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It’s easy to notice Levi Onwuzurike in Detroit Lions practices. No. 91 on the defensive line is a large man who carries himself with a very upright gait that makes him appear much taller than most of his linemates. He’s also worked hard to get a rocked-up, muscular physique.
It’s also been easy to notice how well Onwuzurike is playing this spring. Now more than two years removed from spinal fusion surgery that many expected would end his young NFL career, the 2021 second-round pick is finally healthy. Lions head coach Dan Campbell has taken notice of Onwuzurike’s play.
After carefully curbing his own enthusiasm with the caveat that none of the action is in pads yet, Campbell couldn’t help himself getting excited about Onwuzurike.
“Levi is having a really good spring,” Campbell stated. “(Josh) Paschal is too but Levi – because where he’s come from and all he’s had to deal with, I mean, this guy just has continued to rehab, he’s continued to train his body and work, he’s put on weight because his back can handle it now, we got him through last year to where he’s able to bank some reps and he’s having a really good spring.”
No. 91 backed up his coach with a good performance in Wednesday’s minicamp session. He earned credit in my practice notebook ,
Onwuzurike destroyed a Hooker bootleg to the right, which would have resulted in a huge loss (John Cominsky also wasn’t fooled and was right there too). Onwuzurike had pass rush wins aligned at RDE and LDT–though remember, it’s not padded practice yet.
One big reason for the successful spring is being more comfortable in his own body. Being healthy and capable of training has given him confidence. As Onwuzurike said after practice,
“The best way I can explain it is everything is moving together as one. Speed to power, my whole body feels like one, all together.”
He added that he’s playing at 300 pounds now, up from about 280 to start last year. The added muscle is noticeable even on a guy who always looked powerfully fit. Despite the added bulk, he’s also playing more DE in camp after playing almost exclusively inside most of his Lions career.