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Etinosa Reuben is a 6’ 3” 275 lb SDE out of Park Hill South High in Riverside Missouri. A three star guy with a 247 Composite Rating of 0.8830, Reuben is listed as the 32nd best SDE prospect and the sixth best prospect out of the state of Missouri.
He is raw and fairly new to football, but there were still plenty of teams wanting him. He took visits to Ohio St, Wisconsin, and Georgia, with the Buckeyes seemingly being the leader for him. On his visit to Clemson, he and Ruke Orhorhoro really hit it off. Both are Nigerian. He committed to the Tigers on July 29, with Brent Venables being the lead recruiter, with an assist from Todd Bates.
Again, he is very raw, but he is versatile, quick, powerful, and brings with him a ton of upside. He plays to high right now and his technique needs a lot of work, but he has great closing speed, a motor that never seems to stop, and is an aggressive tackler. I would expect a redshirt but there is a lot here to work with. We will see how fast Todd Bates can mold him.
QT’s Take:
Reuben at 6’3, 275 is an explosive jumbo athlete at this point. Clemson is prioritizing versatile athletes on the defensive line who demonstrate short space agility, quickness, and power with these takes.
Just like the take of Ruke and Johnson, Reuben gives you a raw piece of clay to mold with tremendous upside. Right now his technique needs a lot of work and he plays too high, but he is that rare combination of size and speed with 275 pounds. Reuben, like Ruke, recently picked up football and will need time to develop. Aggressive tackler who chases the play from the backside. Quick twitch and decent bend despite playing too high in his stance. He didn’t have the dominant senior year against marginal competition that you are looking for with him to take the next step.
He could grow into a DT or stay at the strongside DE if he can keep his weight down and work on his speed. I see him as a more likely 3 tech candidate right now.