The word is: Nkemdiche.
Can I get an alternate pronunciation?
Alternate pronunciation: kim-DEECH-ee.
Can you use it in a sentence?
A first-round draft pick out of Ole Miss by the Denver Broncos, Robert Nkemdiche leads all rookie defensive linemen in tackles and is a top candidate for Rookie of the Year.
Okay, kim-DEECH-ee … N-K-E-M-D-I-C-H-E … kim-DEECH-ee.
Go ahead and “add to dictionary,” because folks in Broncos Country could be saying (and typing) the name Robert Nkemdiche quite regularly come April 28.
After his pro day on Monday, ESPN reported that among the teams scheduled to host the troubled-but-talented pass rusher for formal visits in advance of the 2016 NFL Draft are three AFC West clubs, including the Denver Broncos. Nkemdiche is also on the radar in San Diego and Oakland, which is all the more reason Denver needs to make sure he doesn’t end up with either division foe. No NFL team will want to face Nkemdiche twice per year, let alone one with a work-in-progress offensive line like Denver’s.
Nkemdiche is a frightening draft prospect, both for those who will eventually have to face him and for teams who are considering drafting him.
On Monday, NFL analyst Bucky Brooks called him “the biggest boom-or-bust prospect in the draft.”
He was a second-team All-American at Ole Miss as a junior, but is leaving school early after an incident in December in which he was hospitalized after a fall out of a hotel window, for which he later faced a related drug possession charge. His off-field transgressions have been linked in part to his older brother, Denzel, whom he played alongside for the past three years.
His numbers may not be eye-popping – he posted 81 tackles and six sacks in three years for the Rebels – but his size, speed and strength certainly are. A pre-draft highlight reel shows him routinely in the backfield of top SEC opponents, sacking quarterbacks and making tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
“If you put on a tape like the Alabama game where he’s facing some zone-blocking schemes, he’s just dominant,” his former head coach, Hugh Freeze, said Monday.
One criticism of Nkemdiche is that he struggled against double-teams.
“You put on some others, where he’s facing double-teams, it’s not as natural, nor should it be,” Freeze continued. “If you’re getting double-teamed, you’re probably not supposed to win a large percentage of those. It wasn’t real natural to him. He’s got some improving to do.”
Denver would be an ideal place for Nkemdiche to improve both on the field and off.
Those double-teams that proved problematic would all but vanish when he’s playing on a line with Von Miller, Derek Wolfe, Sylvester Williams and a rotation of Shane Ray, Shaq Barrett and DeMarcus Ware.
A work ethic that has also been questioned would be put to the test, as well. On that topic, Freeze was adamant.
“The guy’s very competitive and he gives great effort,” the coach said. “He’s one of the hardest workers we have in the strength program and the practices.”
He’ll have to be if he wants to get playing time in Denver as a rookie. Nkemdiche is big enough, strong enough and fast enough that he could play several positions in Denver, but he’ll have Williams, Darius Kilgo, Kenny Anunike, Vance Walker and others in the mix for snaps.
Denver has a locker room full of guys who’ve busted tail in the strength program and practices to yield exceptional results on game day. Several had the same high upside and character concerns Nkemdiche faces.
Bradley Roby, whom the Broncos selected at No. 31 (the same spot they currently hold, coincidentally) in 2014, was cited for driving under the influence less than three weeks before he was drafted. Shane Ray, the No. 23 pick in 2015 (Denver moved up to get him), also ran into trouble with the law right before the draft, getting busted on a marijuana charge. And Von Miller, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, had his own marijuana-related offenses while in the NFL – even finding himself one violation away from being kicked out the league.
But each of them has been on the straight-and-narrow of late, thriving in a culture of accountability that at times reflects brotherly competition. Nkemdiche would flourish in a locker room with stars like Ware and Miller, who now appears heir apparent to Ware as team captain and the locker room’s de facto “big brother.”
“Me, Denzel and my family have made it to a point where we’re going to be separate for the beginning of my career,” Nkemdiche said at his pro day.
There might be no better duo in the NFL than Ware and Miller to fill the void of influence that will be left by this planned separation between Robert and Denzel. And there might be no better coaching tandem in the league than defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and defensive line coach Bill Kollar to unleash the raw physical ability Nkemdiche possesses.
“If you can figure out what he is and what motivates him, you could uncover a star,” Brooks said. “If he plays, he can be a guy who can be a perennial Pro Bowl player.”
How does being on a defense that was the best in football and almost singlehandedly won a Super Bowl last year sound? And learning from two All-Pro pass rushers? Or being part of a defensive line that led the league in sacks? One where, in d-line terms, the big dogs get to eat?
Phillips wouldn’t need to do much convincing. And he could really spell trouble for opposing offenses with the ability to line up the versatile Nkemdiche at virtually any position on the defensive line.
John Elway has opted for defense with his first draft pick every year since becoming GM in 2011, beginning with Miller. Nkemdiche has plenty of other suitors, including the Chargers and Raiders – both of whom select inside the top 14. But those character concerns could cause him to slip, as they did with Roby and Ray.
If that happens, the only thing Elway should be concerned about is how to spell “Nkemdiche” on the card the Broncos turn into Roger Goodell on April 28.
