Obinna Eze (born June 12, 1998) is a Nigerian professional American football offensive tackle for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Memphis and TCU.
| No. 68 – New York Jets | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Offensive tackle |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | June 12, 1998 Lagos, Nigeria |
| Height: | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
| Weight: | 325 lb (147 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Davidson Academy (Tennessee) (Nashville, Tennessee) |
| College: | |
| Undrafted: | 2022 |
| Career history | |
| |
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
| Roster status: | Active |
| Player stats at PFR | |
Early life
editEze migrated to the United States in 2015. Initially a basketball player, he did not start playing football until arriving in the US.[1]
College career
editEze was a highly-ranked OT recruit, and received scholarship offers from many SEC schools.[2][3] He eventually committed to Memphis prior to his senior year of high school.[4]
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 6+1⁄2 in (1.99 m) |
321 lb (146 kg) |
36+1⁄8 in (0.92 m) |
9+7⁄8 in (0.25 m) |
5.17 s | 1.79 s | 3.01 s | 5.00 s | 8.01 s | 27.5 in (0.70 m) |
8 ft 8 in (2.64 m) |
18 reps | |
| Sources:[5][6] | ||||||||||||
Detroit Lions
editEze went undrafted in the 2022 NFL draft, but was signed on May 13, 2022 ahead of Detroit Lions training camp. His quest to make the 53-man roster, along with other players', was featured on the HBO television show Hard Knocks.[7] During the 2022 preseason, though not starting, he appeared in 31 snaps against the Falcons,[8] 22 snaps against the Colts,[8] and 23 snaps against the Steelers.[9]
Eze was waived on August 30, as part of final roster cuts, but signed to the practice squad the next day.[10][11][12] He signed a reserve/future contract on January 9, 2023. He was waived on August 27, 2023.[13]
Pittsburgh Steelers
editOn October 3, 2023, Eze signed with the practice squad of the Pittsburgh Steelers.[14] He was released on October 24.[15]
Michigan Panthers
editOn December 8, 2023, Eze signed with the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL).[16] He was released on December 12 to sign with an NFL team.[17]
New York Jets
editOn December 13, 2023, Eze was signed to the New York Jets practice squad.[18] He signed a reserve/future contract on January 8, 2024.[19]
Personal life
editEze's parents live in Nigeria. He has four siblings.[3] He is married to Yasmeen Eze.[7]
References
edit- ^ Barnes, Evan. "Detroit Lions, former Memphis OL Obinna Eze praises Tigers football on HBO's 'Hard Knocks'". The Commercial Appeal.
- ^ "Obinna Eze, TCU Horned Frogs, Offensive Tackle". 247Sports.
- ^ a b "Obinna Eze - 2020 - Football". University of Memphis Athletics.
- ^ "Davidson Academy's Obinna Eze commits to Memphis". The Tennessean.
- ^ "Obinna Eze Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
- ^ "2022 Draft Scout Obinna Eze, Texas Christian NFL Draft Scout College Football Profile". draftscout.com. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
- ^ a b Pouncy, Colton. "Episode 3 recap: Obinna Eze's bounce-back, Craig Reynolds' progress". The Athletic.
- ^ a b https://nflcdns.nfl.com/liveupdate/gamecenter/59113/DET_Gamebook.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ https://nflcdns.nfl.com/liveupdate/gamecenter/59158/PIT_Gamebook.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "Detroit Lions roster cut tracker: Who didn't make the 53-man roster?". August 29, 2022.
- ^ "The Official Site of the Detroit Lions". www.detroitlions.com.
- ^ Rogers, Justin. "Lions bring back 13 players for practice squad". The Detroit News.
- ^ "Lions announce roster moves". DetroitLions.com. August 27, 2023.
- ^ "Steelers make practice squad moves". Steelers.com. October 3, 2023.
- ^ "Steelers make practice squad moves". Steelers.com. October 24, 2023.
- ^ Larsen, James (December 8, 2023). "Michigan Panthers Sign Free Agent OT Obinna Eze For 2024". Pro Football Newsroom. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
- ^ @USFLPanthers (December 12, 2023). "Contract Terminated/Signing with NFL team" (Tweet). Retrieved December 13, 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ Greenberg, Ethan. "Jets Sign OL Obinna Eze to Practice Squad". newyorkjets.com. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
- ^ Greenberg, Ethan (January 8, 2024). "Jets Sign Nine Players to Reserve/Future Contracts". NewYorkJets.com.