30 Players in 30 Days: #5 — Justin Madubuike

Position: Defensive Line
Classification: Sophomore
Hometown: McKinney, TX
Listed Height: 6-3
Listed Weight: 300

Notes from Billy's breakdown on Madubuike

• Here’s a guy who is so interesting. He’s a big signee, comes in about 250lbs. Then he gets hurt in fall camp during the offseason and you don’t hear from him again until the middle of his redshirt freshman season. Then he contributes last year, he’s in there making some plays. I thought he played well, but you didn’t see him as a disruptive force. And I don’t know if that was him adjusting to the scheme or if it was just his first year playing college football. He didn’t do what we heard about from practice. Then, you get the whole new coaching staff and you hear from him again. Now he’s well over 300 pounds and was the MVP of spring ball.

• Madubuike is coming on big time right now. His last few days of camp he is starting to look like the guy everyone saw in the spring, the guy who was the defensive MVP. That would change things so significantly because Keke has been really active outside and is getting comfortable at DE. I think a D-line with Keke, Mack, Madubuike, and Durham on the left end sets up a good front. I think Justin, Keke, and Mack could be absolutely dominant.

• For a guy his size, he has strength, speed and freakish agility. As far as measurables go, he’s a first rounder. He could be a very high NFL pick and in the league for a long time. He actually reminds me of Ron Edwards, who came in as an end and ended up as a true nose. He probably got up to 315-320 pounds, which Justin could get to. Madubuike could be that type of guy, a long time NFL player. He’s going to be a handful for interior linemen in the SEC; ask a couple of good ones in Eric McCoy and Keaton Sutherland, because he is a handful even for them. 

• The only concern is that we haven’t seen him do it yet in a game. He did it most days in spring and in fall camp, the question is just can he put it together in the season? I have a hard time saying this about a guy who hasn’t done it on the field yet, but Madubuike is a guy who is coming in with a lot of skins on the wall from practices and high school games that he dominated. If he can play like he practices, I can see him being a guy who leaves early for the draft. Keep an eye on him in a couple of years.

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Follow the entire 30 Players in 30 Days series here.