Former undrafted free agent Ola Adeniyi has been dominant to start training camp. Here is how the Steelers may use him in 2019.
Ola Adeniyi quickly went from a player that nobody knew about to a preseason stud last year. Now it appears the 21-year Steelers edge defender is drawing more buzz than ever.
Though he has just 9 defensive snaps as a professional football player, Pittsburgh has high hopes for Adeniyi. I recently wrote an article about the 3 most impressive players so far at camp, and Ola was at the top of the list.
He has been utterly dominant during ‘backs-on-backers’ and has barely lost a rep in this area. Adeniyi has also manhandled Jerald Hawkins so far in camp, and has even humiliated him at times.
Ola Adeniyi has such a violent rip-pull move. pic.twitter.com/9abbbpQkeb
— Tommy Jaggi (@TommyJaggi) July 29, 2019
Recently, Ola received first team reps in Anthony Chickillo’s absence (unspecified injury). Matt Feiler did a much better job standing his ground against Adeniyi, but the second year player was still able to make some plays.
Ola Adeniyi has not only impressed with his array of pass rush moves, but also his ability to drop into coverage. He was recently lined up against Vance McDonald in a drill where the linebackers are asked to cover tight ends or running backs. Adeniyi was able to get the best of Vance on a few plays, and forced the ball incomplete.
It’s hard not to come away impressed so far with what Adeniyi has done early in training camp. It’s no longer a question of whether or not Ola Adeniyi is going to make the team, but how much playing time is he going to receive?
The undrafted player out of Toledo missed most of his rookie year with a hamstring injury that landed him on IR. With first-team reps at training camp, Adeniyi is picking up where he left off last preseason.
Ola has done his best work in camp at right outside linebacker, but was asked to move to the left side to fill in for Chickillo. His ability to move around the formation will be a bonus to the Steelers.
If he continues at this rate, it will be hard for Pittsburgh not to find snaps for him on game day. He will likely have a chance to steal some snaps from Anthony Chickillo, and maybe work his way into a primary backup role.
It is still very early, and we haven’t even played a preseason game yet in 2019. However, there is no denying how good Ola Adeniyi has looked in his second training camp. Let’s hope this run of excellent carries on into the regular season.