L.A. Rams pick Eastern Washington’s Samson Ebukam in fourth round of NFL Draft
Samson Ebukam will never forget this moment.
Sitting in the family living room in Portland on Saturday morning, the former Eastern Washington defensive end was watching the fourth round of the NFL Draft
It was an exercise of curiosity more than self-interest. The sixth round – that would be his time. He didn’t dare hope for more.
He should have.
Ebukam’s cell phone buzzed at 10:15. It was the Los Angeles Rams. The conversation had just begun when Ebukam’s name flashed on the screen:
“Round 4, pick 19: LA Rams pick linebacker Samson Ebukam from Eastern Washington.”
Cheers in the room erupted as Ebukam tried to make sense of it all.
“I can’t put this into words,” Ebukam said. “I had no idea this was going to happen.”
Moments later, he got a text message from former Eagle teammate Cooper Kupp, who was drafted the night before – by the same team.
The text from Kupp was predictable: “Time to go to work.”
That will be the easy part; Ebukam and Kupp were widely recognized as the hardest-working players in the program.
“(Cooper) just grinds basically kind of like I did,” said Ebukam. “We worked out sometimes and sometimes I’m just like ‘Damn, this is the only person that I know on the team that can work as hard as me and not complain.’”
Now comes the reward: Ebukam will chase quarterbacks while making about $2 million a year.
That money will be put to work as soon as possible. Ebukam’s first move on Saturday was to tell his mother Stella to quit her job.
“She deserves that,” Ebukam said.
Three months ago, the pass-rush specialist didn’t expect to hear his name called in any round of the draft.
That was nothing new: The Nigerian immigrant had just two offers coming out of high school. Why should the NFL be any different, despite Ebukam’s big numbers (11 sacks, 42 hurries) last year?
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But something happened between the end of last season and the draft. Pro scouts finally saw past the fact that Eastern plays at the FCS level, while Ebukam impressed at every stop.
His biggest day came at home, at the EWU Pro Day. Two dozen scouts watched on March 28 as Ebukam ran a 4.45-second 40 and came up with an eye-popping 130-inch standing broad jump. He also managed 24 reps at 225 pounds in the bench press.
Several visits followed, including one to Los Angeles.
Ebukam’s stock rose.
This from NFL.com: “Attacks the edge with plus burt and has the desire to keep working when he gets punched and controlled early…. Drdawn to the play like a magnet… Lauded for intelligence and work ethic.”
Late this week, a few draft gurus had moved Ebukam as high as the fifth round,, but none as high as the 125th pick the Rams exercised on Saturday.
The Rams had spent three of their first four picks on offense – including Kupp early in the third round – but needed to address defensive needs. A multi-team trade produced the pick that brought them Ebukam.
A defensive end for his entire four-year career at Eastern, the 6-foot-2, 240-pound Ebukam will line up at outside linebacker for the Rams in their new 3-4 scheme.
Kupp and Ebukam also made some history this weekend. Not since 1987 were two Eagles drafted in the same year. That’s when offensive tackle Ed Simmons was picked in the sixth round by Washington and Craig Richardson was chosen in the 11th round by Kansas City.
Simmons went on to play 11 years as a “Hog” for the Redskins, helping them win the 1992 Super Bowl.
Eastern has enjoyed no multiple picks since 1994 when the draft was reduced to seven rounds.
“When (Cooper) got picked by them I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s the perfect team,’” said Ebukam.
“Then I thought to myself, what are the chances I get picked by the same team? And it just happened and I was like, ‘Whoa, Eagles really do stick together.’ That’s awesome.”
Bourne, Hill sign free agent contracts
Former Eastern Washington receivers Kendrick Bourne and Shaq Hill signed free-agent contracts on Saturday.
Bourne inked a three-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers. The details of Hill’s contract with the Houston Texans is undisclosed.