Ben Banogu, DE, Texas Christian #15

6034, 250, 4.62

Notes: Moved to McKinney, TX with his mother and family from Nigeria when he was 6 months old. Not highly recruited out of high school. Broke his arm as a freshman and missed a significant portion of his junior year due to a broken femur. Redshirted as a freshman at Louisiana-Monroe in 2014. Started all 13 games at ULM, recording 45 tackles, 14.5 tackles-for-loss, 5 sacks, 2 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery in 2015. Sat out season due to NCAA transfer rules in 2016. Started all 14 gamed at left defensive end for TCU, with 49 tackles, 16.5 TFL, 8.5 sacks, 3 FF and 1 PBU in 2017. Started all 13 games, had 57 tackles, 18 TFL, 8.5 sacks, 2 FF and 2 FR (one touchdown) in 2018. Combine – measured 6034, 250, ran 4.62 forty, 1.47 10-yard split (tops among all defensive linemen), did 23 reps, 40-inch vertical jump, 11-2 broad jump (longest by DL since 2003), 4.27 20-yard shuttle, 7.02 three-cone drill.

Positives: Explosive off the snap. Gets upfield quickly. Very effective speed rusher off the edge. Can dip his shoulder. Good agility and change of direction. Good inside move. Polished array of pass-rush moves and technique. Can generate power with his explosiveness and hand use. Relentless in pursuit. Chases plays down from the backside. Can drop in coverage on the backside. Very good production. Student of the game. Works hard and wants to get better.

Negatives: Lacks size, bulk and gets overpowered at times. Needs to get stronger at the point of attack to stack against the run. Doesn’t show elite bend.

Summary: Needs to add bulk to his frame, but does a lot of things well and can rush the passer. Seems best suited for an edge rusher role in a 3-4 defense.