“I just like making them feel like (expletive),” he said that night.
Onwuzurike was a quarterback-eater during his years at Washington. Problem is he also had back issues at Washington, and those issues followed him to Detroit. He missed his entire rookie training camp while coming back from an injury, and he struggled to produce when he finally hit the field, showing the lack of development and strength of a young player without enough time on the practice field.
A year later, he didn’t play at all.
But Onwuzurike finished last season strong, and most importantly, healthy. Now that he’s put some distance between himself and his last injury, he’s been able to pack on muscle this offseason, going from a playing weight of about 285 pounds last year to tipping the scales at about 300 pounds in minicamp.
“I was eating a lot,” Onwuzurike said. “Eating a lot, working out a lot, and it feels good. As long as my back is nice and healthy, my body can take the weight. It feels good out here.”
It shows. Onwuzurike has strung together some of his best practices in Detroit, and is even flexing out on the edge now too. His coaches have noticed.
“I just want to be careful, because we’re not in pads. I just want to reiterate that,” Campbell said. “But Levi is having a really good spring. (Josh) Paschal is too. But Levi, because where he’s come from and all he’s had to deal with, I mean, this guy just has continued to rehab, he’s continued to train his body and work, he’s put on weight because his back can handle it now, we got him through last year to where he’s able to bank some reps and he’s having a really good spring, OK?”
Sure thing. Just a few minutes after those comments, the Lions kicked off their second day of mandatory minicamp and Onwuzurike needed just 11 pass plays to rack up two sacks, both of which came from the edge.
The development is outstanding news for a player who, now headed into the final year of his rookie contract, has never really had a good shot at fulfilling the immense potential that once made him the second-round draft pick. It’s also very good news for the Lions pass rush, which outside of Aidan Hutchinson, has really struggled over the last couple years.
They’re still looking for rushers to pair with Hutchinson, and what Alim McNeill and the recently signed DJ Reader offer on the inside. Marcus Davenport is a former first-round pick who could compete for a starting edge job, although he’s been hampered by an injury during the offseason program. James Houston could also be in the running, but has been severely limited too.
Without those guys on the field, others are getting a shot.
More than anyone else, Onwuzurike is making the most of it.
“There’s no pads, so take it with a grain of salt,” Onwuzurike said. “But I think I’ve done what I worked out in my offseason to do.”
Some more observations from Day 2 of minicamp:
— It’s easy to overlook Amon-Ra St. Brown in practices like these because, well, he’s Amon-Ra St. Brown. You can set your watch to that guy. Still, it bears mentioning just how incredible the newly-minted receiver is. During one stretch of situational work, he caught the football on six straight plays for the first-team offense. Six! Most of which came while matched up with Carlton Davis, the projected CB1 for next season.
— Dan Campbell said backup quarterback Hendon Hooker has been up and down during his first healthy offseason in Detroit. Let’s be honest: Through the first three practices that were open to reporters, Hooker was mostly down, sometimes making an incredibly gifted play, but mostly misfiring in every direction. On Wednesday, he had his best practice yet in front of reporters, including throwing back-to-back-to-back touchdown passes to James Mitchell (twice) and Maurice Alexander. He followed that up by launching a deep ball to receiver Kaden Davis over the middle of the field, then threaded a 16-yard touchdown pass through a tight window to receiver Kalif Raymond in the back of the end zone.
Then again, Hooker was also pick-six’d by Khalil Dorsey for the second straight day, and this one came right at the goal line. Later, Hooker was blistered — very loudly, and very clearly — by offensive coordinator Ben Johnson for checking down while trailing by four points with about 4 seconds on the clock. As Dan Campbell said after the play: The game was over right, fellas. Not a smart decision by the young quarterback, who is athletically gifted, but clearly struggling through the growing pains that many young QBs incur while being overloaded with information.
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