Eagles DT Moro Ojomo credits everyone but himself for his rise: ‘You need the people around you’

Moro Ojomo was asked on Wednesday to explain what has changed for him, why he’s playing so much and so well, a year after not playing much at all as a seventh-round rookie defensive tackle. He talked about learning from Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter, listening to Brandon Graham, and working relentlessly with player development assistants Matt Leo and Patrick McDowell.

Ojomo, 23, talked about everyone but himself.

“It takes a lot for a machine to be well-oiled or well-organized,” Ojomo said. “You think of, like, big ships. I really just think it’s everybody around me, not me.”

» READ MORE: Vic Fangio is feeling good about the Eagles defense. Is there a trade that could help it further?

It’s probably a bit hyperbolic to call this Eagles defense, specifically its defensive line, a machine, and it’s certainly not well-oiled. But the Eagles over their last three games since coming out of their bye week are first in the NFL in a handful of defensive categories, including points (9.7), yards (214), and first downs (14) allowed per game. They also have an NFL-high 14 sacks over that three-game stretch. Ojomo remains the only Eagles pass rusher with at least 80 snaps to not be credited with a sack this season, but he’s consistently getting into the backfield and causing havoc.

Edge rusher Josh Sweat leads the Eagles with 25 pressures and Carter is behind him at 23, according to Pro Football Focus. Ojomo is tied with Bryce Huff for third with 10 pressures. He also is third on the Eagles with nine hurries. And over the last four games Ojomo is playing 26 snaps per game, an increase over the 16 per game he played during the Eagles’ first three contests. Take out the 37 snaps he played in Week 18 last season, and Ojomo played a total of just 31 snaps in his first seven NFL games as a rookie.

“I always just tell people I’ve always improved year over year and that’s one of my keys,” said the 6-foot-3, 292-pound Ojomo. “I just want to get better year by year and see where the cards lay.”

Right now, the cards read that the Eagles might have gotten a seventh-round steal out of Texas, a result that, in a way, fits everything that Ojomo is.

He was born in Nigeria and came to the United States in 2009, when Ojomo was in third grade. His family originally settled in Southern California before moving to Texas. Children started school in Lagos, Nigeria, at a younger age than they did in the U.S., so Ojomo eventually became a 16-year-old high school senior who was a late-blooming college prospect.

He was still 16 years old when he enrolled at Texas, where he redshirted in 2018. By the time 2022 rolled around, Ojomo was a fifth-year senior who posted career highs in tackles and sacks. He had one more year of eligibility remaining thanks to the extra COVID-19 year, but he chose to opt for the NFL draft after graduating, and the underdog role followed him there as a late pick.

» READ MORE: Tush Push might be a TD thief, but Eagles’ Saquon Barkley sees it as ‘winning football’

Ojomo, who has a degree in finance and hopes to one day pursue a master’s degree, admitted that he likes the underdog tag.

“It can be a little uncomfortable, but I think pressure makes diamonds,” he said. “I just work, and I try hard to work and really just always try to get better. For anyone out there, I think that you can do whatever you want and set your mind to and that is completely my mindset.”

Graham has noticed the improvement this year.

“It’s really burning on this inside to get it right,” the veteran edge rusher said. “That’s all you want to see. He’s been getting better every day, taking his role serious, and making sure he’s having fun while he’s doing it.”

The fun is permeating. The Eagles lost veteran anchor Fletcher Cox to retirement in the offseason. The oldest player among the interior defensive linemen is 25-year-old Milton Williams. No one has tried the impossible task of replacing Cox as the sole leader, Ojomo said, and they’re all learning from one another.

“We’re all trying to aspire to do what one guy did for us in the room, and I think that helps us,” he said. “I think we have a really cool group of guys that are talented in different ways and can see the game from different perspectives. So you come off on the sideline, like, ‘Hey, how did you hit this guy? How is he setting? How is he doing this?’”

Ojomo said he has watched closely how Davis — coincidentally the player who is seemingly losing time to Ojomo — studies opposing offensive linemen. Davis, Ojomo said, is good at knowing when an offensive lineman wants to strike and how he moves, and in turn Ojomo has a better understanding now what his opponents are trying to accomplish.

Ojomo called new defensive line coach Clint Hurtt, a former defensive coordinator, “a genius.”

“I just think that we have a really cool thing going in that room,” Ojomo said.

Ojomo used a ship metaphor at the beginning of the conversation and later used the aphorism about high tides raising all ships. He gets some of this perspective from his parents, who are pastors. His father, Ololade, always reminds him to “never have a better yesterday,” Ojomo said. “My dad makes me believe that this world is at my feet.” And his mother, Bimbo, “loves up on me and supports me,” he said.

» READ MORE: Landon Dickerson Q&A: Eagles O-lineman on his secret language with Jordan Mailata, lawn fascination, and more

That love, he said, is freeing. He approaches life with a “take-your-shot mentality,” Ojomo said.

“I know at the end of the day, the people that love me are going to love me, and that should give me the most freedom in the world to try a new move or just keep working and not be worried about the things I can’t control,” he said.

Ojomo tied the high tide and the ships thing back to the Eagles defense. Yes, the pass rushers are getting home during this stretch, but the secondary has been strong in coverage, and the cornerbacks have aided the defense by tackling well. There’s a perfect harmony, Ojomo described, when it’s all humming at the same time.

“That’s how you win at life,” he said. “You need the people around you.”