The Patriots Land Yet Another Incredible Talent in Obi Melifonwu
This is not a surprise by any means. In the lead up to the trade deadline there was so much noise about the Patriots asking about Obi Melifonwu that I found and saved what I wrote about him in a 2017 draft preview of defensive backs:
New England’s Finest:
Obi Melifonwu, UConn.6-4, 224 lb, 4.46
Compares to the active ingredients in: George Iloka
Early in the off-season I was prepared to call Melifonwu a “sleeper.” But when Mike Mayock has you among his top five safeties, it’s hard to sneak up on anyone. And even harder when you’re goddamn 6-4, 224. That is a rare size/speed combo he’s coming into the league with. And he’s got the wingspan of a C-130. His ball skills aren’t the best, but he’s got the length to correct a lot of mistakes. He’s a solid run-stuffer, with a ripped physique and the burst to take on blockers. He excelled in the zone game, which might be what he’s limited to in the pros.
He ended up going to the Raiders with the 56th overall pick. And given the fact that he’s already been let go for the low, low price of nothing even though Oakland is imploding so fast that we’re all in danger of getting trapped in their event horizon of suckiness, it’s fair to say things haven’t exactly worked out. No matter how you package his highlights:
Melifonwu has only appeared in five career games. None this year. A strong safety in Oakland, the most noteworthy thing he’s done so far is probably the time he made the emergency switch to cornerback against the Patriots in that game in Mexico City last year when the Raiders were thin at the position and needed to make some kind of a move:
They did make a move. They activated rookie safety Obi Melifonwu from injured reserve. That was expected. Head coach Jack Del Rio said they would be making that move. …
Their answer was not only to play Melifonwu at cornerback, but to START him. Tom Brady went after him early and often and after 8 plays, Melifonwu was literally sucking thin air and needed to be taken out. Later in the game, he was assigned speedy wide receiver Brandin Cooks and gave up a 64-yard touchdown.
After the game Del Rio was asked if starting Melifonwu was a move made out of desperation.
“Yeah, a little bit,” Del Rio responded.
And so what are the Patriots getting beyond just a (so far) disappointing safety and a (so far) failed cornerback who doesn’t breath well at 7,000 foot altitudes?
An absolute athletic freak who broke the Combine with these numbers:
The biggest player at his position. With fastest time, the highest Vertical by a full half a foot, a respectable showing on the Bench and an incredible 9-inch advantage over the field in the Broad Jump. That’s Bob Beamon 1968 Olympics-level domination. In no way am I saying that your measurables at the Indianapolis Kennel Show are predictors of whether you can play tackle football so save your old Mike Mamula references for some other dead sexy draft geek because I don’t need them.
All I am saying is that at a position where the Patriots seem fairly well stocked, they’ve just added depth in the form of a metahuman with all the physical tools to be great. Also a guy who was a good tackler at the collegiate level, and the Patriots are a team that’s always looking for big, strong safety/linebacker hybrids who can stuff the run in nickel and dime packagess. Melifonwu also has local ties, if you’re into this sort of thing. Plus Mike Mayock liked him, and when it comes to scouting college talent, he and Belichick seem to share a brain. Anyway it’s going to be fascinating to see what Brian Flores and two generations of Belichick’s (Steve is in charge of safeties) can coach him up to do.
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Just another example of the Pats landing a guy they couldn’t draft because they don’t lose enough. Just stockpiling 1st- and 2nd-rounders who failed elsewhere and it costs them nothing. Like Kyle Van Noy, Cordarelle Patterson or Josh Gordon. One man’s trash is another man’s key contributor to a Super Bowl contender.
So help us, Obi Melifonwu. You’re one of our many, many hopes.