Rams draft profile (7th round, pick #227): Martin Ifedi, DE, Memphis

NFL.com

Martin Ifedi, 6'3" 275
DE, Memphis

Rankings
NFLDraftScout: #280 player overall, #25 defensive end. 7th round-free agent grade.
Nawrocki: #23 DE, not in top 150 players. Grade: 4.92, late draftable or priority free agent capable of battling for a roster spot.
Kiper: Not in top 300 players. Kiper ranked at least 30 DEs. 
Draft Countdown: #25 DE. Late-round / free agent grade. 
Sports Illustrated: #287 overall, #18 DE.
Scouts Inc: #247 player overall. #21 DE. Grade: 40,  borderline draft prospect. 

Biography/Honors
2014: First team all-AAC. Started 9 games. 29 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 4 QB hurries, 2 pass breakups, 1 fumble recovery. School career sack record-holder with 22.5.
2013: First team all-AAC. Started all 12 games. 52 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks (2nd in team history), 3 QB hurries,  1 pass breakup, 1 forced fumble.
2012: Second team all-Conference USA. Played in 12 games, starting 10. 46 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, 4 QB hurries and 2 forced fumbles.
2011: Played in all 12 games, mostly at defensive tackle. 13 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack, 1 pass breakup, 1 QB hurry, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery.
2010: Redshirted. 

Brother Germain is a tackle at Texas A&M.


Academics: Graduated in May 2014 with degree in health promotion and lifestyle management. Zach Curlin Award winner as school's top male student-athlete. AAC All-Academic honors in 2013, Conference USA Honor Roll three straight years before that. At least 7 Dean's List and high GPA awards at Memphis.
Twitter: @mifedi


Injuries

2014: Missed first four games due to knee injury.

  
NFL Combine Stats
(Combine averages for defensive ends in parentheses)

40-yard dash: 4.88 (4.86)
10-yard split: 1.68
Vertical: 31" (33.5")
Broad: 9'3" (9'7")
3-cone: 7.39 (7.33)
Shuttle: 4.58 (3rd-slowest DE. Average was 4.40)
Bench: 16 (2nd-worst DE. Rams strength coach Rock Gullickson runs the bench press at the Combine, and the front office only seemed to look for the worst performers this year. DEs averaged 23)

Scouting Report
Pluses: Good overall size with big, quick hands and good arm length. Solid build. Strong hands, plays square to the line with a strong base. Reads and reacts to run plays quickly. Sees field very well. Decent range. Gets under blockers well and drives them. Stacks blockers well against the run. Disciplined run defender, sets edge and drives runners back inside to his teammates. Difficult for blockers to reach-block. Launches into his tackles and finishes well. Converts speed to power well when he takes off with good leverage. Has experience as an inside pass rusher. Can get skinny and squeeze through gaps. Has a nice head fake. Plays with good motor. Always working to improve his position, plays to the whistle. Has strength and toughness to be a run-stopper in a 4-3. Highly intelligent player, excellent role model for teammates.

Minuses: Slow-twitch, one-speed pass rusher. Lacks any acceleration. Average top speed. Average first step. Not elusive, not hard to find. Pops straight up out of his stance and plays too high. Lacking ideal flexibility and speed on the edge. Herky-jerky with below-average change of direction. Gets out-angled and sealed off by blockers way too often. Needs to improve leverage and refine hand use. Overthinks some plays and bogs down into hand fights. Not a natural mover on twists. Slows his feet down right when he gets to the QB. A lot of his junior year sacks were second-effort type or because the QB held the ball way too long. Playmaker but not a play creator. Lingering questions about his knee. Left some plays on the field.

Compares to: Jarius Wynn according to Sports Illustrated; Kerry Wynn according to NFL.com. You can't make this stuff up.

Fun Facts

Martin's first name is short for Martinangelo'. With the '. When UAB still had a football team, Memphis played them every year in a rivalry called "The Battle for the Bones". The winner got a trophy that looks like a golden rack of ribs. THIS trophy is what the Missouri Governor's Cup should have been. Memphis won the final Battle of the Bones 46-9.

Martin frequently volunteered for team community projects, including reading to children at school, tutoring, visiting St. Jude's hospital and serving as a clinician at a community center.


RamView
Matt Conrath. Gerald Rivers. Ethan Westbrooks. Even to a degree Michael Sam. Under defensive line coach Mike Waufle, the Rams in every training camp have a late-round draft pick or free agent play his way onto the team or at least really open eyes. Martin Ifedi should be a strong candidate to join that list this year. He has the size, smarts and effort, and the Rams have to love that he's played everywhere on the line. They've never been afraid of the player who dropped off in production as a senior, and have turned many of them into NFL players. Martin's in the right place. He'll come away with an NFL job even if it's not with the Rams.

Sources: Memphis Athletics, NFL.com, Wikipedia, SBNation