2021 NFL Draft: EDGE Jayson Oweh has a long way to go in 2020
By Cory Kinnan
What is his 2021 NFL Draft outlook?
Here is the thing: even if Oweh does not manage to take too many strides forward in 2020 with Penn State, there will be plenty of teams who will fall in love with him based off of his testing numbers alone. With the 2021 NFL Draft up next for Oweh after this season, a team could even reach for him in the first round and hope to develop him into an elite pass rusher, even if he has not refined his technique this year.
On film, however, this writer gave Oweh a fifth round grade as he currently has no area of his game that he wins with outside of his athletic ability. With only 38 percent of the defensive snaps under his belt from a year ago, there is a reason Oweh did not see the field more often than that despite his athleticism. In fact, while his running mate Toney may have a lower ceiling than Oweh, he is currently a more refined prospect based off of 2019 film.
Matt Valdovinos of Pro Football Network has similar thoughts on the Penn State edge rusher:
"“Despite elite size and athletic ability, Oweh is not without flaws. A lack of experience makes him raw. He wins using his athletic ability but has work to do with his technique. Both his pass rush plan and run defense have room to grow, but I believe a heavy influx in playtime will help smooth out some of the rougher edges. In an EDGE class that has no obvious Alpha, don’t be surprised if Oweh puts together an impressive season and is the first edge rusher selected in the 2021 NFL Draft.”"
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Can Oweh develop in 2020? Absolutely. Will teams still love him even if he cannot? They sure will. However, slotting Oweh as a top edge rusher, even in a weak class, based off of film alone seems like a bit of a stretch. At this point, the draft stock of Oweh is a pure projection of what he could be based off of the high ceiling he has.