NFL Draft 2018 Round 6: Houston Texans Select DE Duke Ejiofor
The Houston Texans have selected Duke Ejiofor in Round 6 — 177th pick — in the NFL Draft. How will this have an effect on the team as a whole? What about potential? Let’s take a look and examine further.
With the 177th pick in Round 6 of the 2018 NFL Draft, the Houston Texans select:
The 6’4,” 275-pound edge defender out of Wake Forest with 34.9″ arm length and 9.75″ hands has brought into the fold by the Houston Texans.
He’s coming back home to do what he loves as he is a native of H-Town, attending Alief Taylor, a football powerhouse of prospective professionals.
Just like Jordan Akins, Bill O’Brien — as well as Anthony Weaver — apparently fell in love with Ejiofor, who was an invitee to the Senior Bowl and that’s certainly how this connection was made.
It’s about the right time to bring somebody in for depth on the defensive line, although it’s not
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necessarily a position where there’s a glaring need. At least on paper, it’s one of the strongest units on this team. J.J. Watt, Jadeveon Clowney, Whitney Mericilus, D.J. Reader and Christian Covington…need I say more?
According to Pro Football Focus, Duke graded out at a extremely-solid 81.1 for the 2017 season. He’s sizable enough to be a terrific backup for the time being with I’m sure his hopes pinned on being a starter someday.
PFF writes that his strongest suits are his ability to battle and not give up when it’s time to exert immense pressure on the pass rush with those large hands being quite busy in any given series.
It’s also mentioned that he lacks the explosiveness that most DE’s have but I think that’s something he can work around to still be effective in this league. He’s a sixth-round pick, I’m sure many are rooting for him to exceed expectations.
In addition, he’s also a lineman that one can be brought in on third-downs to help stop any type of momentum in their tracks. I take that he’s a tackling machine, building up large chunks for ones with a loss which is certainly impressive for me. He’ll be a nice complement along with safety Justin Reid as well.
What did the experts have to say?
Lance Zeirlein of NFL.com:
Duke Ejiofor slid in the draft because of injury concerns from what I've been told, but he has a toolbox full of rush tools and can be a dominant sub-package rusher along the interior. Great pick for the Texans.
— Lance Zierlein (@LanceZierlein) April 28, 2018
Draft guru Jon Ledyard of FanRag Sports:
Duke Ejiofor in the 6th is crazy. Texans got Clowney, Watt, Mercilus and Ejiofor
— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) April 28, 2018
All in all, Ejiofor is a luxury that the Houston Texans can afford easily. But, of course, if he stays healthy, he was injured for a good chunk of his junior year, that defensive line will be next to unstoppable with all the depth that they have. It’s not easy to make this team’s defensive line and it looks like Ejiofor has the stuff to do just that.
Next: Texans select WR Keke Coutee in the 4th round
Ejiofor amassed 133 tackles — 43.5 of those for loss — along with 24.0 sacks, six passes defensed, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and one pick through his four season career for the Demon Deacons.