Who Is Cleveland Browns 3rd-Round Pick DT Larry Ogunjobi?

Just who is Cleveland Browns 3rd-round draft pick Larry Ogunjobi? Factory of Sadness Dylan Haines has the answer.

The Browns 3rd-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, 65th-overall, saw Josh Cribbs introduce defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi out of UNC-Charlotte as the team’s newest member.

There’s a good chance you’ve never heard of UNC-Charlotte or knew they had an FBS football program, but, well…now you know. The football program started in 2013, and Larry Ogunjobi represents the greatest player in the (short) history of the program.

Ogunjobi recorded 49 tackles for loss and 13 sacks (both school records) in his time at Charlotte. He’s a run-stopping specialist that uses his raw athleticism to make plays more so than technique, mostly due to his lack of experience. That’s because he only started playing football three years before college.

He picked up football in high school as a way of losing weight, as he weighed 350 pounds and wanted to take control of his life. A few years of hard work later, he’s in the National Football League.

Due to playing in Conference USA and being an upstart FBS program, Ogunjobi only had the chance to play 2 games in his collegiate career against Power-5 teams, which is a concern. However, when you turn on the tape, it’s impossible to ignore him. He’s a disruptive force that commands double teams and STILL made big plays in the run game.

Ogunjobi not the most fleet-footed defensive lineman in the world, but he has great hand technique and is able to shed blockers and disengage consistently enough to make up for it.

The hope for Ogunjobi will be to eventually plug him in alongside Danny Shelton on the interior defensive line with the hope that Shelton can absorb blockers, something Ogunjobi routinely did at Charlotte, and he will be the beneficiary of less attention from the offensive line and put in a prime position to make plays as a run stopper.

Ogunjobi will be flanked by No. 1 overall pick Myles Garrett and Emmanuel Ogbah on the ends, which will make life that much easier for the rest of the front seven. He’s is raw, and I wouldn’t expect him to have as big a role as a rookie as many of the Browns draft picks had last season and will try to bring him along slowly as the coaches help him work on his technique.

Next: Mitch Trubisky Booed At Bulls Playoff Game

This is a very solid pick to start out the third round, and adds yet another piece to a front seven that’s become a lot more formidable than it was a couple days ago.

Draft Grade: B+