2019 Recruiting: David Ojabo
Previously: Last year's profiles. S Quinten Johnson, S Daxton Hill, CB DJ Turner II, CB Jalen Perry, LB Joey Velazquez, LB Anthony Solomon, LB Charles Thomas.
Aberdeen, Scotland – 6'5", 252 | |||||||||||||||||||
24/7 | 4*, #220 overall #16 SDE, #4 NJ |
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Rivals | 3*, 5.7 rating #34 SDE, #12 NJ |
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ESPN | 4*, #282 overall #32 DE, #6 NJ |
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Composite | 4*, #314 overall #19 SDE, #7 NJ |
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Other Suitors | OSU, ND, PSU, A&M | ||||||||||||||||||
YMRMFSPA | Taco Charlton | ||||||||||||||||||
Previously On MGoBlog | Hello post from Ace. Future Blue Derivatives from Adam. | ||||||||||||||||||
Notes | Twitter. Early enrollee. Blair Academy is also the home of 2020 basketball target Jabri Abdur-Rahim. | ||||||||||||||||||
Film |
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Junior:
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I could have listed David Ojabo's hometown as a spot in New Jersey, but the WTF "Scotland?!" reaction is tells you all you need to know: Ojabo is the kind of guy who arrives in the US as a high schooler in the hopes of becoming a basketball prospect and ends up on the football field because his body makes it destiny.
"The head coach of football was also a coach for the track and field team, and I eventually crossed paths with him as I did track at the time.
"He just took one look at me and said: 'You're very big. You should try football'."
Ojabo first football experience consisted of seven games his junior year, and was a Cousin Balki Eats His First Hot Dog kind of experience. Blair head coach Jim Saylor:
“The kid had never been in a three-point stance. He had no clue. … I got to know him and his enthusiasm to try something. I think someone that tries something for the first time says something about them, that they’re willing to take that risk and try something new."
“The first time he got a scholarship offer, he sat down and was like, ‘Hey, Coach, what position do I play?’ He didn’t know he was a defensive end, a defensive tackle."
The seven games were enough when combined with the kind of freaky athleticism that saw Ojabo run a sub-11 100 meter dash at 230-240 pounds. He netted committable offers from all of the Midwest heavy hitters.
[After the JUMP: freaky man does not know how to football yet]
Even though everyone piled aboard Ojabo remains the definition of a boom-or-bust prospect. Evaluations from his rapid rise last summer are all "if this guy learns how to football, look out." Adam's FBD:
…stands up too quickly too often and has primitive pass-rush skills … My second year of soccer my parents were still trying to bribe me with Micro Machines to get out of the car …excellent first step …rapid acceleration turns into straight-line speed without a hitch … won a number of reps even when his leverage was poor …stark difference in the reps where Ojabo had poor pad level and the ones where he was lower than his opponent.
…knows very little about the game of football. In some ways, that’s a good thing because he’s a blank canvas. …stance, pad level, hand placement, tackling, and other areas of technique are all subpar compared to other players who are comparably ranked. …skilled at being big and fast. He also takes good angles.
"…absolutely can be an All-Big-Ten guy …at his size, his ability to just cover five yards, it was in the blink of an eye. …Ojabo had no offers at the time and I still went and cut up the game film. It was that impressive just to watch him run. …
And then I remember speaking to his coach before the game and he’s telling me ‘yeah, he runs the 4x100. … He runs it in about 11 seconds.’ And I’m saying, “What? Wait, he’s 6’4”, 235… what?” …can’t teach his size, burst and athleticism."
…great burst, body control and speed … acceleration at the snap of the ball, his speed in chasing a play from behind and his effort level [stand out] …plays too high … needs to develop his hands …strength to disengage and he can re-direct to get to the ball carrier. … can dip his shoulder to get around the edge, but refining his spin move and using a club move will help him become more versatile …incredibly talented, works hard and is smart, but he is raw.
…built very, very well. He's long and lean… appears to have a lot of room left …natural ability to run is freaky …closes in a hurry and delivers a blow when he arrives at … literally doesn't know what he's doing yet. …just getting by on raw ability
"…absolute physical freak. …one of the highest ceilings in this class. …really raw"
Friedman would later name Ojabo one of the most underrated guys in the class, admitting that's "partly because of me," the regional analyst. Other takes are largely the same, with the word "freak" coming up a lot. Ojabo's "very long arms" and the fact he's "very coordinated and agile" help flesh that assertion out.
FWIW, Ojabo's SPARQ score was a hair behind Alabama commit Antonio Alfano, who shot up to five star status by the end of the cycle, and top-10 2020 player Bryan Breese. And it sounds like that 40 time may have been slow for a reason. Sayler:
"He ran a 4.5 (in the 40-yard dash) but ran a 4.7 at The Opening (Regional in New Jersey). They had running backs and receivers running 4.6’s, so they think the track was a little slow. He’s more of a 4.5 guy."
He is large and fast.
These kind of wildly unprepared projects do work out a fair bit. Michigan's most recent example is Taco Charlton, our YMRMFSPA. Charlton's recruiting profile contains the sentence "the fact that the 6'6" guy stands straight up after every snap leaps out at you" in an extensive discussion of his rawness. Like Ojabo, Charlton was a ridiculous athlete who spent a bunch of time trying to be a basketball player. He enrolled early, like Ojabo, and put on 15 pounds. For Ojabo's part, here's Harbaugh:
“David Ojabo is going to be another guy to really keep an eye on. He’s already put on 20 pounds and looks good. Looks good."
24/7 had an article series on the traits that translated to NFL draft success for defensive ends that cited Ojabo as the "most compelling candidate" to blow up because the set of hits from 24/7's edge evaluations tended to 1) be on the lighter side, 2) crush combines, and 3) play a diverse set of sports. Ojabo hits all three—in addition to playing basketball he's been a soccer player most of his life, and Harbaugh said he played two other sports in addition to those. More Harbaugh:
…all signs are that, all indications that once he really learns the game and understands that part of it, he’s going to be a tremendous player. Exceptional in terms of heavy hands and being able to knock back an offensive lineman and also has real speed.
Unfortunately, Ojabo didn't put together a senior highlight reel and it seems like nobody bothered to check up on him during his senior year. The Athletic did get a quote from his DL coach last December that makes it sound like he came along at the rate you'd hope:
“Every week he’s done something incredible,” Coyle says. “We call it block destruction — it’s just how fast he gets off the ball and just really blows up the whole entire play. You know, linemen are circling around and looking to block him, and they can’t find him. He’s already back there making a play. He does that weekly.”
His output shot up, as his sacks doubled from 6 to 12.
So far so good as Ojabo attempts to become a guy who is big and should play football to a guy who is huge and does play football.
Etc.: Ojabo and his family moved to Scotland from Nigeria when he was seven. The struggle is real!
“I’m not going to lie, when I look at my text messages, there’s no girls in there, it’s all coaches, so it’s kind of stressful,” Ojabo said.
Why Taco Charlton? Giant man with crazy athleticism who hasn't played a ton of football because of other sports. Rankings are in the same range, with a slight edge to Charlton. Offers favor Ojabo.
Guru Reliability: High. All the same takes. The spread is understandable given the boom-or-bust nature of Ojabo.
Variance: Vast. Anything is possible.
Ceiling: Vast. Anything is possible.
General Excitement Level: High. DE is a spot where you can take a raw guy with ridiculous traits for the position and refine him. Ojabo has ALL THE TRAITS.
Projection: The most likely non-OL redshirt in the class. In 2020 Michigan likely starts Paye and Hutchinson even if that's slightly suboptimal at the weakside spot.
In year three Paye's graduation will leave a spot open for Ojabo, Vilain, or Gabe Newburg—by that point I assume both Upshaw and Welschof are DTs. If I had to bet I'd say Ojabo wins that job as a redshirt sophomore and does some things. He'd get another crack at an open job the year after with Hutchinson's departure if that doesn't pan out.
just want to hear this dude say words with his scottish-nigerian-jersey accent
My kids took a circus training class from a German women who learned English living in Australia for 10 years. Very interesting accent.
Hold up, your kids took a circus training class? What does that even entail?
They took two. The first one the did a low high wire, the trampoline and a few other fun things. The second one (no pre-requisite) the got to go on the trapeze. Like a real freakin trapeze. They hung by their knees and did backflips off it onto the net (they are also in a harness). If they were better at those skills they could have jumped from one trapeze and an instructor would have caught them. Ages 5 and up.
Circus Arts in Sarasota.
Good. That’s too young for Lion taming.
I went to college/played football with a guy who grew up in Jamaica until 13 and then moved to Marquette Michigan. For my money, its hard to beat a Jamaican-Yooper accent! I've always been intrigued by accent mash-ups in the years since lol
What’s the 2nd letter in the alphabet?
eh man?
no it’s B
My girlfriend is half-British, half-Belgian and grew up in Botswana and Namibia until she was 13. Then moved to the UK for high school and college, except for a year in Serbia and a year in Australia. She's now lived in Pakistan for the last five years.
Accent: unique and completely unplaceable. She sounds almost American, despite never living in the States, until she suddenly doesn't. It's very charming. Drives her nuts, though, since when she's in the UK everyone is surprised to learn that she's British, even though that's her only citizenship.
I want him to succeed just because of that quote about girls in his text messages. Keep working to your goal dude!
He's not gonna have any trouble meeting girls in Ann Arbor :D
I can see Upshaw moving to DT but why do you think that Welschof becomes a DT? I heard Welschof had become really big in the offseason and that he has a chance to play this year in late game scenarios. He's probably 3rd at Anchor behind Paye and Hutchinson
Speed.
" Unfortunately, Ojabo didn't put together a senior highlight reel and it seems like nobody bothered to check up on him during his senior year."
Or, perhaps fortunately for us, since we got him and no one else had a chance to lure him away. :-)
I suspect he sees some situational pass rush snaps as a redshirt freshman, a la the Uche packages this last season. That kind of athletic monster is going to be tough to keep off the field, even if he's still figuring out what he's doing. I'll be interested to see how and when they use his four games this year.
Agree with this. He'll get on the.field vs. some B1G competition and face some unsuspecting mid-level right tackle, and either push the guy over on his way to the QB or run right by him to the same. Let's hope it's against Iowa to help salt away the game and not Rutgers in a 40 point blowout.
Of course, he's probably just as likely to get edged on the ground for a big gain. So pass rush it is, either in a blow out or at home after Michigan's taken 10+ point lead.
Taco was frustrating for his first few years because he didn’t play a lot and the “Taco Pants” meme was popular at the time so you’d always wonder what was up with Taco. (Still don’t know what Taco pants is. I assume it is unrelated).
look forward to seeing Ojabo in 3-4 years.
Tacopants was the name of the extremely tall imaginary friend that one of our former receivers actually had as a kid. Hence every throw wildly over the head of a receiver was to “Tacopants”.
(The more you know . Gif)
I never knew that part about him being an imaginary friend. I assumed Brian just made the name up. That's hilarious
Was it Jason Avant’s best friend? I do own an MGoStore Taco Pants t-shirt so I feel I should know that. I am still afraid of wearing it out in public. I’m afraid people might think I’m a freak or something.
Taco Pants is a mythical 11 foot tall receiver. Comes up when a guy is massively overthrown. Especially a guy like Nico who is already tall. Completely unrelated to Taco Charlton who enrolled after Brian made the Taco Pants joke.
Origin of Tacopants - he was an imaginary 11 foot WR who was the only one who could've possibly caught overthrows:
https://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/tacopants-first-sighting
Like ^^^ said
Shaun Nua, you're up
I think we see him causing havoc prior to year 3. He enrolled early and was already drawing wows in Spring ball.
I disagree that he is a likely redshirt.
This spring, Don Brown stated in one of his interviews that it will be interesting to see in Ojabo breaks into the rotation this fall. He seemed like he is considering crafting a role for him.
IIRC still can play up to 4 games and take redshirt so it's not all or nothing.
Could see him in an Uche type role where he's basically a situational speed rusher
I know missing out on Harrison sucked, but the two are kind of similar athletes.
Harrison: 10.82 100m at 6'5" 250, 4.64 40, 37.6" vertical, 4.45 shuttle
Ojabo: 10.92 100m at 6'4.5" 240, 4.6-4.7 40, 33.3" vertical, 4.4 shuttle
That's not a bad second prize as far as raw athletes go.
According to his UM bio:
"Won the 2018 prep state title in the 100-meter dash with a personal-best time of 10.93 seconds"
That is nearly Peppers fast ... but at 6'4" and 250lbs. Yes sir, sky is the limit for Ojabo !
How do we feel about Ojabo compared to Julius Welschoff? I don't think he was in the "vast" category, but still in the "raw, but freakishly athletic" and had moguls skiing as his "other" sport.
Ojabo is younger (believe Welschoff came in at 20/21) and got in two years of domestic football with a fair bit of production and some camps so his projection seems a little easier. Also already drawing quotes from coaches.
Mostly I feel ready for an international pass rush package of Ojabo, Welschoff, Vilain and Kwity.
Love this recruit and a pleasant surprise he's not that far behind the curve.
Good time to remind folks that when Ojabo was offered by the staff he was only "ranked" 26 spots better than Matt Hibner.
Scotland? Wait, shouldn't his name be McJabo then? O'Jabo sounds more Irish to me.
(I'll show myself out)...
The shear athleticism of this kid is outrageously exciting. Regardless of how raw he is, I can’t wait to see him on the field.
Gollum said it best when it comes to new recruits
The evaluations for him had a lot of fun bits:
My second year of soccer my parents were still trying to bribe me with Micro Machines to get out of the car
skilled at being big and fast
I’m not going to lie, when I look at my text messages, there’s no girls in there, it’s all coaches, so it’s kind of stressful
Add in the Nigeria via Scotland via NJ, and just a lot to digest here.
Beyond the obvious possibility he turns into a great pass rusher, I always like lottery-ticket guys who have some fun stories behind them.
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