Boom! Tigers Land Commitment From 4* Defensive End Kayode Oladele

Friday I speculated that Auburn fans might be hearing some good news in the near future. Well good news has arrived people! 4* DE Kayode Oladele, currently on his official visit to Auburn, has apparently committed to the Tigers according to 247’s Keith Niebuhr.

Oladele later made it Twitter official from his own account.

It’s been a unique journey to this point for Oladele. He arrived in the United States in 2015 and has only played one year of high school football. He missed the 2017 season due to visa issues. So the term “raw” has never found a better fit for an athlete. But there’s no denying the tremendous natural talent this kid possesses.

Auburn will have four Nigerian natives on next year’s roster in Prince Tega Wanogho, Prince Sammons, Richard Jibunor and Kayode Oladele. Oladele has the least experience of the group but it’s hard to not drool over the potential. This is a kid that through summer camps and just one season of high school football earned a 4* composite ranking and offers from the likes of Auburn, Georgia, Florida State, Miami and many others. At the end of his recruitment, the decision came down to Auburn and Ole Miss with the Tigers snagging the prized verbal commitment.

Highlights

Scouting Report

Oladele is about a rare a prospect as you will find. He has only one year of tape and it’s his junior year so it’s really hard to evaluate his ability. It’s pretty easy to see that his athleticism is off the chart though. At 6’4” 235 lbs he’s got the frame to put on 30-40 more lbs and play the strongside defensive end spot that Marlon Davidson and Nick Coe often occupy. You can tell he still has a lot to learn when it comes to leverage and how to use his hands based off his film as he relies mostly on his size and strength to make plays. He plays standing up at times which is something not that uncommon for high school defensive line prospects especially someone with as little experience as Oladele. But you can see the potential. He’s got amazing bend around the edge and moves way too well for a kid his size. Bottom line is this kid has all the tools to be a stud but I have a feeling Auburn fans are going to have to wait a few years before seeing him make a real impact on the field. But when it does click he’s got a chance to be something special.

The Class

Auburn now has 20 commitments heading into early signing day. The coaching staff is hoping that 18 of those will sign and I am sure they will work on the final two holdouts as well if possible. Oladele gives Auburn a well rounded DL class with two interior players in Daquan Newkirk and Coynis Miller to go with two different types of edge players in Oladele and Richard Jibunor. Auburn could be done at DL though 4* DL Andres Fox is still very much a target and a guy that I think could still land in this class. But I think the coaching staff would be fine if it just ended up being these four guys in this year’s defensive line class. That’s a great place to be at this point in the recruiting cycle.

There’s a chance this isn’t the last commitment Auburn lands before Wednesday either. There’s some rumblings that 3* OT Jalen Goss might also want to pull the trigger this weekend as well. Overall, this is shaping up to be one of Gus Malzahn’s strongest recruiting classes and it’s hard to not be excited about the future for this Auburn football program.

War Eagle Kayode!