2022 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Arnold Ebiketie

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Arnold Ebiketie, 6-3/256 Defensive End Penn State

Arnold Ebiketie Scouting Report
By Charlie Campbell

Strengths:

Fast speed rusher

Burst off ball

Excellent first-step

Explosive, hard-charging defender off the edge

Speed to run the arc and get around the corner

Active hands

Uses hands and feet at same time

Speed-to-power rush ability

Excellent rip move

Can fire to the inside

Has a burst to close on the quarterback

Plays low

Natural leverage

Can dip underneath tackles

Athletic

Agile; not stiff

Loose hips

Versatile for 3-4 or 4-3 defense

Weaknesses:

Undersized

Lacks height, length & weight

Can get covered up as a run defender

Summary: In recent years, Penn State has produced a lot of freaky athletes with serious speed and excellent skill sets. Ebiketie will continue that tradition in the 2022 NFL Draft after breaking out in 2021. He was the Nittany Lions’ lead rusher, replacing Jayson Oweh, and totaled 9.5 sacks, 62 tackles and two forced fumbles. In 2020, Ebiketie recorded 42 tackles, four sacks and three forced fumbles.

Ebiketie has the speed and strength to be a challenge for offensive tackles at the next level. As a pass rusher, Ebiketie can burn offensive tackles with a speed rush and also is strong enough to fight them off with his hands. Beyond his quick first-step to get upfield, Ebiketie uses his hands and feet at the same time nicely and has the agility to redirect to the inside or sink his hips while running the loop on the outside. Ebiketie shows an excellent rip move with natural leverage. After staying low and maintaining good leverage while charging upfield, Ebiketie rips with his inside arm to keep tackles from getting a hold of him to finish off his rush. Ebiketie is also dangerous working to the inside, and he has excellent closing speed to eat up space in blur. As a pro, Ebiketie has the potential to be a very good pass rusher.



Ebiketie could stand to improve as a run defender, because he can get covered up sometimes by offensive tackles. That is not surprising considering his lack of height, length and weight. He could get rotated out a fair amount in running situations at the next level.

For the NFL, Ebiketie’s best fit could come as a 3-4 outside linebacker, although he has the potential to play as a 4-3 defensive end. In a 4-3, it might make sense to rotate him a fair amount because NFL offensive tackles will have a 50-70-pound advantage that could wear him out. Rotating Ebiketie would help keep him fresh as a pass rusher and available to make an impact in the fourth quarter.

Ebiketie looks safely like a second-day pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, but it isn’t out of the question that a team would consider selecting him late in Round 1.



Player Comparison: Yannick Ngakoue. Team sources have compared Ebiketie to Ngakoue, which is a comparison that makes a lot of sense. They are both dangerous speed rushers who are undersized and can get covered up in the ground game. Ngakoue was a second-day pick, and Ebiketie could go on Day 2 of the 2022 NFL Draft.

2022 NFL Draft Player Previews - Choose Player 2022 NFL Draft Player Previews - Home Adam Anderson, OLB, Georgia Calvin Austin, WR, Memphis Tyler Badie, RB, Missouri Amaré Barno, OLB, Virginia Tech Andrew Booth, CB, Clemson David Bell, WR, Purdue Nik Bonitto, OLB, Oklahoma Jaquan Brisker, S, Penn State Treylon Burks, WR, Arkansas Zachary Carter, DE, Florida Leo Chenal, LB, Wisconsin Lewis Cine, S, Georgia Damone Clark, LB, LSU Micheal Clemons, DE, Texas A&M Bryan Cook, S, Cincinnati James Cook, RB, Georgia Yusuf Corker, S, Kentucky Matt Corral, QB, Ole Miss Charles Cross, OT, Mississippi State Nick Cross, S, Maryland Jordan Davis, DT, Georgia Nakobe Dean, LB, Georgia Jahan Dotson, WR, Penn State Greg Dulcich, TE, UCLA Arnold Ebiketie, DE, Penn State Kaiir Elam, CB, Florida Ikem Ekwonu, OT, N.C. State Martin Emerson, CB, Mississippi State Kingsley Enagbare, DE, South Carolina Daniel Faalele, OT, Minnesota Luke Fortner, C, Kentucky Ahmad 'Sauce' Gardner, CB, Cincinnati Luke Goedeke, G, Central Michigan Kyler Gordon, CB, Washington Kenyon Green, G, Texas A&M Breece Hall, RB, Iowa State Logan Hall, DE, Houston Kyle Hamilton, S, Notre Dame Christian Harris, LB, Alabama Daxton Hill, S, Michigan Chasen Hines, G, LSU Sam Howell, QB, North Carolina Aidan Hutchinson, DE, Michigan Ed Ingram, G, LSU Drake Jackson, DE, USC Jermaine Johnson, DE, Florida State Zion Johnson, G, Boston College Travis Jones, DT, Connecticut Kerby Joseph, S, Illinois Cam Jurgens, C, Nebraska George Karlaftis, DE, Purdue Darian Kinnard, OT, Kentucky Charlie Kolar, TE, Iowa State DeMarvin Leal, DT, Texas A&M Isaiah Likely, TE, Coastal Carolina Tyler Linderbaum, C, Iowa Devin Lloyd, LB, Utah Drake London, WR, USC Abraham Lucas, OT, Washington State Boye Mafe, DE, Minnesota Phidarian Mathis, DT, Alabama Trey McBride, TE, Colorado State Roger McCreary, CB, Auburn Trent McDuffie, CB, Washington Verone McKinley, S, Oregon John Metchie, WR, Alabama Skyy Moore, WR, Western Michigan Chad Muma, LB, Wyoming David Ojabo, DE, Michigan Chris Olave, WR, Ohio State Cade Otton, TE, Washington Evan Neal, OT, Alabama Josh Paschal, DE, Kentucky Trevor Penning, OT, Northern Iowa Nick Petit-Frere, OT, Ohio State George Pickens, WR, Georgia Kenny Pickett, QB, Pittsburgh Alec Pierce, WR, Cincinnati Dameon Pierce, RB, Florida Jalen Pitre, S, Baylor Brock Purdy, QB, Iowa State Bernhard Raimann, OT, Central Michigan Desmond Ridder, QB, Cincinnati John Ridgeway, DT, Arkansas Brian Robinson, RB, Alabama Wan'Dale Robinson, WR, Kentucky Justyn Ross, WR, Clemson Jeremy Ruckert, TE, Ohio State Jamaree Salyer, G, Georgia Tyler Smith, OT, Tulsa Isaiah Spiller, RB, Texas A&M Derek Stingley, CB, LSU Kayvon Thibodeaux, DE, Oregon Cameron Thomas, DE, San Diego State Tyquan Thornton, WR, Baylor Kenneth Walker, RB, Michigan State Rasheed Walker, OT, Penn State Quay Walker, LB, Georgia Travon Walker, DE, Georgia Christian Watson, WR, North Dakota State Zamir White, RB, Georgia Jameson Williams, WR, Alabama Malik Willis, QB, Liberty Garrett Wilson, WR, Ohio State Perrion Winfrey, DT, Oklahoma Tariq Woolen, CB, UTSA Devonte Wyatt, DT, Georgia Jalen Wydermyer, TE, Texas A&M

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