Chigoziem Okonkwo was a star of Monday ShrineBowl practices. jfmckessy breaks down what he's seen from the TE in Las Vegas & what to watch for going forward. FrontOffice33 | NFLDraft
The Maryland product was someone we expected to see a lot of this week. He put together a really nice 2021 season with both his production and his game tape after missing the 2020 season recovering from myocarditis. Okonkwo is someone that can excel in finding gaps in zone coverage and creating separation with his route-running skills.
Those skills were what Okonkwo was able to show off at Monday’s practice after two relatively quiet days. He was showing off some nice moves in one-on-ones and red-zone drills, winning pretty consistently in those settings, and even throwing in a casual one-handed catch to boot.On back-to-back plays in two-minute drill work, Okonkwo got some big yardage on seam routes. The first one he caught for a 20-yard gain after simply beating the defender on him, getting inside leverage with a nice route.
“Knowing the clock don’t stop on first down anymore, you’ve got to really hurry up and really get it going,” he said.“I was very surprised when we got the playbook because it was the exact same playbook that we ran at Maryland,” Okonkwo said. “So everything I’m doing at Maryland I come out here and do. I feel very comfortable doing everything.”