Taking a look at the Jets’ new offensive tackle
The Jets signed former Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots offensive tackle Chukwuma Okorafor to a one-year contract early on in free agency. Today we break Okorafor down in detail.
The 27-year old Okorafor is listed at 6’6” and 320 pounds. He was a third round pick out of Western Michigan in 2018. He has started 62 games in his NFL career, nearly all of which have been at right tackle with the Steelers.
Background
Okorafor was a native of Nigeria, whose family travelled to the US from Botswana in 2010. Four years later, he was playing his first season at Western Michigan, having been a three-star high school recruit.
Having only played 81 snaps as a backup when he was a freshman, Okorafor started 39 games over the next three seasons. He was a two-time all-MAC selection and also earned all-American recognition in his senior year.
After attending the Senior Bowl and the NFL scouting combine, Okorafor was regarded as a potential day two pick and ultimately went to the Steelers in the third round.
His career got off to a slow start as he started one game at right tackle in each of his first two seasons and also saw action as a jumbo package tight end. In 2020, he was also going to be a backup, but then Zach Banner tore his ACL in the season opener and Okorafor got a chance to be a full-time starter for the first time.
He remained a starter over the next three seasons, with a total of 48 starts and over a thousand offensive snaps in each year. He signed a three-year extension worth almost $10 million per year in 2022.
Okorafor also began 2023 as the starting right tackle but he was supplanted after week seven by rookie Broderick Jones and was released after the season.
The Patriots signed him last March and he was in the competition for a role during training camp. When Vedarian Lowe was ruled out for the opener, Okorafor was forced into a starting role despite having missed some time during camp.
That would prove to be his only game with New England as he struggled from the outset and was benched in the middle of a drive. He didn’t return, having only played 12 snaps, and then spent time away from the team to reportedly contemplate his future.
The Patriots placed Okorafor on the left team/reserve list and when he didn’t return the following week, that officially ended his season. His contract tolled but he was released after the season anyway and picked up by the New York Jets during the tampering window for a minimum salary contract with a partial guarantee.
Let’s move onto some more in-depth analysis of what Okorafor brings to the table as a player, based on extensive research and film study.
Measurables/Athleticism
Okorafor has decent size with excellent length (wingspan over 83 inches) and big hands.
He was described as athletic by some of his college coaches, but his combine numbers were actually below average or worse across the board, including a 40-yard dash time of 5.31. His vertical leap (23.5 inches) and bench press (19 reps) were both poor.
Usage
Okorafor has had extensive experience starting games at both tackle positions in college, having moved from the right to the left after his sophomore year.
At the NFL level, he’s played almost exclusively on the right, although he has seen some action on the left in preseason. Prior to the game where he started at left tackle for New England in week one in September, he had only played two snaps there in NFL regular season action.
He has played one snap at right guard at the NFL level and plenty of reps as an extra tight end. Two of his career starts came when he was in this role rather than being in an every-down role on the line.
Pass Blocking
Okorafor’s pass blocking numbers with the Steelers were solid, as he allowed pressure at a low rate and never gave up more than three sacks in any season. He has decent feet and the ability to get in front of speed rushers or anchor against a bull rush.
In his lone appearance with the Patriots, however, Okorafor was overmatched. He had played the Bengals several times before, but never on the left, so for the first time he found himself tasked with blocking Trey Hendrickson 1-on-1 and couldn’t stay in front of him.
In watching Okorafor’s film, a pattern that seems to emerge from time to time is that he seems to have his man initially blocked but then gets complacent and allows his man to get past him.
Run Blocking
Okorafor has some ability as a run blocker but he’s inconsistent in that role and his performance grades from sites like Pro Football Focus have only been slightly above average at best.
He can control his man at the point of attack and will sometimes be able to get enough traction to drive his man off the line.
However, he will also get stood up or allow penetration from time to time, or allow his man to leverage his way off his blocks.
Okorafor is capable of leaking out to the second level and locking onto a target to drive him back or wall him off and seems to have a good understanding of angles.
However, he doesn’t always manage to sustain his blocks in space and while battling in the trenches.
Short Yardage
The Steelers seemed to have pretty good success in short yardage situations with Okorafor in the line-up, but this was often in spite of the fact he got stood up at the line. He did a good job on this play though.
Screen Blocking
Okorafor has shown that he is athletic enough to get out in front of a screen and find somebody to block in space.
Footwork/Technique
Okorafor brings some good hand strength and placement but has an issue with getting his hands up too late at times. This affects him both in the running game and in pass protection as it allows his man to get the first strike in or keep his hands off them more easily.
He does seem to struggle to stay on top of pass rushers who can change direction quickly, but he can display the ability to recover when he moves his feet and controls with his hands.
Pad level in the trenches is something he needs to be more consistent with in order to prevent penetration.
Penalties
Penalties have been an issue for Okorafor at times in his career. He had 31 in three years as a starter in college, including 14 in 2015 alone.
At the NFL level, he’s been penalized 30 times in his career, including 11 in 2021. He seemed to have been working at his on-field discipline when he only had four penalties in 2022, but then he had eight in seven games in 2023.
Even last season, he had five penalties in preseason, including three illegal formation calls in the same game, one of which negated a touchdown. It’s possible the increased emphasis on this rule was catching him out and adjusting to that may even have affected his performance in the opener.
Special Teams
Okorafor’s only special teams contributions at the NFL and collegiate levels have been as a blocker on the placekicking unit. He had one special teams penalty in college.
Instincts/Intelligence
As noted earlier, a concern with Okorafor is that his awareness can be inconsistent in terms of when a play is over or anticipating a secondary move from his man. This is clearly a bad habit at best, although some have criticized him for being lazy.
He’s been on a team with good stability on the offensive line and developed chemistry with his linemates in Pittsburgh so he can pick up stunts and pass off assignments. However, there are times when he doesn’t handle this as well as he might.
He has had 15 pre-snap penalties at the NFL level, with 10 false starts and five illegal formation penalties. He’s also been called twice for being too far downfield on a pass play.
Attitude
The circumstances surrounding Okorafor’s exit from the Patriots are troubling. He was said to be contemplating retirement after the benching and, although he’s apparently decided he wants his career to continue, you have to wonder how he would cope with any adversity or criticism with his new team.
His benching in Pittsburgh was also controversial, especially since Jones kept the job despite struggling badly in his place. Comments made by Okorafor to the media at the time made it obvious he was disappointed with the situation.
On the field, some scouting reports indicate that he needs to bring more toughness and aggression to his game.
One of his penalties at the NFL level was for unnecessary roughness, for which he was fined, and he does get into scuffles with opposing players sometimes. He was also accused of causing a 2022 knee injury to Anthony Walker on what some people called a dirty play where he dived on top of him, although no flag was thrown or punishment levied.
Injuries
Injuries haven’t been an issue for Okorafor so far in his career, although he missed a game due to concussion a few years ago and missed some practice time in camp last year. He’s also been listed on the injury report with an elbow injury in 2023.
Scheme Fit
There is a huge hole at right tackle now, so some people will have an expectation that Okorafor has been brought in as someone with plenty of experience that could compete for that role.
However, he’s coming from a situation from which he needs to bounce back and build himself back up. In theory the fact the Jets also targeted a quarterback from the same offense would suggest that Okorafor would be a fit for what they intend to do, even though the two never played together.
He was a teammate of current Jets offensive lineman Obinna Eze while with the Steelers.
Conclusions
Okorafor has good experience, his numbers over the years have been solid and his film shows he is a competent lineman who can do a serviceable job with other good linemen around him. When he entered the league he was considered to be a bit raw but with good potential and he became a full-time starter after a few years with the Steelers.
Despite this, he was never regarded as indispensable by the Steelers fans. His 2022 extension was widely regarded as an overpay and nobody seemed particularly bothered to see him leave after the 2023 season despite Jones’ struggles.
There are two major causes for concern with Okorafor. One is that his confidence has been badly shaken by his benchings over the past two years and that, if he was that close to walking away last year, he might not be in the right frame of mind to compete for a role.
The other is that while his film has some encouraging plays on it, he has picked up some bad habits (or always had and never managed to get rid of these). Not playing to the whistle and questionable body language are chief among these.
If this move is a reclamation project and the Jets are counting on getting anything from it, but would see anything they do get from Okorafor as a bonus, that makes this an acceptable move. However, relying on him to provide you with a solution for a specific role would be a miscalculation and potentially reckless.
We can hope for the best with this move, but the Jets definitely need to make another move or two at the position.