For the first time since his rookie year, Levi Onwuzurike ran onto Ford Field last Friday for the Lions. And for the first time since his college days, he felt like himself.
After losing all of last season to a back injury that's finally in his rearview, Onwuzurike gave the Lions a glimpse of what they’ve been missing in their win over the Giants in the preseason opener.
“Just feels like I can play football now,” he said.
Imagine that. And imagine what Onwuzurike might be able to do this season now that his body can listen to his brain. Remember, Onwuzurike was so disruptive during his time at Washington and so well-regarded by the Lions in the 2021 draft that GM Brad Holmes thought about trading up to take him in the first round. He wound up going 41st overall and arrived in Detroit pledging to “get off the line and just put my helmet or my hands on an O-lineman and fu*k up an offensive scheme.”
"Sh*t, I’ll hop on the field right now if I have to," Onwuzurike said.
But his back flared up as soon as he did. And that injury, a carryover from his college career, was compounded by a hip injury later that summer. Onwuzurike ultimately played in 16 games as a rookie, but to little effect. He finished with one sack and two quarterback pressures and graded out as one of the worst players on one of the worst defenses in the NFL.
On Friday, about 10 months removed from back surgery, Onwuzurike was one of the better players on the field. “100 percent,” he said, he finally feels like himself.
“For me, it feels like a whole different game of football. Because I played my whole rookie season hurt and it’s like, now I’m healthy. Now I’m hitting moves that I couldn’t (physically) hit before, but I knew I could,” he said. “It just feels like a whole different person, really.”
The result was a much different player. Onwuzurike logged 22 snaps against the Giants and caused steady problems up front, mostly on the interior. When New York tried to run it on 4th and 1 deep in Detroit territory in the second quarter, Onwuzurike got inside left tackle Korey Cunningham and helped stuff James Robinson for a one-yard loss. He shut down another run to force a punt in the third quarter.
Onwuzurike’s best move may have come on a play that resulted in a Giants touchdown. On the first snap of a second-quarter drive that started in the red zone, Onwuzurike blew past guard Joshua Ezeudu and nearly got home to quarterback Tommy DeVito, who beat the pressure with a quick throw down the seam. It looked like the sort of suddenness Onwuzurike was missing as a rookie.
“At my best, (I bring) a lot of speed," he said. "A lot of speed and a lot of strength. Trying to knock back guys, trying to help our linebackers flow better, disrupting the backfield, that’s my game, and then obviously pass rushing.”
Aaron Glenn has a plethora of pass-rushers at his disposal this season, up and down the defensive line. The versatile Onwuzurike could be one of the more valuable among them. He was the Lions’ second best defensive player last Friday, per Pro Football Focus, finishing with three tackles, two QB pressures and a stop against the run -- albeit against backups -- in his first healthy game in more than two years. His grade of 89.3 trailed only Jack Campbell’s 90.6.
Onwuzurike said it was "huge getting my feet back under me, actually feeling good." He has a newfound appreciation for his health, "comparing my rookie season to now." He also has the same ambitions he arrived with. Asked what kind of statement he can make this season about his place in the NFL, Onwuzurike smiled and said, “I think I can make a nice, big-ass statement, for sure.”
“But right now, it’s all about building," he said. "For example, when I was hurt, you can’t really build because you’re just hurt all the time. Now I can go back, I can see all my mistakes and I can go practice that and I can build on that. So I feel like the potential’s endless.”
The same might be said for Detroit's defensive line, which is as unproven as it is promising. It features could-be's at every position, players like Onwuzurike, Josh Paschal and James Houston. "We got a bunch of guys who are really the truth," said Onwuzurike.
If he's one of them, now's the time to make it known.
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