Moro Ojomo, IDL Texas: 2023 NFL Draft Profile

Ojomo was a three-star recruit from Katy High School in Katy, Texas in the class of 2018

Texas Longhorns defensive lineman Moro Ojomo is an explosive, versatile, and undersized prospect who could create some noise in the 2023 NFL Draft. Ojomo has the athletic tools teams love at the next level. He’s still rough around the edges but could develop into an excellent rotational lineman with the right coaching.

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Moro Ojomo, IDL Texas: 2023 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Redshirt senior defensive lineman from Lagos, Nigeria

Background: Ojomo was a three-star recruit from Katy High School in Katy, Texas in the class of 2018. He was the No. 390 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 345 (four-star) for On3.com. Ojomo was an unranked three-star recruit for Rivals. He was an unranked four-star recruit for ESPN with an 80 grade out of 100. Ojomo was born in Lagos, Nigeria, moved to California when he was seven, and moved to Texas when he was in the seventh grade. As a high school senior, he produced eight sacks, 15 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. Ojomo was the 2017 Defensive Most Valuable Player of District 19-6A and led Katy High School to an appearance in the 6A state semifinals. He produced three sacks and four tackles for loss as a high school junior and earned Second-Team All-District 19-6A honors. For 2020, 2021, and 2022, Ojomo served on the University of Texas Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), “a group that works with athletic department administrators on issues relating to the management, operations, and rules governing the athletic department and its sports teams while representing the diverse backgrounds, views, interests, and concerns of student-athletes.”

2021 Production: 12 games, 29 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 12 pressures, 1 pass defensed

2020 Production: 10 games, 21 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 23 pressures, 2 sacks, 1 pass defensed

2019 Production: 13 games, 13 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 16 pressures, 1 fumble recovery

2018 Production: 3 games (Redshirt Year)

Injuries & Off-Field: Suffered a sprained ankle in 2018, made negative comments about his younger teammates in the spring of 2022

Awards: 2020 First-Team Academic All-Big 12, 2021 First-Team Academic All-Big 12, 2021 Honorable Mention All-Big 12

Pros: Experience playing full seasons in three different roles on the line, special teams snaps on the punt return and field goal block units, explosive off the line, quick to engage his hands, plays with good leverage, solid change of direction skills for a player his size, appears to have adequate arm length, attacks the guard’s hands and arms, flows down the line to the ball, active hands and arms that constantly look for advantages, had an excellent outing against Alabama (2022), communicates shifts and adjustments to other linemen pre-snap, swim move, motor runs hot in pursuit, positive linear speed for an interior lineman, consistently knocked Alabama’s (2022) guards backward, redirects off the first block and flows to the ball, good at sliding off blocks

Cons: Undersized interior player, tweener build and skill set, missed tackles are a concern, penalized 11 times between 2020 and 2021, doesn’t make headway against double teams, lots of effort but minimal refinement as a pass rusher, his rush sometimes leads him to give up gap integrity, doesn’t consistently have the strength to win the point of attack, lacks a developed pass rush plan and arsenal of moves, needs to keep his chest clean more often, pad level rises significantly throughout the play, lacks the bend of an edge rusher, doesn’t have a deep bag of counters to revive his rush once his initial push dies, lacks high-end pursuit speed

Overview: Ojomo is unofficially listed at 6'3", 284 lbs. He applied pressure on roughly 10.1% of his pass rush attempts in 2020 and 5.4% in 2021. Ojomo is a redshirt senior entering 2022 with more than 1,200 defensive snaps from a variety of alignments under his belt. He spent a lot of time in the A-gap as a 1-tech in 2019, outside the tackle in 2020 (5-tech), and shifted along the line from 3-tech to 4-tech in 2021. Ojomo projects best in a 4i to 5-tech role in the NFL with some snaps at 3-tech mixed in. This role prevents him from facing too many doubles teams along the interior. Ojomo reminded analysts that he’s a legitimate draft prospect with a standout performance early in the 2022 season against Alabama. He explodes off the line with good leverage and quickly engages his hands to beat offensive linemen to the punch. Ojomo has good arm length and active hands, which he uses to attack the lineman’s hands and arms early in the rush. His initial explosiveness and violent attacks knock linemen backward, disrupting plays. Ojomo displays solid change of direction skills and good linear speed for a player his size. He redirects off the first block, flows down the line to the ball, and displays high effort in pursuit. Ojomo excels at sliding off blocks and he has a swim move that he’ll use in run and pass scenarios. The redshirt senior occasionally communicates shifts and adjustments to other linemen pre-snap. However, Ojomo is an undersized interior player with a tweener build and skill set. He’s dealt with penalties and missed tackles in the past. The fifth-year Longhorn struggles against double teams, especially in the run game. He doesn’t consistently have the strength to win the point of attack and has a bad habit of letting linemen into his chest. Ojomo lacks a developed pass rush plan and arsenal of moves. He puts out a lot of effort as a rusher but displays little refinement. His rush sometimes leads him to surrender gap integrity. Ojomo’s pad level rises too high throughout the play, and he doesn’t have a deep bag of counters to revive his rush once his initial push dies. He lacks the bend to play as a pure edge rusher. There were plenty of crucial downs against Alabama (2022) where Ojomo wasn’t on the field. He’s playing about 30 defensive snaps per game through three weeks for Texas. The Longhorns have a deep defensive line rotation, but Ojomo’s weekly snap count would ideally be more in the 40-50 range. 

Overall, Ojomo is an explosive defensive lineman with a high motor, good arm length and athletic traits, and experience in several unique roles, but he’s an undersized tweener who struggles against double teams and lacks a developed pass rush plan. Positionless football is becoming more popular at the NFL level, and Ojomo has the athletic traits to be an attractive early Day 3 selection.

Role & Scheme Fit: 3-4 defensive end or a chess piece along a 4-3 front

Round Projection: Late Fourth to Late Fifth

Player Comparison: N/A

Submitted: 09-28-22