The 2027 NFL Draft feels like forever away, and we're all caught up in the start of the NFL season. Regardless, it's never too early to look ahead to the Draft. This weekly series will take a closer look at some of the prospects the Carolina Panthers could select in the 2027 iteration of the Draft. In this series, we'll only be looking at prospects the Panthers could seriously consider. This week our profile will focus on Florida Gators defensive lineman Emmanuel Oyebadejo.
Oyebadejo (6'6", 299 lbs.) was a soccer player in Manchester, England growing up. A growth spurt saw him pivot from the pitch to the basketball court, where he played for England's U16 and U18 teams. Oyebadejo originally enrolled at the University of Exeter to study medicine. He started playing American football in 2023 when a coach at Exeter saw the mountain of a man on the sideline and recruited him. His natural affinity for the sport caught the eye of Jacksonville State, who recruited him stateside. After an injury before the 2024 season, he played in all 14 games for the Gamecocks in 2025, getting him some national attention from big time programs. In his first season of college football in the US, he put up 43 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and five passes defended. He stayed in state and transferred to Florida, where he already has 4.5 TFLs and 3.5 sacks in just six games so far with the Gators.
Oyebadejo looks like he was built in a lab. He pairs his tall, long, and heavy frame with elite athleticism (4.72 forty at about 300 lbs.). He uses his speed and mass to convert all that momentum into a deadly power rush off the edge but has the versatility to line up anywhere from the B gap to a wide 9 alignment. The level of competition does not seem to bother him too much, notching 2.5 sacks in his first SEC game against Auburn.
Obviously Oyebadejo is a raw prospect since he's only been playing football since 2023. His technique and hand usage need a lot of work, his pad level is often too high, and his tackling is inconsistent. He has also been relegated to a rotational role despite having the raw physical tools to be an every down lineman.
Oyebadejo is a unicorn in terms of height, length, weight, strength, and speed. Even though he has only played in about 20 college games, the upside is incredibly tantalizing. To put his physical attributes into perspective: he is taller, heavier, longer, and faster than JJ Watt was coming out of Wisconsin. That's the type of perfect world scenario teams see in Oyebadejo. Still, right now he's projected as a Day Two pick because the sample size is just so small. He'd maintain a rotational role at first in the NFL, but that is exactly what the Panthers will be looking for next season. With Jaelan Phillips and the returning Nic Scourton projected to be starting on the edge and Derrick Brown, Lee Hunter, and potentially Turk Wharton (assuming he is not a cap casualty) being your starters on the line, Oyebadejo could be a player to slot in for any of those spots aside from nose tackle. That would allow him to slowly acclimate to the NFL game while learning from some very talented pros in the process. The Panthers also have a history of rostering late-to-football guys who grew up in England; Efe Obada was a great story and fan favorite during his time with the team.
What do you think, Panthers fans? If Emmanuel Oyebadejo is available when the Panthers select in the 2027 NFL Draft, should they take him? Sound off in the comments!
