Michigan football NFL Draft profiles: IOL Olu Oluwatimi
Michigan football’s tonal shift over the last two years has come largely due to an elite offensive line, winning back-to-back Joe Moore Awards as the best in college football. The 2022 edition of the Wolverines were anchored up front by powerful and cerebral Olu Oluwatimi, who won the Rimington and Outland Awards for his individual play.
Oluwatimi began his college career at Air Force before transferring to Virginia and later Michigan. He started 46 games at center in his career, 14 of which came last season in Ann Arbor. He was the program’s third-ever Rimington winner and its first recipient of the Outland Award. Oluwatimi’s play made him a first-team All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation, Sporting News, FWAA, and AFCA and a second-team selection by the AP.
Here is a look at how Oluwatimi profiles to the next level.
Olu Oluwatimi’s background
Height: 6-foot-2.5
Weight: 309 pounds
School: Michigan
Position: Interior offensive lineman
Projected: 3rd-4th round pick
Measurements (Combine): Height: 6-2 1/2, Weight: 309 lbs., Arm: 32 3/4″, Hand: 8 5/8″
Combine: Vertical jump: 30″, Broad jump: 9’2″, 40-yard dash: 5.38 seconds, 3-Cone drill: DNC, 20-yard shuttle: DNC, Bench press: 29 reps
Measurements (Pro Day): Height: 6-2 3/8″, Weight: 312 lbs, Wingspan: 79 1/4″, Hand: 8 5/8″
Pro Day: Bench Press: DNC, 40-yard dash: DNC, Vertical jump: DNC, Broad jump: DNC, 3-Cone drill: 7.46, 20-yard shuttle: 4.65
Strengths
Oluwatimi is a four-year starter that has logged nearly 3,500 snaps of playing time in his career. That sort of IQ and experience shows up on the field. Oluwatimi had Michigan’s playbook down before spring football last year and puts the work in with regard to his preparation. He knows the most efficient angles to take to get to his target and is assignment-sound, quarterbacking the offensive line and calling out protections with ease. Oluwatimi is also one of the best pass-blocking interior linemen in this class and does well in run-blocking to seal off his man before climbing the ladder and finding someone else to engage.
Weaknesses
His lateral movement skills could use some work, but he has the requisite athleticism to improve here. Right now, he is probably better suited to a scheme that limits how much he has to move to find his target given that everyone is just bigger and faster than what he has seen before. Pad-level consistency is also an area in which he needs to get a lot better. Improving the strength of his lower half is going to help him fire off the ball faster and round out his game by making improvements as a run blocker.
Olu Oluwatimi overview
Most of the knocks against Oluwatimi feel like nitpicks. He looks like a plug-and-play starter at center, and only center, in the NFL. Often times there are guys that can cross over to play guard, but Oluwatimi’s position seems set. The good news is that he has the look of a guy who can come in and compete for a job on day one. And in a league that is increasingly pass-happy, his ability to block on throwing downs makes him more valuable to a lot of teams.
Oluwatimi has the traits and mentality to play in the NFL as long as he wants to, whether it be as a solid starting center or one of the best reserve offensive linemen in the league. His expertise, IQ and intangibles should make him a locker room and culture fit wherever he goes, and he is a pretty darn good football player to boot. When you get into the mid-rounds of the draft, you want a guy who has a good chance to make your roster and be an asset. In that respect, Oluwatimi is one of the safest picks in the entire NFL Draft class.
