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Top 10 impact college football defenders in 2017

Minkah Fitzpatrick Alabama 2018 NFL Draft
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, linebacker, Oklahoma

Last season was this Nigerian-born linebacker’s coming out party. After spending his first two seasons at Oklahoma as a rarely-utilized role player, Okoronkwo played in 12 games and became an integral player on the defensive front.

He racked up 71 tackles, 12 for a loss and nine sacks. According to Pro Football Focus, he also pressured opposing quarterbacks 36 times on 262 rushes, which is darn impressive. With excellent quickness, underrated strength and hand work which has only gotten better over the years, he is a nightmare on the edge.

Okoronkwo could have declared for the 2017 NFL draft and nobody would have thought it odd. But he wanted to get his degree and perfect his craft a bit more at the college level before attacking the next level with a vengeance in 2018.

“It was easy for me,” he said of the decision, via Brooke Pryor of NewsOK. “I get my degree next semester so why not (stay), and then I get a whole ‘nother year to get better. It’s my first year starting. I feel like everybody makes great strides from their first year starting to the second year. So I want to see what I can do next year before I go to the NFL.”

We can’t wait to see what he does for an encore after last season’s accomplishments.

The guys in television are already going gaga over Okoronkwo. Mel Kiper Jr. sees him as the second senior outside linebacker coming off the board in next year’s NFL draft, which isn’t at all a stretch.

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