoma’s game that can be polished, but he has raw potential that could eventually lead him to being a big-time contributor in the NFL.
Because of his off-the-field history, however, it’s likely he’ll be drafted much later than he could be. Okie-Anoma will be a Day 3 selection, but which round all depends on how much faith an organization has in him.
