The 2023 NFL Scouting Combine is well underway, but prospects will take the field for the first time on Thursday for on-field drills and workouts. You can watch the edge rushers, interior defensive linemen and linebackers workout from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET on NFL Network.
The Kansas City Chiefs added a number of young contributors to the team via the draft just a season ago. Several of those players posted impressive performances at the combine. The team will look to follow up its standout 2022 draft class by adding even more instant-impact players in 2023.
Keep an eye on the following three interior defensive linemen working out on Thursday. A head-turning performance could put any number of the players squarely on the radar for Brett Veach and company.
Florida DT Gervon Dexter
We know that Dexter is on Kansas City’s radar as the team had a formal meeting with him at the combine already. Listed at 6-foot-6 and over 300 pounds, Dexter has great size and length. Florida used him often as a nose tackle, but he has the flexibility to play up and down the defensive line. He also has some of the best hands of any interior defensive lineman in this draft class. Dexter’s strength flashes on tape, but he can really prove it to teams on Thursday with a good day on the bench press. His pass rush leaves something to be desired with just two sacks and 25 pressures on the year.
Northwestern DT Adetomiwa Adebawore
Adebawore weighed in at the Senior Bowl at just under 6-2 and 280 pounds with 34-inch arms. He’s a bit of the tweener size and while Northwestern played him as an edge rusher often, his next venture might be playing three-technique in the NFL. His squatty build is great for winning the leverage battle and he did that a lot in Mobile, Alabama. His power and explosion are surely going to translate to good athletic testing at the combine and the numbers that this Kansas City native produces will almost certainly raise his draft stock.
Texas DT Moro Ojomo
Ojomo plays much bigger than his 6-foot-3 and 280-pound size would suggest, boasting power, quickness and physicality when aligned along the defensive interior. He has the flexibility to play on the edge, but I’m not sure that’s his natural position in the NFL. Ojomo finished the 2022 season with 32 total tackles, 19 stops, 5.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and 26 total pressures. Run defense is his bread-and-butter, but the athleticism he displays at the combine could tell the tale of his upside as a pass-rusher.
