2022 NFL Draft: Transfer Portal Paying Off For Arnold Ebiketie

Temple transfer Arnold Ebiketie is having a good season with Penn State, and making noise for the 2022 NFL Draft.

Every year, the college football season before the draft features some big time risers. Kenny Pickett is having a great year with Pitt, and Jameson Williams is making a move at Alabama. Some players transfer and see a great uptick in production and success, like Kenneth Walker III, and that’s what’s happening with Penn State rusher Arnold Ebiketie. He’s put his name on the map for the 2022 NFL Draft.

Ebiketie played three seasons at Temple, and had a season with eight tackles for loss and four sacks in six games in 2020. He was definitely someone that analysts and scouts had eyes on in the summer, and the transfer opened some eyes, as that provided a big opportunity in a great conference. So far in 2021, Ebiketie has 12 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks in eight games, and has started to play excellent football down the stretch.

He’s saving the best for last in 2021, and it’s been against some top tier competition. Ebiketie had one of his best games of the year against Ohio State’s Nicholas Petit-Frere, who is considered a top 50 player in the 2022 NFL Draft right now. He won with quickness as a rusher and made Petit-Frere give up some ground as he turned that quickness and explosion off the snap into power.

The traits are certainly there with Ebiketie. He has the athleticism to win with quickness inside or outside, and has good hand usage at contact. His rip move is very good and he’s great at quickly shedding blocks against the run and as a rusher.

As he plays well down the stretch, Arnold Ebiketie will continue to turn heads for the 2022 NFL Draft. It may be a deep class for this cycle, but there’s no reason that Ebiketie will get lost in the shuffle with his skill set.