In football, as in life, hindsight is 20/20. When personnel moves are made, there’s really no way of knowing how they’ll pan out in the future. One such move happened on April 23rd, 2021, as Adam Schefter broke the news of a transaction between the Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs:
Kansas City is trading its first-round pick Thursday night, along with three other picks in the 2021 and 2022 drafts, to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for Pro Bowl OT Orlando Brown and one pick in the 2021 draft and another in 2022, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 23, 2021
As much as I tried to remain objective, I’ll admit that I was none too happy with the trade. I maaaay have even referred to the trade at one point as “The Avengers handing Thanos the final Infinity Stone.”
Dramatic, I’ll admit, but in my defense, the Chiefs basically only had two weaknesses on paper: their pass protection, and their secondary. Based on the most recent version of the Chiefs that we’d seen at the time, I felt like we had given our main AFC rival the means to beat us, and we’d been robbed by only getting a late first-round pick in exchange for a Pro-Bowl Left Tackle.
That was, of course, before this happened:
Ravens land Penn State edge rusher Odafe Oweh with No. 31 overall pick | VIDEO https://t.co/37dwCrbJ9H
— Ravens Insider (@RavensInsider) April 30, 2021
I had heard plenty of reports on Odafe Oweh coming out of Penn State, and all appearances were that he would be a true boom-or-bust candidate. The major sticking point for most Draft analysts was that he hadn’t recorded a single sack in his final season with the Nittany Lions, which, if I’m being honest, was a concern I shared.
Still, his pressure rate was through the roof, and his measureables superhuman. He’d measured in the 90th percentile or better on many of the workouts at his pro day, and clocked a ridiculous 4.39 in the 40 yard dash at 6’5”, 257 pounds. One post-Draft report had Ravens OLB coach Drew Wilkins quoted as saying it was “the best workout that he’s seen live. Ever.” It also helps when you’re (and I mean this in the most complimentary way) a freak athlete.
(Photo credit to Sports Illustrated)
My guy is 120% muscle. Dude’s got biceps on his biceps. I knew that if there was any team out there that could get the most out of a raw but gifted prospect, it was Baltimore. So entering the season with a cautious sense of optimism around #99, here’s how his first couple of weeks went:
Ravens 1st-round pick Odafe Oweh had 4 QB pressures in Week 1
The most among all rookie defenders 👀 @PennStateFball pic.twitter.com/i1WWdD48UX
— PFF College Football (@PFF_College) September 14, 2021
ODAFE OWEH WELCOME TO THE LEAGUE!
NOW ON NBC! pic.twitter.com/6hDbrKClBX
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 20, 2021
Odafe Oweh has forced both of the Chiefs' turnovers today.
He nearly took Patrick Mahomes' head off on the delayed blitz that led to the Tavon Young pick.
Now he strips the ball from Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) September 20, 2021
If there was any concern about him being boom-or-bust, to quote Lt. Aldo Raine, “Cousin, business is a-boomin.” It made it that much sweeter that his clutch performance in Week 2 came at the expense of… Orlando Brown, Jr. and the Chiefs.
Oweh has done nothing but gain momentum since those first two weeks, and Sunday night’s performance against the Browns may have been his most impressive outing yet.
ODAFE OWEH
DROY? 🤔pic.twitter.com/cdzfOS2PVH
— PFF BAL Ravens (@PFF_Ravens) November 29, 2021
On Sunday night, Ravens OLB Odafe Oweh became the NFL's rookie this season to record a sack, forced fumble and a fumble recovery in the same game.
He is the only rookie this season with at least five sacks, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) November 29, 2021
Odafe Oweh traveled 29.5 yards from snap-to-sack and reached a top speed of 16.92 mph in pursuit of Jarvis Landry.
This was Oweh's 4th turnover caused by pressure this season, tying Chase Young for the most TO-QBP by a rookie in a season since 2016.#CLEvBAL | #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/CKA2VuDClA
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 29, 2021
The last Tweet from Next Gen Stats has a thread of replies that details just how much Oweh has improved Baltimore’s pressure on opposing QBs. As a team, the Ravens are tied for 6th in the league in total pressures with 114, and are 5th in pressure rate with 26.1%. ESPN Draft Analyst Jordan Reid provided some perspective on how prospects like Oweh are forcing NFL scouts to re-evaluate their view on college stats.
Odafe Oweh is another example of why some scouts believe that pressure percentages/traits are more valuable than sack totals. Danielle Hunter was a common comp. for him during the pre-draft process. Sacks show the end result of the story. Pressures are more consistent indicators.
— Jordan Reid (@Jordan_Reid) November 29, 2021
Ryan McFadden of The Baltimore Sun also did an excellent write-up (read: STOLE MY THUNDER) on Oweh’s impact this year.
Now, as much as I’d like to tell you that having Oweh break onto the scene as a DROY candidate was the end of the story, I would be remiss if we didn’t consider the other side of the coin: how are we faring without Brown?
Let’s start with the positives: Patrick Mekari appears to be the real deal at RT, and both Mekari and Oweh figure to be significantly cheaper than Brown moving forward, as Brown is due for a new contract at the end of this season. Still, Brown’s absence on the offensive line has been… noticeable.
In a cruel bit of irony, Brown could have gotten the playing time he wanted at Left Tackle if he’d stayed in town, as Ronnie Stanley was once again shut down for the year. While Alejandro Villanueva has done well in run blocking, he surrendered a whopping 32 pressures through Week 10, with 10 of those coming in a single game at Right Tackle. Luckily, he’s back at his natural position on the left with the aforementioned Mekari on the right, but that doesn’t solve everything.
Bradley Bozeman survived a scare on Sunday as he went down with an ankle injury, but was able to re-enter the game. Ben Cleveland has missed significant time this year. Ben Powers and Tyre Phillips have both left a lot to be desired (with the latter also having missed games in the early portion of the season). It’s safe to say that O-line will likely be a major priority in the coming offseason, one that likely wouldn’t be in such dire straits if Zeus Jr. was still donning a Ravens uniform.
Therefore, it begs the question: Who won the trade? I personally think it’s too early to call. But if the Ravens can rectify their issues in pass protection, this could end up being a win-win trade- a la Stefon Diggs for the pick that netted the Vikings Justin Jefferson. For now, Flock, I’d say we enjoy what we have in Odafe Oweh, because you’ll be seeing a whole lot of him in the next few seasons, and opponents will be seeing him in their nightmares.
