Notre Dame football:Breaking down Julian Okwara’s combine

Coming off a leg injury, Notre Dame’s all eyes were on Notre Dame’s elite edge rusher Julian Okwara as he competed in the NFL combine.

Coming into the NFL Combine, Notre Dame edge rusher Julian Okwara was regarded by most draft experts as a potential first-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. However, there were questions surrounding Okwara after he suffered a broken left fibula in the November 9th game against Duke.

Some had questioned Okwara’s strength, but he put those questions to bed quickly when he put up 225-pounds 27 times in the bench press event. That was good for 10th-best among the 38 defensive linemen to participate in the bench press and was four more reps than his brother and current Detroit Lions defensive end, Romeo Okwara did at the 2016 NFL Combine.

The 27 reps are very impressive showing by Okwara who is considered more of a pure speed rusher than a power bull rusher. The number was only six reps off of the leader, Ohio State University’s defensive tackle Davon Hamilton, who paced the field with 33 reps.

Due to the fact that Okwara was only recently cleared to run after working diligently to rehab his broken leg, he only participated in the bench press and the interview process of the NFL Combine, electing to wisely give himself additional time to heal before attempting any events that required him to run, jump or make cuts. Instead, he announced that he will participate in Notre Dame’s Pro Day next month.

By all accounts, Okwara did well in his interviews. This should come as no surprise as he has widely been viewed as a high character player and a leader on the Notre Dame defense. It also likely helps that he was able to see his brother Romeo go through the process a few years ago, making him more familiar with the process than some of his Irish teammates.

Okwara also fared well at the measurements portion of the combine, as he had the fourth-longest wingspan, arm length and hand size of all defensive ends participating in the NFL Combine. Much like his Notre Dame teammate, wide receiver Chase Claypool, Okwara came into the combine 10-pounds heavier than his playing weight with the Irish, with an official weight of 252-pounds.

While his numbers with the Irish were not as dominant as some had predicted, Okwara is an elite talent with the athletic ability to become a dominant pass rusher in the National Football League. If he is able to perform well at Notre Dame’s Pro Day next month, he will likely solidify his draft status as one of the top-five edge rushers selected in the 2020 NFL Draft.