Defensive line, Minnesota, 2018–⁠21

Esezi Otomewo

Number: No. 9
Height: 6′6″
Weight: 285 lb
Class (2021): Junior
Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
Born: Mar 9, 1999

Esezi Otomewo played defensive line at Minnesota (2018–⁠21). The Minnesota Vikings took Otomewo in round 5, No. 165 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Best season: 30; Tackles, 2021 (Minnesota, 9–⁠4)
Drafted: No. 165; Round 5, 2022 NFL Draft (Minnesota Vikings)

2sacks, career highvs. West Virginia, 2021

Defense

Tackles, season by season, with his team’s record

7–⁠611–⁠2AP 103–⁠49–⁠4

Season	Team	Tkl	Solo	TFL	Sacks	Hur
2018	Minnesota	12	7	1	0	0
2019	Minnesota	22	6	5	2.5	0
2020	Minnesota	15	11	1	1	2
2021	Minnesota	30	24	4.5	3	4
Career		79	48	11.5	6.5	6

Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls.

On the roster

Season	Team	No.	Pos	Class	Ht	Wt
2018	Minnesota	9	DL	Yr 1
2019	Minnesota	9	DL	Yr 2
2020	Minnesota	9	DL	Yr 3
2021	Minnesota	9	DL	Jr. (Yr 4)	6′6″	285

As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.

Game by game

2021 Minnesota 11 games, 30 tackles, 3 sacks

Date	Opponent	Result	Tkl	Solo	TFL	Sacks
Sep 11	vs.Miami (OH)	W 31–⁠26	3	2	0	0
Sep 25	vs.Bowling Green	L 10–⁠14	1	1	0	0
Oct 2	atPurdue	W 20–⁠13	4	4	1	0
Oct 16	vs.Nebraska	W 30–⁠23	4	2	1.5	1
Oct 23	vs.Maryland	W 34–⁠16	3	2	0	0
Oct 30	atNorthwestern	W 41–⁠14	2	2	0	0
Nov 6	vs.Illinois	L 6–⁠14	5	4	0	0
Nov 13	atIowa	L 22–⁠27	1	1	0	0
Nov 20	atIndiana	W 35–⁠14	1	1	0	0
Nov 27	vs.Wisconsin	W 23–⁠13	3	2	0	0
Dec 28 ✦	vs.West Virginia	W 18–⁠6	3	3	2	2

2020 Minnesota 6 games, 15 tackles, 1 sack

Date	Opponent	Result	Tkl	Solo	TFL	Sacks
Oct 24	vs.Michigan	L 24–⁠49	2	2	0	0
Oct 30	atMaryland	L 44–⁠45	1	1	0	0
Nov 7	atIllinois	W 41–⁠14	4	2	1	1
Nov 13	vs.Iowa	L 7–⁠35	4	4	0	0
Nov 20	vs.Purdue	W 34–⁠31	2	1	0	0
Dec 12	atNebraska	W 24–⁠17	2	1	0	0

2019 Minnesota 9 games, 22 tackles, 2.5 sacks

Date	Opponent	Result	Tkl	Solo	TFL	Sacks
Aug 29	vs.South Dakota State	W 28–⁠21	2	0	0.5	0.5
Sep 7	atFresno State	W 38–⁠35	2	1	0	0
Sep 28	atPurdue	W 38–⁠31	2	1	1	0
Oct 12	vs.Nebraska	W 34–⁠7	2	0	0	0
Oct 19	atRutgers	W 42–⁠7	5	1	2	1
Nov 9	vs.Penn State	W 31–⁠26	3	1	1	1
Nov 23	atNorthwestern	W 38–⁠22	2	1	0	0
Nov 30	vs.Wisconsin	L 17–⁠38	3	1	0	0
Jan 1 ✦	vs.Auburn	W 31–⁠24	1	0	0.5	0

2018 Minnesota 7 games, 12 tackles

Date	Opponent	Result	Tkl	Solo	TFL
Sep 8	vs.Fresno State	W 21–⁠14	1	0	0
Sep 15	vs.Miami (OH)	W 26–⁠3	1	0	0
Sep 22	atMaryland	L 13–⁠42	3	2	1
Oct 13	atOhio State	L 14–⁠30	2	2	0
Oct 20	atNebraska	L 28–⁠53	2	1	0
Oct 26	vs.Indiana	W 38–⁠31	1	1	0
Nov 10	vs.Purdue	W 41–⁠10	2	1	0

Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.

Before the draft

Drill	Combine 2022	Combine or pro day 2022
Height	6′5¼″
Weight	282 lb
Arm length	34½″
Hand size	9″
Wingspan		81⅜″^W
40-yard dash		5.01 s^W
10-yard split		1.71 s^W
Vertical jump		35½″^W
Broad jump		9′4″^W
Bench press		21 reps^W
3-cone drill		7.21 s^W
20-yard shuttle		4.39 s^W

Combine or pro day: the source doesn’t say which. Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

In the NFL

3 seasons, 14 games with a stat; latest team: Pittsburgh Steelers.

Season	Team	G	Tkl	Sacks
2022	Minnesota Vikings	5	5	0
2024	Jacksonville Jaguars	3	4	0.5
2025	Pittsburgh Steelers	6	9	1
NFL career		14	18	1.5

Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat.

Is this you, or do you know of something wrong or missing here? Suggest a correction. We check each one against a source before changing the page.