Washington Redskins undrafted sleeper: DT Ondre Pipkins

The Washington Redskins capped off a very solid 2017 NFL Draft class by signing a nice sleeper in Texas Tech DL Ondre Pipkins…

Ondre Pipkins was once a prized five-star recruit of the Michigan Wolverines in the class of 2012. He was recruited by every major college in the country, including the likes of Alabama, Florida, Ohio State, and Oklahoma, but decided to play for the Wolverines and be part of the rebuilding of that program.

After multiple concussions, a torn ACL, and a neck injury (not in that order), Pipkins says he was asked to sign medical scholarship papers that would have essentially ended his collegiate career. It’s not necessarily that Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh wanted Pipkins to give up on his playing days, nor is it that he necessarily cared more about his health. Pipkins thinks the motivation at the time was to simply free up one more scholarship.

"“College football is a business. New coaches have to win games. They want to go with guys they think can win. If I’m a victim of making room, so be it. But if there is no concrete reason to disqualify a player. He should have the right to keep playing.”* Ondre Pipkins, MLive (2015)"

The journey for Pipkins from that point on wasn’t all that complicated. He felt like he could still play football, so he decided to transfer to Texas Tech, where he was required to sit out a year per NCAA rules.

Pipkins was supposed to graduate from Michigan in 2015, but because of injuries and NCAA transfer rules, he will be 23 years old as a rookie.

Listed by some as 325 pounds, Pipkins checked in at the Texas Tech pro day at 307 pounds, or close to the weight he was coming out of high school. He ran an impressive 5.17 second 40-yard dash at that size, and showed off his quickness off the snap in his time at Texas Tech.

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This past season, where he saw his most extensive collegiate playing time, Pipkins led Texas Tech’s interior defensive linemen with 32 tackles and also racked up four tackles for loss. The talent has always been there for Pipkins, but injuries and the situation surrounding his transfer late in the game sort of hindered his development.

Now with the Redskins, I think Pipkins will have a great opportunity to compete for nose tackle snaps and potentially offer the quickness and versatility to kick out and play some defensive end in a three-man front.

Players with Pipkins’ size and quickness will no doubt find a home in the NFL if they put their head to the plow and work hard day in and day out. I think this has the potential to be a very nice find for the Redskins, who lost Chris Baker — another talented former undrafted free agent — this offseason.

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