The 2027 NFL Draft is still a long way off, but Emmanuel Oyebadejo is the kind of name worth filing away now. The Florida Gators defensive lineman has already forced his way onto the radar, and for the Carolina Panthers, he fits the profile of a player who could make sense down the line.
Oyebadejo’s path to football is anything but ordinary. He grew up in Manchester, England, first as a soccer player before a growth spurt sent him to basketball.
He played for England’s U16 and U18 teams, then enrolled at the University of Exeter to study medicine. He didn’t start playing American football until 2023, when a coach at Exeter noticed the “mountain of a man” on the sideline and brought him into the sport.
From there, Jacksonville State came calling, and after an injury before the 2024 season, he appeared in all 14 games for the Gamecocks in 2025.
That first season in college football in the United States put him on the map. He finished with 43 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and five passes defended. Florida then kept him in state, and he has wasted little time producing for the Gators, already posting 4.5 TFLs and 3.5 sacks in just six games.
The appeal starts with the body type. At 6’6” and 299 pounds, Oyebadejo has the kind of frame that jumps off the screen, and he pairs it with elite athleticism, including a 4.72 forty at about 300 pounds.
That blend of speed and mass gives him real power as a pass rusher, and he can line up anywhere from the B gap to a wide 9 alignment. He also showed he can handle bigger stages, piling up 2.5 sacks in his first SEC game against Auburn.
The flip side is that he is still very much a work in progress. He has only been playing football since 2023, and that inexperience shows up in his technique, hand usage, pad level, and tackling. He has also been used in a rotational role, even though his physical tools suggest more every-down potential.
That combination of upside and rawness is why the projection is so intriguing. Oyebadejo is a unicorn in terms of height, length, weight, strength, and speed, and even with only about 20 college games under his belt, the ceiling is obvious. He is taller, heavier, longer, and faster than JJ Watt was coming out of Wisconsin, which is the kind of perfect-world comparison teams dream on.
For now, though, he is still viewed as a Day Two pick because the sample size is so small. In the NFL, he would likely begin in a rotational role, and that may be exactly what the Panthers would want.
With Jaelan Phillips and the returning Nic Scourton projected to start on the edge, and Derrick Brown, Lee Hunter, and potentially Turk Wharton in place on the line if he is not a cap casualty, Oyebadejo could fill in at any of those spots except nose tackle. That would give him time to adjust while learning from established veterans.
There is also a Carolina connection that makes the fit feel familiar. The Panthers have had success with late-to-football players from England before, and Efe Obada was both a great story and a fan favorite during his time with the team.
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