Ikem Ekwonu emerging as trendy choice for one team in NFL Draft
Based on the various mock NFL Drafts surfacing in recent days, NC State football All-America left tackle Ikem Ekwonu will have to get used to the bright lights of New York.
ESPN’s famed Mel Kiper Jr. has Ekwonu going with the No. 5 overall pick to the New York Giants. Kiper has both Ekwonu and Alabama’s Evan Neal, the consensus top-two offensive tackles in this year’s NFL Draft, both falling to the Giants with that choice.
“If the board shakes out this way, the Giants would have to be thrilled to get their pick of the top two offensive tackles,” Kiper wrote. “I have Ekwonu just slightly over Evan Neal, but it’s tough to go wrong with either — they are my Nos. 2 and 3 prospects in this class. Ekwonu answered every question about his pass-protection ability last season.”
Kiper’s counterpart at ESPN, Jordan Reid, also has Ekwonu going to the Giants in his NFL Draft seven-round mock, but Reid also has Neal going ahead of him with pick No. 3 to the Houston Texans.
Notably, Reid does not have any other NC State football players going in the NFL Draft.
Dan Duggan, The Athletic’s New York Giants reporter, also sends Ekwonu to the Big Apple.
“This is a pick that shouldn’t be overthought,” Duggan wrote. “The Giants have been trying to fix their offensive line for a decade. Using the No. 4 pick in the 2020 draft on Andrew Thomas gave them a cornerstone at left tackle. Taking the 6-foot-4, 320-pound Ekwonu with the fifth pick could give them bookends for the next decade.
Aaron Reiss, the Houston Texans’ beat writer for The Athletic, sees it differently. Reiss has Houston using its first pick in the NFL Draft on Ekwonu.
None of The Athletic’s other beat writers had a NC State football player taken in their respective seven-round NFL Draft mocks for the teams that they cover.
Chad Reuter of NFL.com joined Reiss in having Ekwonu going to the Texans in his four-round mock NFL Draft, but no other NC State players appeared in it. Reuter’s counterpart on NFL.com, Lance Zierlein, is an outlier on Ekwonu. Zierlein’s mock NFL Draft first round has Ekwonu going to the Giants, but with New York’s second pick of the round at No. 7. Zierlein actually has Ekwonu as the third offensive lineman picked, projecting Mississippi State’s Charles Cross to the Carolina Panthers at pick No. 6.
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While the Giants have emerged as a trendy choice for Ekwonu, at least one analyst still sees him hearing his name called first in the NFL Draft: Ryan Wilson of CBS Sports.
Ikem Ekwonu’s historic 2021 season
In 2021, Ekwonu became just the third unanimous consensus first-team All-American at NC State, joining former center Jim Ritcher in 1979 and defensive end Bradley Chubb in 2017. Ritcher’s No. 51 is retired from NC State football, and he was an inaugural member of the school’s Hall of Fame.
Chubb’s No. 9 is also permanently honored, and he is currently a star in the NFL with the Denver Broncos.
Ekwonu was also one of three finalists for the Outland Trophy, an honor given to the nation’s top lineman. He was the recipient of the ACC’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy, the first winner from NC State football since Ritcher in 1979.
Ekwonu finished the regular season with 67 pancake blocks and 18 knockdowns, and he was a two-time ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week. The 6-foot-4, 320-pounder allowed just two sacks in 829 snaps.
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