Madubuike brings interior pass rush
Texas A&M defensive lineman Justin Madubuike has tried to pattern his game after Kansas City’s Chris Jones, the Los Angeles Rams’ Aaron Donald and Tampa Bay’s Ndamukong Suh.
“I feel like I have twitch and quickness like Aaron Donald,” Madubuike said at the combine. “I feel like I have the strength and power to push the pocket like Chris Jones. I feel like I’m aggressive like Suh. It’s just different pieces of everybody to mold me.”
If he turns out to be anything like those three NFL veterans, the team that drafts Madubuike will have hit a home run.
An interior pass rusher (11 sacks his last two years) who can also flip out to end, Madubuike is expected to be a second-round pick.
The Broncos addressed defensive line by trading a seventhround pick to Tennessee for Jurrell Casey. They also re-signed Shelby Harris (one-year deal) and placed a second-round tender on nose tackle Mike Purcell.
But another big body could be needed. Dre’Mont Jones and DeMarcus Walker are more passrushing defensive ends than early-down run-stoppers and Walker is in the final year of his deal. If South Carolina’s Javon Kinlaw falls to No. 15, general manager John Elway will have a difficult choice — take the big man instead of addressing needs at receiver and cornerback?
If the Broncos don’t take a defensive lineman in the first round, Madubuike (6foot-3/293 pounds) will be available later.
Madubuike was a fourstar high school recruit and one of the top five strong-side defensive ends nationally. He had 20 tackles in a backup role as a true freshman before starting 22 of his 25 games in 2018-19.
Madubuike had 5 ½ sacks apiece as a sophomore and junior and 22 total tackles for lost yardage.
“I’m quick, I’m powerful, I’m strong,” he said. “I create pressure on the quarterback by the way I play. … I believe I’m a guy that can definitely come into an NFL organization and make things happen quickly.”
Madubuike’s final college game was at topranked LSU in November. He played 50 charted snaps. LSU rolled 50-7, outgaining A&M 553-169.
Madubuike was a “factor” on only five snaps and struggled against Tigers center Lloyd Cushenberry. He started the game with a reckless horse-collar tackle of quarterback Joe Burrow (free 15 yards) and later committed an off-sides penalty. Another knock was when his zeal to make a play and get upfield instead put him out of position.
The highlights: Used a quick first step to beat Cushenberry for a tackle for loss. … Solo sack in 3.00 seconds when he stunted from left to right and got the advantage on the left guard Adrian McGee (making the sack with McGee draped over him). … Beat guard Ed Ingram for a quarterback pressure. … Credited with a half-sack when he cleaned up on a coverage stop. … Beat McGee for a quarterback pressure.
Madubuike’s versatility — he lined up against Cushenberry as the nose tackle in a three-man front and also as a three-technique tackle and end in a fourman front — should be attractive to the Broncos.
“Our defensive coordinator (Mike Elko) put me everywhere on the defensive line,” Madubuike said. “I just feel comfortable playing throughout the whole defensive front and I believe I played well at all those positions. Any team that picks me, I’ll be able to be flexible.”