South Carolina defender Kingsley Enagbare selected by Green Bay Packers
South Carolina has its first draftee of 2022.
Former USC defensive end Kingsley “JJ” Enagbare was selected with the 179th pick by the Green Bay Packers in the fifth round of the NFL Draft on Saturday.
Enagbare entered the season as a projected first round draft pick, but watched his stock slowly decrease given the slew of talented pass rushers in this year’s class coupled with a less dominant than expected campaign.
“Engabare isn’t a quick-twitch speed rusher, he is more of a long, heavy-handed power rusher,” The Athletic’s Dane Brugler told The State. “So while the 4.87 40-yard dash at 258 pounds at the Combine is a below average number, I don’t think it was completely unexpected. The 7.51 three-cone at the pro day was also below average by NFL standards.”
The Georgia native anchored the South Carolina defensive line opposite Aaron Sterling in his first and only year under defensive coordinator Clayton White. Enagbare finished the season with a career-high 42 tackles, but his five tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks were his lowest outputs since he was a freshman in 2019.
Originally committing to former head coach Will Muschamp, Enagbare was rated a four-star prospect and the No. 269 player in the 2018 class, per 247Sports. He chose USC over a final list that also included Georgia, Georgia Tech and Penn State.
Enagbare is the sixth South Carolina defensive end to be drafted since 2011 and the first since D.J. Wonnum was selected in the fourth round by the Minnesota Vikings in 2020.
The Gamecocks have now had at least one player selected in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft since getting shut out entirely in 2017.
Cornerback Jaycee Horn — who was in the same recruiting class as Enagbare — was the first South Carolina player off the board last season when he was taken with the No. 9 overall selection by the Carolina Panthers.
South Carolina DEs in NFL Draft
2011 — Cliff Matthews, Atlanta Falcons (Rd. 7, No. 230 overall)
2012 — Melvin Ingram, San Diego Chargers (Rd. 1, No. 18 overall)
2013 — Devin Taylor, Detroit Lions (Rd. 4, 132 overall)
2014 — Jadeveon Clowney, Cleveland Browns (Rd. 1, No. 1 overall)
2020 — D.J. Wonnum, Minnesota Vikings (Rd. 4, No. 117 overall)
2022 — Kingsley “JJ” Enagbare, Green Bay Packers (Rd. 5, No. 179 overall)
