Over the month of April WEEI.com will offer up a total of 28 prospects who could be potential Patriots selections in the 2021 NFL Draft. While the top five projected overall prospects – QB Trevor Lawrence, QB Zach Wilson, WR Ja’Marr Chase, TE Kyle Pitts and OT Penei Sewell – won’t be included, all other players at all positions will be considered potential targets for Bill Belichick and his staff. Today is another of the many athletic defensive edge options available early on draft weekend.
Jayson Oweh
Edge Penn State
6-5, 257
Resume: Oweh did not start playing football until transferring to Blair Academy (Howell, N.J.) for his junior season of high school. Focused on basketball to that point, Blair required him to play a second sport. … A year later, Oweh earned All-American honors. … Despite his late start with football, Oweh got a slew of scholarship offers from the likes of Notre Dame, Michigan and Ohio State prior to choosing Penn State. … Red-shirted in 2018, before seeing reserve action in which he notched five sacks in 2019. … Last fall Oweh started all seven games he played in and earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors despite not recording a single sack. … Passed up his final two years of eligibility to declare for the 2021 NFL Draft.
Pre-Draft Buzz: Oweh ran a blazing 4.37 40 at 257 pounds at his Penn State pro day. … The Ringer compares Oweh to Vikings Pro Bowl pass rusher Danielle Hunter saying that “Oweh has the combination of size, explosiveness, and power that makes him worth betting on; he may offer the highest ceiling of any pass rusher in this class.” … Oweh’s NFL.com draft profile declares that he has “some of the most exciting traits and explosiveness of any edge defender in this draft” and compares him to former Steelers first-round pick Bud Dupree, writing “it's not all there yet, but with more coaching and experience, Oweh has the ability to rate as a Pro Bowl rush linebacker with the ability to stick a hand in the ground if you need it.” … NFL.com’s latest mock draft slotted Oweh to the Ravens with the No. 27 overall pick.
Why Oweh fits the Patriots’ needs: Even among the elite athletes in the 2021 NFL Draft class, Oweh is considered a freak – in a very good way. He brings a pretty rare size, speed, athleticism combination to the job. He’s also relatively raw given that he didn’t hit the football field until late in his high school career. His best days should be very much ahead of him, especially given the right system and coaching. Certainly Belichick has proven for decades that he can turn physically talented edge defenders into elite players. The Patriots can never have too much versatile talent on the defensive front and Oweh is the kind of athlete that all coaches, including Belichick, dream of molding and deploying.
