Odafe Oweh broke out as a rookie for the Baltimore Ravens, but his second season was more of a plateau, or step back if anything. So, the former first-round pick now has plenty of pressure to perform in year three. The question is, what are the realistic expectations?
Odafe Oweh career trajectory with Baltimore Ravens
Oweh has eight sacks in two seasons. How many players historically have been drafted in a similar range to Oweh, and produced similar stats early in their career? From there, we can look to see how these players fared in their careers.
The following players to have a similar start to their career include Emmanuel Ogbah, Lawrence Jackson, Mathias Kiwanuka, Adrian Clayborn, Nick Perry, and Bud Dupree. You can see how they all compare to each other.
Name | Tackles | Sacks | TFL | QB Hits | Approxomite Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Emmanuel Ogbah | 82 | 9.5 | 13 | 21 | 10 |
Lawrence Jackson | 61 | 6.5 | 5 | 17 | 11 |
Mathias Kiwanuka | 82 | 8.5 | 14 | 17 | 9 |
DeMarcus Lawrence | 64 | 8 | 16 | 12 | 8 |
Adrian Clayborn | 44 | 7.5 | 8 | 16 | 6 |
Nick Perry | 46 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
Bud Dupree | 26 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 3 |
Odafe Oweh | 76 | 8 | 12 | 26 | 7 |
Nick Perry and Bud Dupree are worse off at the start of their careers, but they are also a sign of hope for Oweh. Dupree recorded 11.5 sacks in year five, then had 19.5 sacks in a two-year stretch including the following season. Perry had 11 sacks in year five and 18.5 in years five and six. This shows that we may need patience with Oweh. Also, if he is on this trajectory, it is nice to cash in on the big years, but both players remained inconsistent.
Dupree will now be on his third team in year nine, while injuries had Perry out of the NFL by his seventh season. Still, a longer up-and-down career is now the worst case.
Lawrence Jackson had a similar start to his career as Oweh, but things did not turn around. He ended up out of the NFL by his fifth NFL season.
Two cases that may be in between Dupree and Jackson would be Adrian Clayborn and Mathias Kiwanuka. They played seven and nine years respectively, and they both remained depth edge rushers, but neither hit the ceiling of Perry or Dupree.
The big hit is DeMarcus Lawrence. After a slower start to his career, his fourth and fifth seasons were his best. He posted 24.5 sacks in those two years combined. Now, he is a ten-year NFL veteran, and coming off a solid age 30 season. This is the best case, and what fans can point to, as the numbers are similar through two seasons.
However, the best comparison from a stats, skillset, and draft slot perspective may be Emmanuel Ogbah. Ogbah had a similar start to his career, and like many of these guys, it took him some time to establish himself. In his fifth and sixth NFL seasons, he combined for 18 sacks. Now, he is a starter rusher in his eighth NFL season. It is not quite the highest high that DeMarcus Lawrence had, but it is a solid outcome and may be what we can expect from Odafe Oweh with the Baltimore Ravens.
The biggest takeaway from all of these players is that patience may be needed. Almost all of them had their best years in their fifth NFL season. Some of them figured things out by year four, but a lot peaked in their fifth and sixth seasons.
So, Ravens fans may see up and down play in years three and four, but there are still signs of hope if the Ravens pick up his fifth-year option. However, if he does not break out until year five, it may only be a two, or three-year run, making extension talks even more difficult. We will now see what year three has in store for the Baltimore Ravens edge rusher.