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The Buffalo Bills selected University of Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver No. 9 overall in the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night. Here are five things you should know about Oliver:
Don’t call me, I’ll call you
Oliver’s high school coach at Westfield outside Houston, A.J. Blum, shared a story about Oliver’s college recruitment. Oliver was the rare student who did not have a cellphone, and that was fine with him because it allowed him to turn off the noise.
“During the recruiting process, he didn’t want to talk to people,” Blum said. “He knew the people he wanted to talk to and they knew how to get a hold of him.”
Oliver was a five-star recruit and schools such as Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M were all hot on his trail, but he wanted to stay near his family so he chose to attend Houston, where his brother Marcus played.
“I just do things differently,” said Oliver said.
An injury cost Oliver in 2018
Oliver had a tremendous 2017 season and was thrust into the 2018 Heisman Trophy conversation, but he suffered a bruised right knee four games into the season and he never really bounced back.
He ended up playing in eight games and made only three sacks, 20 QB hurries and 30 tackles, though 16.5 went for lost yardage.
While he was injured, Oliver made news for a sideline incident he had with Houston coach Major Applewhite. He was wearing one of the school-issued parkas, but because he was inactive for the game, Applewhite told him to take it off because they were for players in uniform.
Oliver didn’t appreciate it and he exchanged words with Applewhite on the way to the halftime locker room. He later apologized to the coach, and Applewhite said, “Ed got emotional. He’s young and that’s what happens. He’s not playing and that’s hard and that’s difficult. I don’t hold anything against anyone.”
He played out of position
NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said he couldn’t understand why Houston played Oliver straight up on the center in a nose tackle position, rather than as a three-technique where he could have used his quickness more effectively. In the pros, he will be utilized as a three.
“He is so dynamic and so explosive, and it’s frustrating to watch him because they play him a lot head up over the center, and you talk to some D-line coaches, when you have an athlete like that, they say, ‘why would you line him up blocked?’ Let him get in a gap and let him get upfield where he can use that quickness and really be disruptive. I think he’ll benefit kind of from a move to that three-technique full-time, park him in there and let him go.”
Todd McShay liked Bills as a fit
The ESPN draft analyst said on a conference call a couple weeks ago that he felt Oliver would be a great fit for the Bills at No. 9.
“If he’s developed properly, he’s got a chance to be one of the two or three best players in this draft class,” McShay. “Anywhere past pick three or four I don’t think it’s a reach at all for Ed Oliver.”
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