Jayson Oweh is a freakishly athletic edge rusher from Penn State. He has super long arms along with a frame that should allow him to get big and strong. He’s also one of the fastest and most explosive edge rushers we’ve ever seen come into the draft. The catch is that he’s had nearly no college production to show for it, with 0 sacks in the 2020 season. He will be a big boom or bust guy with a very low floor but a ceiling that’s through the roof. 

Strengths: 

  • Great Size

Jayson Oweh is 6’5 257 which is plenty big enough to be a solid edge at the NFL. In addition to that he has a lean frame so he can definitely bulk up and gain some more functional strength. He also has incredibly long arms.

  • Very Explosiveness

Jayson Oweh’s first step quickness and explosiveness is off the charts. He gains a lot of ground with that first step and it’s so incredibly quick that it allows him the option to attempt to come off the edge or convert speed to power.

  • Can Win on the Outside

Jayson Oweh has great ankle flexibility which allows him to turn the edge very effectively. He can also flat out beat linemen to their spots outside which is also a very good thing.

  • Good in Run Game

Jayson Oweh is going to be a very valuable asset in the run game. He quickly reacts to run blocks so he is in the backfield often on run plays and he has great length to reach runners as well as great tackling form.

Weaknesses: 

  • Bad Hand Usage

Jayson Oweh needs to be much more consistent with his hand usage if he wants to be a good pass rusher in the NFL. Too often he’s punching in the wrong spot or off time and sometimes he doesn’t punch at all which can be a real problem.

  • Terrible Anchor

When an offensive lineman gets their hands on Jayson Oweh it’s very unlikely that he’s getting out. He gets pushed around often and he has no counters when an offensive lineman gets a solid grip.

  • Mistimes the Snap

Jayson Oweh is routinely one of the last guys moving once the ball is snapped, and he certainly needs to do a better job timing the snap. Other times he’ll get anxious and jump offsides trying to time the snap, which is  a problem.

  • No Pass Rush Plan

Going into a rush it doesn’t seem like Jayson Oweh has a clear plan. He’s not planning out his hand placement or his counters ahead of time and he’s kind of just running and hoping something will work, which needs to be fixed. 

Player Comp: Jayson Oweh’s current technique level is nowhere near the level of any pass rusher in the NFL but with some improvement I think he can be very similar to Jadeveon Clowney. Clowney similarly is an athletic freak with great length and he’s also one of the best run defending pass rushers in the NFL, which Oweh could develop into. The reason why Clowney didn’t turn out the way people had hoped however, is because of his bad hand placement and him overall just not having a clear plan every time he rushed the passer, which are some of the same concerns we see with Oweh.

Final Thoughts: A lot of people really like Jayson Oweh because of just how much potential he has and many have him as a Round 1 guy but in my opinion there is just so much to fix before I’d be willing to draft him that high. He doesn’t have a feel for the edge rusher position whatsoever and even with a good defensive line training him is going to take a very long time. If a team truly wants to unlock his full potential it’s going to take a lot of patience, but the NFL is a pretty cutthroat league and I wouldn’t be surprised to see teams give up on him if he doesn’t show progress early. The range I’d start to consider him is in the middle of Round 2. I think a good team fit for him would be the Giants, because unless Daniel Jones makes a big improvement quickly it doesn’t look like the Giants are going to be contenders in the near future, so Oweh should have time to develop. They also have a need at OLB and Oweh could fill that role for them.