Dallas Cowboys Draft: 10 Edge Rushers for the Cowboys
Charles Omenihu, Texas
What’s Good: Size, Hand Usage, Burst, Strength, Versatility
What Ain’t Good: Indecisiveness, Run Defense, Inconsistency
The three noticeable “flaws” about Omenihu are all interrelated. His instincts especially in the run game aren’t as good as some other edge rushers in this class; include Omenihu’s usage in the Texas defense and it should come as no surprise as to why he’s as indecisive.
Omenihu was asked to do a variety of things. He took on double teams as a 1 technique, he shot through the B gap as a 5 technique edge rusher and Orlando threw him as a wide 9 rusher. The issue with this usage is each position demands different movement. Omenihu didn’t have the positional consistency as other players in this draft had.
But even when being thrown around a lot, he was a surprisingly good edge rusher. As mentioned, he’s really effective rushing through the B gap. He also has ridiculous burst for someone who is 6’5″ and 280 pounds. I should also mention he has 36 INCH ARMS! (I’m not kidding, the NFL and the Senior Bowl recorded that number)
His burst allows him to beat tackles and guards off the line of scrimmage. He can take his tackle outside, on occasion running around enough to land strip sacks. In addition, he uses arms to swim past interior linemen or to push them back into the quarterback.
Omenihu would be more effective if he did one thing more consistently, reduce his pad level. Too often he’ll stand straight up and try to bull rush or fight off a block and almost every time it’s ineffective. When he has lower leverage, he will throw offensive linemen all over the place.
I didn’t find that a serious issue because that is something that can be fixed as it is a matter of inconsistency and indecisiveness.
Where does he fit?:
He is perfect for the Cowboys! Omenihu played in a weird 3-3-5 defense at Texas and he played better when he was the outside rusher. In the NFL he is going to succeed in a 4-3 or 4-2-5 defense. As long as there are at least 4 defensive linemen on the field, he will be useful.
He’s big enough to face tackles and he’s got the burst to be disruptive against really good tackles. I mean, he exposed Cody Ford several times when Texas played Oklahoma. In Dallas, he could line up where Tyrone does allowing Crawford to move to 3 technique. I’m no genius but it seems the Cowboys like seeing Tyrone Crawford play 3 technique. Stats also suggest it wouldn’t be a bad move, just look at his Sports Reference page.
Should he be available at 58, the Cowboys should look to select another Longhorn in the second round. He has the versatility to move around but he could be a really solid contributor to the Cowboys by simply lining outside as a 5 technique. He won’t be forced to take on double teams like he did in Texas, so that should be good right?