The Chicago Bears are likely to draft a center in the 2023 NFL draft. Does that make Michigan center Olu Oluwatimi a possibility for them? How does Oluwatimi fit in the NFL, and when could he be available?
Chicago Bears Draft Profile: Michigan Center, Olu Oluwatimi
Olu Oluwatimi is coming into the NFL a bit older as he started his journey in 2017 at Air Force Academy. He transferred and sat out in 2018 before starting his first year with Virginia in 2019.
Olu Oluwatimi logged 2,561 snaps for the Cavaliers over three seasons and was a Rimington award finalist. This caught the attention of Michigan, and he used his senior season to transfer and play with the Wolverines. Michigan made the playoff, and the line as a whole won the Joe Moore award, for the best line in the country.
Olu Oluwatimi has 3,479 snaps with 2,147 snaps coming in pass protection. At Virginia, he ran more primarily zone concepts but adjusted well to a power scheme at Michigan.
Olu Oluwatimi also participated at the Senior Bowl, and NFL combine.
Olu Oluwatimi is short and squatty. He looks that way in person, with a thicker lower half. However, his jumps show that he can create power from his stronger lower half.
How Olu Oluwatimi translates to the NFL
The experience is obviously a huge plus. He has a ton of work against a plethora of linemen and schemes. Beyond that, he played in multiple-run schemes. What is impressive is that Olu Oluwatimi is praised by scouts and evaluators for being the leader, the communicator, and the guy who has everything down. That is impressive when you add in the diversity that he has seen throughout his career.
The passing of stunts, and twists, and calling out the blitz to make the quarterbacks' life easier will come from Olu Oluwatimi. However, he is not the most physically sound player. He plays with power, and when he gets his hands in the right position he can beat stronger players.
Olu Oluwatimi has been ballin’ 😮💨💪 pic.twitter.com/CcU61kQfv9
— WeAreBigGuys (@WeAreBigGuys) November 27, 2022
However, at the same time, there are times when you can see quicker players beat him with speed and stronger players with power. When he does not get a punch in, he can get walked back into the quarterbacks' lap. He has the smarts to get on the field right away, but it is hard to see him consistently overcoming deficiencies against better athletes.
NFL Comparisn for Olu Oluwatimi
The best NFL comparison for Olu Oluwatimi would be Matt Paradis. They have a similar athletic profiles.
Paradis also fell to day three because most evaluators did not think that he had the functional athletic ability to hang with bigger, stronger, and faster players. However, he was a smart player who used angles and timing to his advantage.
He came in as a rookie center and started for Peyton Manning. That shows the type of understanding he had of the game to earn the trust. Olu Oluwatimi could start 16 games right away, and get by on his processing, but he will be limited.
Should Chicago Bears Draft Olu Oluwatimi?
When the Chicago Bears said that Cody Whitehair would be the starting center they may as well have told everyone they plan to draft a replacement. That is not a long-term fix. According to Mock Draft Database, he is currently a fourth-round pick.
While Oluwatimi has experience in the zone scheme, he is probably better in a straight-ahead power system, so the fit is not perfect. Still, if the team does miss in the first two rounds, he is a safe fallback option who could make Whitehair expendable.