Baltimore Ravens: Odafe Oweh has phenomenal debut in tough loss

Baltimore Ravens rookie pass rusher Odafe Oweh was one of the best rookies in the entire NFL week one. He shined in a tough loss in Las Vegas.

The Baltimore Ravens lost an absolute heartbreaker on Monday Night Football, the week one finale, and one of the most entertaining games of the entire week. As bummed out as Ravens fans are that their team couldn’t pull out an overtime win, especially after some pretty incredible luck in overtime after it appeared the Las Vegas Raiders had scored the winning touchdown, not all was bad in this game.

One of the most impressive players on the field for either team was Baltimore Ravens rookie pass rusher Odafe Oweh, a first-round pick out of Penn State who was considered to be one of the rawest prospects coming out despite his physical skills.

And when I say “physical skills” I am, of course, talking about his ridiculous athletic talent, especially considering his size.

It’s not hyperbole to say that Oweh is one of the most athletic defensive ends to come out of the college ranks in modern football history. This guy is a freak among freaks.

How many guys at 257 pounds are running a 4.37?

You might be able to count on one hand the number of times you see that type of player come along in your lifetime.

Baltimore Ravens: Odafe Oweh dominates in rookie debut

The final stat line for Baltimore Ravens rookie Odafe Oweh doesn’t tell the whole story of just how well he played in this game.

• 2 tackles
• 1 sack
• 2 QB hits

Let’s look at a few of his big plays. Here he is working against fellow first-round pick Alex Leatherwood to get a sack on Derek Carr, the first of his NFL career.

Oweh has to counter his initial move on the pass rush as he tried to take a wider arc to the QB, but when he spun back inside, his quickness was too much for Leatherwood and it’s all effort and hustle from there.

Here he is in the overtime period at a critical juncture of the game. The Baltimore Ravens had just given up what appeared to be a game-winning touchdown catch to Raiders receiver Bryan Edwards. After review, the ball was placed at the one.

A couple of plays later, Leatherwood was popped for a false start and the Raiders had to throw to get the ball into the end zone.

The Ravens made them pay for the mistake, and it was Oweh making a huge impact on this throw from Derek Carr with a pressure and a huge hit on Carr.

There was another play in the fourth quarter where Oweh absolutely blew up the Raiders’ line and had a really nice tackle for loss doing what he does best — playing the run.

Dating back to his days at Penn State, Oweh has always been very solid against the run but he needed refinement as a pass rusher. The Baltimore Ravens were a great landing spot for him as they have been one of the best teams at developing pass rushers through the years.

As raw as he was coming out of the Nittany Lions program, he looked regular season ready in this game and was outstanding in his rookie debut.