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Dallas Cowboys select UCLA’s Osa Odighizuwa as No. 75 overall pick in NFL Draft

Former UCLA football defensive lineman Osa Odighizuwa was selected by the Dallas Cowboys with the No. 75 overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft on Friday night. Odighizuwa averaged over three sacks per 12 games in his time in Westwood. (Andy Bao/Daily Bruin staff)

By Sam Connon

April 30, 2021 7:43 p.m.

The Dallas Cowboys hadn’t picked a Bruin in over 30 years.

That streak is over.

Dallas selected former UCLA football defensive lineman Osa Odighizuwa with the No. 75 overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft on Friday. The Bruins have now had a player selected in the top-three rounds in 10 of the last 12 drafts.

The Cowboys hadn’t drafted anyone out of Westwood since they took future Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman with the No. 1 overall pick of the 1989 draft. Aikman and Odighizuwa didn’t have a lot in common outside of their alma mater entering this week’s draft, but now they can both claim a stake in the blue and gold to lonestar pipeline.

With their first and second round selections, the Cowboys selected Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons and Kentucky cornerback Kelvin Joseph, respectively. Dallas finished last season with the 28th-ranked defense and 20th-ranked pass rush en route to a 6-10 record, failing to make the postseason for the third time in the last four seasons.

Odighizuwa ranked second on UCLA with six tackles for loss and four sacks in seven games this season en route to a unanimous first-team All-Pac-12 selection. Across his collegiate career, Odighizuwa averaged 7.5 tackles for loss and just over three sacks per 12 games.

How the Cowboys project to use Odighizuwa remains up in the air, as the defensive lineman has played on the interior, on the end, in three-technique and one-technique in the past.

Odighizuwa joins Kenny Clark, Eddie Vanderdoes and Takkarist McKinley as recent UCLA defensive lineman picked up in the first two days of the draft. In the third draft cycle with coach Chip Kelly at the helm in Westwood, however, Odighizuwa is the first front seven player to hear his name called.

Running back Demetric Felton – who is also being looked at as a wide receiver at the next level – is the only other Bruin remaining on the board. Day three of the NFL Draft will start at 9 a.m. on Saturday, beginning with the fourth round.

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Sam Connon | Alumnus
Connon joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2017 and contributed until he graduated in 2021. He was the Sports editor for the 2019-2020 academic year, an assistant Sports editor for the 2018-2019 academic year and spent time on the football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, men's soccer, cross country, men's golf and women's golf beats, while also contributing movie reviews for Arts & Entertainment.
Connon joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2017 and contributed until he graduated in 2021. He was the Sports editor for the 2019-2020 academic year, an assistant Sports editor for the 2018-2019 academic year and spent time on the football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, men's soccer, cross country, men's golf and women's golf beats, while also contributing movie reviews for Arts & Entertainment.
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