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How playing at 3 colleges boosted Farmington Hills native Ovie Oghoufo's NFL draft stock
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- How playing at 3 colleges boosted Farmington Hills native Ovie Oghoufo's NFL draft stock
NFL teams used to frown upon transfers. If a player couldn't handle the adversity that came with playing college football, teams reasoned, how would they manage in the NFL?
But transfers have become more common in the age of NIL and more accepted by NFL teams. There is a benefit, they've found, to learning and excelling in different systems, at different schools, for different coaches — something Ovie Oghoufo knows well.
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A Farmington Hills Harrison graduate and potential Day 3 pick in this month's NFL draft, Oghoufo played at three of college football's most prominent programs over the past six years.
He spent three seasons at Notre Dame before transferring to Texas for two years, then started 11 games last fall at LSU.
His teams went a combined 56-20 and made five bowl appearances; only the 2021 Texas team had a losing record. He made 31 career starts and had 9.5 sacks. And he left school with a bachelor's degree in film and television (from Notre Dame) and graduate certificates in strategic communications (from Texas) and educational technology (from LSU).
LSU's Ovie Oghoufo recovers a fumble against Army.
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"I've seen it all," Oghoufo told the Free Press in a phone interview last week. "(Teams like) my ability to adapt within those different defenses, find my way through and become a key contributor and make big plays. That's kind of how the league is, kind of don't know where you're going to go and where you're going to end up, so being able to be adaptive to situations and be an easy learner, that's only going to help."
Oghoufo signed with Notre Dame in 2018 as one of the top middle linebacker prospects in the country.
He redshirted as a freshman, packed on 30 pounds and moved to defensive end, then played as a backup the next two seasons before heading to Texas as a graduate transfer.
At Texas, Oghoufo moved to strong-side linebacker and blossomed as an edge defender. He had 42 tackles and two sacks in eight starts in 2021, then helped the Longhorns win eight games and make a bowl in 2022.
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"Texas definitely catapulted me," Oghoufo said. "I feel like I had to grow up real quick. I graduated in three years, came into college early and I was just ready. I was ready for it to be my time and again, like the work that I put in, the coach – the trust that Coach Sark (Texas coach Steve Sarkisian) and the rest of the defensive staff had in me. Everything contributed, everything came full circle. I always say like, when preparation meets opportunity, that's when success is going to happen so that's the formula of how success started happening."
With a desire to play his last year in the SEC, Oghoufo transferred last spring to LSU, where he reunited with head coach Brian Kelly, who recruited him to Notre Dame.
At LSU, Oghoufo followed the same protocol he did when he arrived at Texas: Live in the film room and spend his downtime with coaches to learn a new playbook and new terminology. He switched positions back to defensive end and finished the season with 2.5 sacks and 34 tackles in 13 games.
"None of this was planned," Oghoufo said. "Going to LSU, going to Texas, none of that was planned. It's kind of like you got to stay where you're feet are and take everything one step at a time cause things can happen, but at the end of the day (I'm happy) where my journey has taken me and I'm still not where I need to get to."
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After taking part in the New Orleans Saints local day last week, Oghoufo is scheduled to visit the Detroit Lions for their local day workout Tuesday.
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He said he plans to work out as a linebacker to show off his versatility after doing defensive line drills at LSU's pro day last month, and he's been watching film on Jack Campbell of late to get an idea of how he fits into the Lions' defensive system.
Texas defensive end Ovie Oghoufo (18) battles Alabama offense, including Alabama quarterback Bryce Young (9) during the second half of the Longhorns game against the Crimson Tide at Royal-Memorial Stadium in Austin on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022. Alabama won the game 20-19 with a late field goal.
A Lions fan growing up, Oghoufo said having the opportunity to work out and potentially play for his hometown team is "surreal."
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"I've always been a big Megatron fan, Calvin Johnson fan," he said. "Going to this local pro day and being able to perform in front of my city team is definitely like a surreal experience and I'm excited for it, for sure."
The Lions typically host around two dozen prospects for local day visits and/or workouts. Here is a partial list of other players expected to attend Tuesday's event (Local visits do not count against a team's 30-player visit limit.):
S Jordan Anderson, UCLA; OL Karsen Barnhart , Michigan; LB Michael Barrett, Michigan; DT Judge Culpepper, Toledo; QB Theo Day, Northern Iowa; DB Josh DeBerry, Texas A&M; WR Hamze El-Zayat, Eastern Michigan; DT James Ester, Northern Illinois; CB Kalon Gervin, Kansas; OLB Jaylen Harrell, Michigan; OL Trevor Keegan , Michigan; LB Chase Kline, Eastern Michigan; WR Tanner Knue, Eastern Michigan; CB Chris McDonald, Toledo; WR Tre Mosley, Michigan State; DE Ovie Oghoufo, LSU; DL Ruke Orhorhoro*, Clemson; S Reggie Pearson, Oklahoma; DL Darius Robinson, Missouri; DT Justin Rogers, Auburn; DB Mike Sainristil , Michigan; WR Roman Wilson , Michigan.
*Already made local visit
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Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
Feeling a draft?
What:2024 NFL draft.
Where:Detroit.
The schedule:Round 1 — 8 p.m. April 25; Rounds 2-3 — 7 p.m. April 26; Rounds 4-7 — Noon.
TV:ABC, ESPN, NFL Network.
Lions' picks (with overall pick in parentheses):Round 1 — No. 29 (29); Round 2 — No. 29 (61); Round 3 — No. 9 (73), No. 29 (92); Round 5 — No. 29 (163); Round 6 — No. 29 (207); Round 7 — No. 29 (247).
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions NFL draft local day: These prospects expected to attend
