The Indianapolis Colts are thought to have received a steal in the 2023 NFL draft when selecting Northwestern defensive tackle Adetomiwa Adebawore in the fourth round.
An extremely athletic pass rusher, Adebawore still has development ahead in terms of adding counters and cultivating an overall plan as a rusher. However, the value they got in the fourth round is well worth it.
Here are four things to know about Adebawore:
He comes from royalty
Though Adebawore was born and raised in Kansas City, he comes from a lineage of African royalty. He has Nigerian-born parents, and his father is a prince. They moved to America in the 1990s.
“I don’t know the full details, I just know that I’m a prince, [my dad] is a prince, and my grandpa is a King,” Adebawore said in an interview during the pre-draft process. “And we all come from this village in Nigeria … It’s one of those stories my dad would tell me and it just stuck with me.”
Athletic family
Abdebawore is the oldest of four brothers, and there’s a good chance we hear the name of two of them over the next few years. One of his younger brothers, Adepoju, was a five-star recruit in the 2023 class and was the No. 11 overall player in the country. He committed to Oklahoma. Another younger brother, Adeyeye, is a “high school sophomore on the fast track to being a top recruit,” according to The Athletic’s Dane Brugler.
Will play the 3-technique
One of the reasons Adebawore fell to the fourth round of the draft is because of the fact that he was viewed as a tweener. However, the Colts have a specific plan to use him at the three-technique defensive tackle position, which is where most analysts believe he will thrive.
Elite athlete
To no surprise, Adebawore was among the most athletic players in the class. Everything outside of his atypical size was categorized as elite in terms of Relative Athletic Score (RAS).
Senior Bowl standout
Adebawore was a standout at the Senior Bowl, earning the nod as the National team’s defensive line practice player of the week. He also checked the box of being a team captain at Northwestern.
