“Do it again. Run it back,” Oluwafemi Oladejo shouted.
The UCLA edge rusher was going head-to-head with USC offensive lineman Jonah Monheim during one-on-one drills at the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. He won the rep, but someone had accused him of cheating.
“I’m like, ‘Bro,’” Oladejo recalled. “That’s why I said run it back. It ain’t never a problem to do another rep. And I was fired up.”
He doubled down on his all-gas-no-brakes energy by winning the second rep, shedding Monheim’s block and getting to the imaginary quarterback that was behind him.
An infectious personality and explosive physicality have thrust Oladejo into a spotlight that he’s thriving in. The linebacker-turned-edge was one of the Big Ten’s most athletic, raw talents and now looks be a Day Two pick in the NFL draft.
“Behind the scenes, he was incredible,” said Jim Nagy, former executive director of the Senior Bowl and current University of Oklahoma general manager.
“He’s got great energy off the field, he’s got incredible energy on the field as well. He’s just an easy guy to tell how much he enjoys playing football and loves competing. He helped himself as much as anybody at the Senior Bowl.”
A career-altering change
Upon transferring to UCLA from Cal, Oladejo registered 54 tackles (27 solo), 2.5 tackles for loss and half a sack as a junior off-ball linebacker in 2023. Multiple pass-rushers moved on to the NFL in the season after, and UCLA switched defensive coordinators from D’Anton Lynn to Ikaika Malloe.
The defensive re-arrangement allowed the coaching staff to experiment with Oladejo at edge in late August. A month later, he started at the position against LSU and by the end of the season had collected 57 tackles in addition to a team-leading 13.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks for a loss of 31 yards.
Oladejo chopped and spun his way to success in his new home while remaining versatile enough to either rush the passer or drop in coverage. It was his aptitude for observation and thirst for knowledge, however, that led to rapid development on the edge.
“He wants to know everything,” head coach DeShaun Foster said at UCLA’s Pro Day. “Femi wants to know about my draft process, the combine. I’m like, ‘Femi, that was 20 years ago. I can barely remember all that.’ But he’s somebody that is eager to get that knowledge. He knows you’ve done it, so he wants to hear it.”
Soaking up others’ experience is something Oluwafemi has done since he was at Cosumnes Oaks High in Sacramento.
He trained at gyms like Flex Fitness and with teams like DB Select, which exposed him to NFL players like Ethan Westbrook, Arik Armstead, Carl Granderson and Lamar Jackson – the cornerback, not the quarterback.
“We pretty much were lifting the same weight when he was coming out of high school and I was doing my second year in the NFL,” said Granderson, a New Orleans Saints defensive end who has been in the NFL since 2019.
“If we had an upper-body day and we just finished the workout, he’d be like, ‘Come on, let’s get some abs in.’ Little things like that opened up my eyes and from that point, I started pushing him too. Like yeah, come on, you done got me motivated and now I can do the same thing, too.”
Oladejo tapped into Granderson’s knowledge when he changed positions and continued to seek advice as he went through his pre-draft process. The pro coached him up, reviewed video clips of his progress and lent an ear through all the changes.
“You can tell we’re from the same area,” Granderson said. “He’s a dog, he doesn’t complain, he wants to work, he wants to get better. He takes everything seriously, from eating to workouts and off the field to faith. He stays out of the way, he don’t be in trouble and he’s just focused. He wants to be great. He’s determined.”
A motor built for the next level
Not only did Oladejo get two sacks in the Senior Bowl – which offers exposure to all 32 NFL teams – he was also a unanimous selection for the event’s “Good Guy Award,” which recognizes a player with exceptional positive behavior and character off the field.
“He’s come a long way in a short period of time,” Nagy said. “And just to get him down (to the Senior Bowl), he’s a really unique person. Just incredible energy, really infectious, loves the game. It’s obvious in the way he handles himself and conducts his business and was just a joy to be around.”
Oladejo used his voice at UCLA to encourage others, break down huddles and even talk some well-meaning trash. The leadership he developed in his time as a Bruin is serving him well as he moves into the next phase of his football career.
“That isn’t something that you can just fake,” Granderson said. “That’s something that’s gotta be in you.”
It made him an instant hit at the Senior Bowl and in all the subsequent media interactions. He’s even found time to connect with other Nigerian players who are moving on to professional football and is trying to plan a trip to the West African country with those he’s bonded with.
Oladejo has had to work overtime, training at Exos in Texas and getting on camera since the conclusion of the college season in order to garner attention for himself and show the football world his potential. Fortunately, he never runs out of energy.
“The main thing now is OK, don’t get complacent, don’t get satisfied,” he said. “Don’t let the love that you’re getting stop you from still being who you are, which is a hard worker, which is discipline, which is growth every day. I’m really grateful, but just got to keep going.”
