Ifeadi Odenigbo’s Dynasty IDP Potential
Losing Everson Griffen is difficult for the Vikings. For many years, he was the face of Minnesota’s defense and exploded in the mid-2010s’ as one of the league’s premier edge rushers. That resulted in four Pro Bowl appearances and a Second-Team All-Pro spot in 2017.
Since Griffen opted out of his contract, however, he remains an enticing option as a free agent.
As for the Vikings, barring any major changes coming from a draft pick, this allows former seventh-rounder Ifeadi Odenigbo to take control as a starter on the edge. Odenigbo was drafted by Minnesota in 2017 before being waived, signed again, and waived again. After a brief time with the Browns and Cardinals, he returned to the Vikings for good, making the 53-man roster in 2019.
This ended in Minnesota’s favor, as Odenigbo proved a valuable backup to Griffen and Danielle Hunter. Though he started zero games in 2019 and played the fourth-most snaps of any edge rusher on the team, he finished with 7.0 sacks (one behind Griffen), 18 solo tackles, 7 TFL, and 13 QB hits. This was all done on 410 snaps according to Rotowire.
There’s more; In addition, Odenigbo produced 18 pressures according to Pro Football Reference’s advanced statistics. That’s not bad considering he was fighting for playing time with Stephen Weatherly and was also behind one of the best pass-rushing duos in all of football.
Odenigbo’s rise to the 53-man roster is a great story, and his Excalibur celebration is one of the league’s more memorable in my opinion. Beyond that, however, do his stats suggest there’s potential to be an IDP gem? Let’s take a look at the tape and find out for ourselves!
What’s unique about Odenigbo’s situation is that he’s capable of playing as both an edge and interior pass rusher. This is more than you’d normally expect from a seventh-round pick, and being in the Mike Zimmer defensive scheme means his skill set is going to get maximized to the best of its ability.
Working against the center in the A-gap, Odenigbo shows a great deal of burst off the line of scrimmage. What allows him to cause pressure on this play is his instinct to duck his head ever so slightly and negate the blocking of the center. Ultimately, Odenigbo wastes little time in dealing a sack on rookie quarterback Daniel Jones, taking him down in just a little more than two seconds.
Odenigbo’s quickness, as you’d already expect, lends itself well against the run game in addition. Take for example this snap in a huge Sunday Night win at Dallas. On an attempted go-ahead drive late in the fourth quarter, Odenigbo made one of if not the biggest plays of his career with this tackle for a loss on Ezekiel Elliot. Third and short, he’s able to read the play correctly and goes in sync with Elliot’s movements, racing past two linemen en route to taking the running back down for a loss of two.
Against the Bears in week 17, Odenigbo played really well in spite of a loss (the Vikings rested their starters in order to prepare for the playoffs the following week), registering a sack, two quarterback hits, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. This time, he’s lined up in the edge against Chicago left tackle Charles Leno.
Plays like this show just why the Vikings are a pass-rushing factory. With players as great as Griffen, Hunter, Jared Allen and others becoming household names in Minnesota, we can see that the organization has had little trouble finding talent in the front.
With a counter swipe at his disposal, Odenigbo can’t sack the quarterback, but he can come away with a QB hit and massive pressure on Mitchell Trubisky. There’s also a good use of his bend here, as he loses very little traction on his way to Trubisky.
Once again against Leno, Odenigbo (in combination with former Viking Weatherly) is able to pressure Trubisky once more. A quick rip move does the trick as he forces a low throw from the quarterback.
By far the best play of this game came late in the fourth quarter, where Odenigbo (again as an edge rusher) realizes he doesn’t have a good enough angle to tackle Trubisky, so instead, he plays the ball, swatting it out of Trubisky’s hands. He’s able to recover the fumble and initially runs it into the end zone for a touchdown (which was ultimately reversed). It’s just a great play and awareness from the unheralded pass rusher.
So overall, I would say Ifeadi Odenigbo clearly has IDP potential in him. It’s clear that he hasn’t had enough experience to rank with the greats (one of which includes teammate Danielle Hunter), but his skill set is intriguing enough where buying low could lead to a high reward. He’s quick enough to dominate in the snaps he’s been given, can execute inside or on the edge, and is extremely cheap for the Vikings, as they’re essentially paying him pennies to start for them in 2020.
Replacing Everson Griffen won’t be easy, as he was the heart and soul of that Vikings pass rush attack for many years. However, Odenigbo can still be a nuisance to offenses on his own. Similar to how Griffen was able to break out after years of starting behind talented pass rushers, Odenigbo has a shot to do the very same, which is why I think he could provide value in IDP leagues for the right (low) price.
If you’re looking for a pass rusher cheap and don’t want to spend too many resources to get one in your dynasty drafts, you might want to check out Odenigbo. He’s skilled enough where Zimmer and company trust him in a starting role for at least a year, and with Hunter at his opposite side, there’s a possibility the Vikings defense won’t miss a beat without Griffen. After all, they’ve gone young and cheaper at the position with a player who has potential in him.
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