Daniel Akinkunmi committed to the Sooners this past week, let’s dive in and see what type of athlete Oklahoma is getting.
While I began celebrating my birthday, the Sooners were celebrating the addition of offensive lineman, Daniel Akinkunmi, of the NFL Academy of London, into the fold of the 2024 recruiting class.
Daniel Akinkunmi – NFL Academy
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Height: 6’4.5″
Weight: 310
Initial Thoughts:
- Daniel is a strong, lengthy athlete who has seen tremendous growth and improvement in the past 365 days. I believe he is a major, plus athlete when used inside but could have the athleticism to give the Sooners some depth flexibility at the tackle position as well.
We will be evaluating his performance against Erasmus High School, scouting his ability as an athlete. This evaluation will not consist of critiques relating to assignments or schematics, as we leave that area to our very own, Caleb Cummings. Instead, we will be isolating who he is as a pure athlete and how we believe he will project as a Sooner.
Strengths:
- Akinkunmi looks and plays even bigger than his size. He has been measured as a legitimate 6′ 4.5″ but has very long arms which will be advantageous for him at the guard position.
- As seems to be the trend with Coach Bedenbaugh’s offers since Coach Venables has arrived, Daniel is extremely proportionate with a strong strong lower half that he can also move with ease.
- Adding to the point above, not only do I like his ability to produce force horizontally, but I also love his mobility as he easily sits into his stance, and explodes out of it as he gets into his footwork.
- Against Erasmus, he showcases really good quickness and balance when blocking in space.
- Although it may seem small, I pay close attention to how lineman get off of the ground during or after the play. Athletes who can easily get off the ground easier will often seem to move a little bit better in space, at times.
- His upper body strength is also visible when he plays. Daniel routinely moves a pile forward and withstands defenders coming at him with speed and lower pad level without getting fully knocked back onto his heels. (As soon in the GIF below)
Below is a clip showcasing Daniel withstanding a decent blow from the opposing lineman. His raw strength and stability to easily hold ground can be seen here and in numerous other plays against Erasmus Hall.
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Expectations as a Sooner:
- I firmly stand by the belief that Oklahoma views him as a potential All-SEC type guard, based on the raw measurables. He tends to move the most fluid and play most comfortably out of that left-guard spot and already showcases some feel for the position.
- The areas of his game that will need some clean-up are those of a player with raw ability that needs polishing of technique. There are plays where he lunges, gets too far out over his toes or takes an extra step in his footwork putting him in a less advantageous angle to his defensive opponent.
Inside the Sports Performance Enhancement:
- His goal of arriving to Oklahoma under 20% body-fat is one I applaud. It will greatly benefit him and his ability to press through the workouts early on and provide a better base to begin adding that “college strength” too. Myself, and Caleb, tend to prefer the leaner-arriving players over those trying to arrive with additional strength by holding on to some extra “fluff.”
- In my opinion, Daniel Akinkunmi, has all the tools of a high-level, road-grading, guard in the SEC and a lot of that is firmly based off of his incredibly visible work-ethic and raw athleticism for a man of his size and length.
Hope you all enjoyed the breakdown! Let me know if you’d like more additional things to be covered in the future.
