In the 2021 draft the Dallas Cowboys selected Osa Odighizuwa with the 75th pick and to say he’s been underrated would be an understatement. As a rookie, Odighizuwa started out on fire the first five weeks of the season recording 19 pressures (3rd), 3 sacks (3rd), 4 quarterback hits (6th), and 12 hurries (8th). While that start was amazing, Odighizuwa finished the rest of the year with just 14 pressures (37th), 0 sacks (last), 1 quarterback hit (63rd), and 13 hurries (21st).
Despite hitting a rookie wall, he still had the same amount of pressures in the last 13 weeks as every other Cowboys defensive tackle combined. Outplaying every other Cowboys defensive tackle is something Odighizuwa continued to do in 2022, but in a much larger way.
In his sophomore season there was no wall that he hit. Not only was he significantly better than every other Cowboys defensive tackle as a pass rusher, but Odighizuwa had 26 stops — 12 more than he had in 2021. He also recorded a career high in pressures against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 5 with seven total. His previous high was five against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 2 of 2021.
All of this translated into the 2022 playoffs when Osa recorded seven pressures, oen sack, six hurries, five stops, and the highest PFF Grade among all defensive tackles in the playoffs (85.2). Throughout the playoffs there was only one player on the Dallas Cowboys that recorded more pressures, hurries, and stops — Micah Parsons.
Not only is Odighizuwa the most underrated player on the Cowboys, but he’s still just 24 years old and only getting better.
