Add in Oliver's freakish weight-room strength (650 Squat, 405 Bench Press, 385 Power Clean), and the total package is an ultra-rare combination of physical gifts." (AP Photo/AJ Mast) AP "Houston defensive lineman Ed Oliver does the bench press drill at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019. For years Ed Oliver has been heralded as no. Houston defensive lineman Ed Oliver does the bench press drill at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019. Playing inside like that, and just because he was a badass in college, Oliver had to face a ton of double-teams and other kinds of extra attention, and it didn’t seem to bother him one bit.That being said, Oliver will still need to test and measure well at the combine before we will see just how high his stock will go. Oliver plans to run at his campus Pro Day workout on March 28.He bench pressed 225 pounds 32 times on Saturday.Oliver had an impressive 36-inch vertical leap Sunday.INDIANAPOLIS -- University of Houston star defensive lineman Ed Oliver isn't running the 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine.Asked to describe his style of play, Oliver replied: "Fast, violent. I see it every year from a prospect or two that I do a breakdown on, and it is never not infuriating to watch. Of course on the occasions when the coaches had him aligned wider, he balled the F out there, too. That’s what we used to call a “hot” stunt.Just based on the limited pass-rushing reps I did see from Oliver, he looked to be one of your best, if not your best, pass rushers, but you don’t allow him to get up the field to pass rush?It’s been a while, but plenty of folks thought Nkemdiche would be a beast on the next level when he came out of school.
(AP Photo/AJ Mast) Oliver also registered 32 bench press reps, the same as Ndamukong Suh, and previously weighed in at the NFL Scouting Combine at 6-2, 287 pounds, nearly the same as Aaron Donald. Houston DL Ed Oliver bench-pressed 225 pounds 32 TIMES! Big numbers. 1 overall pick material, but the lack of improvement during his junior year is pretty troubling despite his unreal athletic gifts. But that isn’t something a team will have to worry about with Oliver, for the most part.On several occasions, that allowed him to not only hold his ground but also eventually split those double-teams without being moved off the ball very much, if at all. I’m saying that I see Oliver a similar prospect who is already closer to being a beast than Nkemdiche was when he was drafted in the first round.And, again, I think Oliver still has a lot of room to grow, so his ceiling should actually be higher than Nkemdiche’s heading into the league. He was looking to take cats’ heads off. Houston defensive lineman Ed Oliver does the bench press drill at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019. Ed Oliver could be one of the top-10 picks in this year's draft, and he had a great all-around showing at the NFL Combine, just as expected. Oliver also, to my knowledge, doesn’t have anything like the off-field baggage that came with Nkemdiche, either.I hardly ever see a nose tackle who consistently has the best get-off on his defensive line, but with Oliver it wasn’t even close on most plays. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)He finished with 193 career tackles, 54 for losses, 13 1/2 sacks and six forced fumbles.Oliver recorded 54 tackles, 14 1/2 for losses and three sacks last season. Ed Oliver will be even better with the Bills. For all I know he may well already have some fantastic finesse moves as well.In addition to his power and quickness, another thing I was impressed with was how active and effective Oliver was with his hands. That was more than just a little bit frustrating for me as an analyst.That’s truly a big deal for me and something I look for and value when I’m evaluating defensive line prospects, because that will translate over well for Oliver in the NFL.After seeing how teams tried to double him all the time, even when he wasn’t the three-technique, at the very least he could’ve have drawn enough attention that his teammates would have had an easier time trying to get to the quarterback.I also saw him chase down a screen from behind and blow up the running back on the tackle.The Buffalo Bills picked Ed Oliver ninth overall in the 2019 NFL Draft.
In the bench press, Oliver is basically Ndamukong Suh. It’s simply too easy for them to make plays in college most weeks, so they never really hone their technique. He was always playing on the opponent’s side of the line of scrimmage, and while he wasn’t always the guy who ended up making the tackle for a loss, he was often the guy who forced it.It was actually Oliver’s unique combination of power and quickness that allowed him to hold up so well playing zero nose as much as he did, even though he isn’t a huge guy by any means at 6’2 and 290 pounds.
He’d be off the ball and engaging with the opposing offensive linemen while his teammates were still stuck in their stances.Oliver wasn’t just getting in some cardio, either. He also employed this technique as a pass rusher to pretty good effect, as well.I still don’t think Houston should’ve played him at nose tackle as much as it did in those games, but there is no question that he balled out when he was lined up there.