Penn State defensive end Arnold Ebiketie has been selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the second round (38th overall pick) of this year’s NFL Draft.
Ebiketie grew up in Cameroon and, due to his father’s job, he moved with his family to the United States at age 13.
As a sophomore in high school, Ebiketie took up football. After his career at Albert Einstein High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, Ebiketie earned a scholarship to Temple University, where he was from 2017-2020.
After the 2020 season, Ebiketie moved to Penn State, and his last college football season put him on the map.
Ebiketie became one of the best defensive players in the Big Ten, finishing second in the conference in sacks (9.5) and tackles for loss (18), earning first-team All-Big Ten honors.
At his NFL Combine press conference in Indianapolis, Ebiketie credited Penn State’s coaching staff for his career year.
“(Defensive Line Coach John) Scott, (graduate assistant) Deion Barnes, those guys, they kind of helped me put together some of the pieces that I was missing into my game,” Ebiketie said. “And I think, once I got that, I kind of put everything together. That’s where the production came from.”
Ebiketie is the second Penn State player selected in this year’s draft.
