Getty Levi Onwuzurike on the field during Lions training camp in 2021.
Late in the 2021 season, it might seem as if the Detroit Lions are just playing out the string, but a big reason that hasn’t happened is personal drive and motivation.
It’s been refreshing to see the Lions keep fighting down the stretch, and their young players have been the biggest reason that mindset has taken hold. One of the players who has taken that to heart is defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike.
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Onwuzurike spoke to the media prior to Week 17 and the finish of the season in Week 18 and admitted that players do have big personal goals late in the season and plenty of things they are working on before the conclusion of the season plays out.
As Onwuzurike said in an interview posted at DetroitLions.com on Friday, December 31, he’s still locked in on finding a way to pad his stats and push toward a solid finish that can make him feel good about the end of the year. For him, it’s all about sacks and pressure.
“Get some more sacks in, get some more tackles for-loss in. The usual. Try to get our stats up,” Onwuzurike admitted to the media this week when pressed on his goals.
As for what things he wants to improve, Onwuzurike didn’t hesitate to name some of the most important things for his own game in terms of play.
“All about hand placement, and then just driving the legs with it is really what I’ve been working on,” he told the media.
Down the stretch, Onwuzurike has looked good and has posted 27 total tackles and 1 sack. For him, it’s all about improvement at this point and putting the right fundamentals on film for 2022. That’s a refreshing sign for 2022.
Onwuzurike Selected for 2022 Breakout Season
Recently, Bleacher Report and writer Kristopher Knox took a look at some struggling rookies who can turn around their play for the 2022 season and break out. Onwuzurike cracked the list for the potential he offers a Detroit defense who has struggled in a major way so far in 2021.
As Knox wrote, the Lions defense needs more talent most of all, and as they get it, Onwuzurike could be in the position to show more of his skills to the team in order to help out the franchise. As Knox predicts, Onwuzurike will be on the field more in 2022 and be able to be more of a disruptive force for the team.
It isn’t that Onwuzurike has been bad, it’s simply that he could need a bit more time to develop after having a slow start to training camp and the preseason due to injury concerns and getting back to speed. Already late in 2021, the Lions are seeing signs that a turnaround could be primed to take place.
Onwuzurike Stats & Highlights
The Lions needed some major help in the trenches and Onwurzurike can theoretically provide it for now and in the future. He collected 95 tackles in his time in college to go with 16 tackles for-loss and 7 sacks. Onwurzurike opted out of the 2020 season, but he showed well in 2019 when he last played. Teams looking to draft Onwuzurike were likely looking at his ability to be physical and tough in the trenches and develop into a great player in the middle.
In Detroit, Onwuzurike has started to show some signs of coming into his own on the field. Thus far this season, he has collected 9 total tackles and showed some of the burst he did in college:
In time, the Lions hope that Onwuzurike can continue to develop and it sounds as if he should be primed to get it done.
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