NFL free agency 2022: Best linebackers available
By Ethan Lee
3. Foyesade Oluokun
Another intriguing linebacker option that came out of the 2018 NFL Draft is Foyesade Oluokun. While the aforementioned Vander Esch received a ton of attention for his earlier performances and hasn’t quite had that same sort of luck as of late, Oluokun appears to have steadily improved throughout his career up to this point.
And that can potentially make him very, very valuable for any franchise that is looking for someone to build a defense around.
Selected by the Atlanta Falcons with a sixth-round draft pick out of Yale, Oluokun made 91 tackles during his rookie season, playing in 16 games but only starting in seven of them. While he again played in 16 games the next year, he ended up only starting in three games in 2019. Still, he had 62 tackles that season.
In 2020, Oluokun started in 14 of the 15 games he played in and he had an incredible impact along the way. Oluokun picked off a couple passes, had three sacks, and made 117 tackles in what was a very solid season.
Things got better in 2021 as he played in and started in all 17 games. Oluokun led the NFL with 192 tackles, grabbed three interceptions, and had a couple sacks.
Those stats from this past season are remarkable and if he can consistently have that sort of dominance, then just about any team should be willing to jump at the opportunity to sign him.