The Ones That Got Away: Ifeadi Odenigbo

The season is upon us, and I promised another one of these, so here we are with the final installment for the 2012 class. While I didn't get to as many as I would have liked, I hope you have enjoyed these. Last time we talked about Roger Lewis. This time we'll turn our focus to another Ohio native, Ifeadi Odenigbo.

THE RECRUITMENT

Ranked as the 4th-best OLB and 68th overall prospect in the nation, Odenigbo was supposed to simply be the next in a line of Buckeyes hailing from Centerville High School near Dayton, OH. Kirk Herbstreit, AJ Hawk, Mike Nugent, and Michael Bennett all preceded Odenigbo's class while Evan Lisle came just one year later in 2013. Kyle Rowland wrote a great piece on Centerville here.

Extra credit if you can name all of these Miami Valley players, which includes two Centerville alumni.

The son of pediatrician and civil engineer Nigerian immigrants, Odenigbo's top priority was academics, as was evident in his top 4 of Ohio State, Stanford, Notre Dame, and Northwestern.

In the end, relatonships, academics, and proximity to home resulted in a commitment to Northwestern on January 7, 2012.

“(Former OSU) Coach Tressel leaves, then (former head) Coach (Luke) Fickell is recruiting me, and then he’s the defensive coordinator,” Odenigbo explained. “Then (new) Coach (Urban) Meyer. I thought it was way too short to have a relationship with him.”

He ultimately decided that Stanford, located in Palo Alto, Calif., was too far away. He bonded with Northwestern players and Fitzgerald, a former All-American linebacker at Northwestern, during an official visit.

Odenigbo would soon be chasing down Braxton Miller in college just as he did in high school.

THE COLLEGE LIFE

Ifeadi came to campus ranked 480 spots higher than Northwestern's next-best commit, and remains Northwestern's highest rated commit to date. Unfortunately, he suffered a torn labrum in his first appearance as a Wildcat, forcing a redshirt season in his first year.

The following season, Odenigbo played almost exclusively on passing downs as a defensive end, totaling 6.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks on the season. He also squared off against Ohio State that year in a tight game on College Gameday and was credited with causing Braxton Miller's interception.

Odenigbo appeared in only 6 games his redshirt sophomore season, although he did become just the fourth player in Big Ten history to force three fumbles in a single game that year.

His redshirt junior season was again a bit underwhelming as he was sitting behind future NFL'ers Deonte Gibson and Dean Lowry. He finished the season with 5 sacks, good for second on the team.

Prior to his final season at Northwestern, Ifeadi got up 270 pounds and worked on improving his confidence. It worked. He went on to lead the Big Ten in sacks with 10, garnering first-team All-Big 10 media honors. Odenigbo did not play against Ohio State in 2016 due to a foot injury.

LIFE AFTER COLLEGE

Ifeadi was selected in the 7th round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings.

I bleed that purple!!!! pic.twitter.com/2XuhlQbk7W
— Ifeadi Odenigbo (@IfeadiOdenigbo) April 29, 2017

He is finding his way with the Vikings.

"I think OTAs and Training Camp have been pretty difficult. The coaches have been on my ass. But now I think it’s starting to click pretty well. I don’t know if this is anything I should be telling people, but I haven’t always been a guy that catches onto things quick."

Odenigbo is also a big Game of Thrones fan. He even had a Thrones-inspired sack celebration at Northwestern. Will he break it out when he gets a sack at the next level? You better believe it.

"I’m going to get even more ignorant with it! It’s gonna be even more, man! In college I had to tone it down because I’m not trying to get a flag. But if I get a sack on a Tom Brady or someone like that, I’m going to let the whole world know. And then get my butt back home to catch the next season of Game of Thrones."

In the Vikings second preseason game, Odenigbo finished with one sack, another QB hit, and a forced fumble.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN

After seeing what Ohio State has done with freak athletes at their disposal, this miss stung a little. Although he was a late bloomer at Northwestern, who knows what he could have been under Marotti's watchful eye. Ifeadi will always be the one that got away when looking back at the Centerville pipeline, and Urban Meyer is likely not too proud of that.