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Sonny Odogwu

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troycbullock

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I have a passion for evaluating OL so bare with me on this post. But I have seen an emergence in Sonny Odogwu this spring and it could be why the coaches seem t be giving him a shot. Though he was not rated and lightly recruited, I was enamored with his size. I am a believer that if a kid has size and passion, he can learn to play OL. No knock on OL because besides the QB, I think it is the most important position. OL in my opinion requires skill and more technique, size, smarts and passion. Techniques can be taught skills are more natural so if a player has size, passion and smarts, I believe he is capable at excelling at the position. With all this being said, Odogwu definitely has the size, smarts but lacks technique and I am not sure about the passion. Odogwu's lack of technique most notably shows up when people rush on his outside. He doesn't us a proper kick step technique which limits his movement an enables DE's to beat him to the outside. We all know he almost got Kaaya killed a few times. I have seen enough tape on Ogdogwu this spring to realize he cannot be beaten inside and DE's choose to go outside for fear of being swallowed up by his girth. In my humble opinion, Ogdowu has been a bit mis-handled by Kehoe. If you look at Odogwu's prep tape you will notice he handles himself quite well on runs and when defenders run at him (plays too high though). Also notice has poor he handles rushers that go around him. For these type of wiffs to be on a highlight tape means Kehoe knew the kid had problems reaching defenders coming in (unless he is blind). He should have been used as an OG initially to develop his confidence than steadily move him outside when he showed improved technique. The tape I submitted of Kaaya's pass shows Ogdowu is improving but I think he would have been better at this stage had they built up his confidence early by playing him inside.

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/937520/highlights/7879064/v2
 
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Sounds like Sunny is being coached up as fast as his learning curve will allow.

[video=youtube;eyrbWMuLT7g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyrbWMuLT7g[/video]
 
You can see the progress year to year

[video=youtube;Zpdao746d4k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zpdao746d4k[/video]

[video=youtube;Pn2acTTc4WM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn2acTTc4WM[/video]

[video=youtube;hq3yRUT2f_o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq3yRUT2f_o[/video]
 
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OP you also need to keep in mind playing for Miami is a much more than just football for Sonny Odogwu.

[video=youtube;rkV-RiomRaQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkV-RiomRaQ[/video]
 
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Kudos to Sonny for taking advantage of an opportunity and putting himself in position to get on the field. We'll see if he's at that point, but cant help but pull for the kid.
 
Paranos,

Thank you for the response. The video shows that he knows what to look for and how to defend it. This shows that he is smart and can digest technique. What you don't see in the video is him executing it. That is my issue. When people rush him, they rush the outside. Early on when he tried to overextend to the outside, he got caught inside by DE with inside moves like Trent Harris and Quan who caught him plenty of times inside. He now has adjusted and doesn't give the inside up but that leaves him susceptible to an outside rush. Odogwu has trust the technique he spoke of and take the straight line step back to get depth and force the defender to go way around to create the pocket. Kaaya has to step up into that void when this happens. That will force defenders to take a linear direct approach at Odogwu to get to Kaaya which he is more suited for. If he doesn't work that out this year, I say he has to move inside. He has proven he can move Defenders lined over him.
 
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troycbullock said:
I have a passion for evaluating ... Sonny Odogwu definitely has the size, smarts but lacks technique and I am not sure about [his] passion.
Click to expand...

You got passion, but Odogwu may lack passion? Seriously! That Nigerian Orator has got passion out of the wang wang... the only problem with Sonny was that his skill set was dwarfed by his unending energy and passion. For one in need of much learning and essential skills, one has to be still [(in mind & spirit) to facilitate optimal learning] and upon such acquisition, you then become unrestrained with energy and passion. Dude is a natural born killer, I mean natural born leader... but it's been kind of hard to lead from energy and passion alone, otherwise all the pre-Spring camp "starters" & All American from that S&C conditioning would automatically be leaders, or stay starters, right? Other than that one passion thing on Odogwu, I think that your post is on point. If Odogwu excels on Saturday, then expect that to be infectious and outright contagious across the line.
 
Have to think this spring will be huge for him. Getting a bajillion reps against AQM is going to pretty much require him to make a jump if he wants to be competitive.
 
troycbullock said:
Early on when he tried to overextend to the outside, he got caught inside by DE with inside moves like Trent Harris and Quan who caught him plenty of times inside. He now has adjusted and doesn't give the inside up but that leaves him susceptible to an outside rush.
Click to expand...

What you're talking about right here is eye discipline. In that 1 rep I saw against AQM, He actually did a good job against the initial outside rush, but AQM gave em' that inside juke, got SO off balance, and was able to regain the outside. But if you listen to Swasey after that rep, He says, "Bruh, He ain't even got close to me"...which I assume to mean AQM took a wider path to the QB than He should have. But as far as LT is concerned, I think Jones is more of a natural there than SO.
 
Ive heard from other folks who have seen some practices that Sonny has taken some big steps forward in his development. That said, I too think he is better suited to play guard.
 
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OG might be better suited for him, but being 6"8 it would be hard for him to win leverage against DT's.
 
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Cane2,

You brought up a very fair point about passion. Passion manifests itself in many ways. My passion for OL simply means I love taking about OL and studying them. I have a deep appreciation for what they do for the team, the sacrifice they make. I like to highlight them and give them credit whenever possible. Most fans don't care nor understand what goes on up front which is why I mentioned my passion for this position in the first place. The reason I believe passion is a must in this position is because it really is a thankless position and you really have to like beating on people to truly excel at it. When discussing Odogwu, I simply pointed out that I don't know that he has passion to do that. I don't know if he has the passion to be a great player. I do know on the field he struggles with outside pass rush. A player with passion for the position will work day and not to learn and master the proper technique to stop it. I can't tell if that is in him or not. I can tell he is smart. I can tell he is huge. By the video he knows the proper technique so the only thing missing is does he have the passion to be a great OT or is he just happy to be around a team. This is not about his leadership skills or abilities. I see something in Odogwu which is why I posted. We will see if he has finally turned the corner.
 
Footwork for OL is like making people miss as a RB. While it can be improved, it's still a genetic gift. Either you have it or you don't.
 
Not exactly the same but I see your point. There are OL that have better gifts than others of course. Lack of footwork can be overcome by technique. The NFL is full of OL with horrible footwork. At the combine last month there were several OL that demonstrated poor footwork. Flowers gets real sloppy with his sometimes but they all make up for it with with other tangibles.
 
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