Injuries are part of any player’s NFL journey, but significant injuries early in a player’s career often result in quick judgments about a player’s durability. All too often we see that players’ tabs are labeled with a “vulnerable to injury” label, which can be a tough impression to shake. Third year Austin Bryant, currently injured, wears that label around, and if Edge Russian two-year-old Julian Okwara can’t stay on the field this season, he may be heading for that dreaded label too.
This is the third in a series of articles at Pride of Detroit where we’ll examine the number of snaps Detroit Lions Rookies in the 2020 season. You can read the previous articles in this series here: Jeff Okudah, D’Andre Swift.
Julian Okwara, EDGE: Round 3, Selection 67
Early expectations
Okwara was generally considered a healthy football player in Notre Dame until his senior year when he broke his left leg mid-season. Although he was unable to exercise prior to being drafted, it was expected that in the training camp he would be fully healed and ready to contribute.
With Trey Flowers and brother Romeo Okwara as starters (as well as a motley crew of JACK linebackers), the Lions Julians wanted to use above-average athleticism in an early pass-rusher role that would enable him to slowly move into the NFL.
Okwara’s 2020 snapshot is counting
The table below shows the snap numbers for the entire Okwara rookie season broken down into Defensive Snaps, Percentage of Defensive Snaps, Special Teams Snaps, and Percentage of Special Teams Snaps.
Julian Okwara 2020 Snap Counts
analysis
The Lions were in no hurry to drop the 67th overall pick into the mix early in his career. After Okwara only played seven defensive snaps in the opening game, Okwara was a healthy scratch in Week 2 as the Lions had to replace six starters in the lineup and holding a situational pass rusher was seen as a luxury. Okwara’s role didn’t change over the next two weeks, seeing minimal snapshots late in the games, but this was often an issue as the previous coaching staff approached the rookie’s involvement.
After goodbye week, when the roles of most rookies are increasing, Okwara injured his right leg (not the leg that was injured in college) and ended up on the injured reserve shortly afterwards. He wouldn’t train for the next seven weeks but returned to the team in week 13 and eventually worked his way back into the active squad in week 16. In the last two games, Okwara managed to double his snaps per game – a likely targeted snap count for earlier in the season – but only a modest three tackles over 39 snaps.
Expectations for 2021
With Flowers and Romeo Okwara returning to their starting roles, Julian appears to be the most talented reserve edge rusher in the roster and could easily be the primary reinforcement at both pass-rushing linebacker spots. He’s challenged for snapshots by the aforementioned, often-injured Bryant and former first-round pick Charles Harris.
While Okwara has the knack of being an early impact post and he’ll have the opportunity to see snaps, it’s important to keep things in view – he only has 69 defensive snaps in the NFL and he probably needs something else Fine-tune your game.
Expect Okwara’s lead role as a situational pass rusher to remain throughout his development, with his athleticism and virtue allowing him to expand his game beyond that role. For example, of the edge rushers currently on the list, he’s the one talented enough to get into coverage effectively – something we’ve seen a couple of times in solitary representations at the mini camp.
The bottom line is that Okwara has starter upside, but it’s not there yet. If he can stay healthy and work on the nuances of his game, he should see his role and production grow as the season progresses.
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