Owen Heinecke LB Oklahoma |
NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
| Jersey: #38 PLAY STYLE: MULI-ROLE LB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Updated: 03/25/2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Draft Year: 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FORTY time: 4.62 seconds (75%*) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jersey: #38 | |
| PLAY STYLE: MULI-ROLE LB | |
| Last Updated: 03/25/2026 | |
| Draft Year: 2026 | |
| Forty time: 4.62 seconds (75%*) | |
| Overall Rating: | 79.8 / 100 | |
|---|---|---|
| Average rating of opposition Offense player has faced | ||
| Offense Rating: |
|
76% |
| Click the links below to view how player ranks vs other prospects. | ||
| Tackling: |
|
55% |
| Pass Rush: |
|
76% |
| Run Defense: |
|
83% |
| Coverage: |
|
70% |
|
DRAFT PROJECTION:
UDFA
Overall Rank:
#250
Position rank:
#25 (LB)
|
||
| College Games: 18 College Snaps: 498 | ||
| Player Comparison* (Similarity level) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Isaiah Johnson - Arizona State |
|
62% |
| Terrell Smith - Monmouth |
|
34% |
| Tyreke Johnson - Nebraska |
|
03% |
Draft Profile: Bio
A zero-star recruit out of Bishop Kelley High School in Tulsa, Heinecke played running back and safety and earned District 5A-III Player of the Year in 2020. Also a top lacrosse recruit in the state, he chose Ohio State for that sport over football offers from Army and Navy. After three games as a walk-on he transferred to Oklahoma in 2022 to play football. His uncle Cory was a defensive end on OU's 2000 national championship team.Heinecke spent 2023 and 2024 on special teams and reserve linebacker duty across 26 games before earning a starting role over the final five of 2025. Once on the field, production came fast: 74 tackles, 12.0 TFLs, 3.0 sacks, four pass breakups, and a fumble forced. At Tennessee he posted 13 tackles and a sack-fumble returned 71 yards for a score, earning SEC Defensive Player of the Week. The AP named him All-SEC Second Team, and Oklahoma gave him the Don Key Award, the program's highest honor.
His eligibility remains unresolved. The NCAA counted his three lacrosse games at Ohio State against his football clock and denied his appeal for a fourth season. He filed an injunction in Cleveland County court in March 2026, with a hearing set one week before the draft.
Scouting Report: Strengths
- Spools up fast in pursuit and tops 20 MPH tracking ball carriers sideline to sideline.
- Sack-fumble at Tennessee showed his ability to time the snap and win clean off the edge.
- Avoids blockers with lateral quickness rather than trying to power through them.
- Converts tackles for loss at a high rate when pointed downhill in gap-shoot assignments.
- Lacrosse footwork translates to fluid movement in short-area changes of direction.
- Explodes through contact with hip pop and wrap technique on his best reps.
- Four-phase special teams value is obvious on tape; runs through blockers on coverage units.
- Plays with a nasty streak that forces opponents to account for him every snap.
Scouting Report: Weaknesses
- Short arms create a small tackling radius; whiffs too often on the periphery.
- Blockers absorb him easily on direct engagement and he ends up on the ground.
- Ole Miss misdirection exposed slow processing; bit hard on fakes and lost contain.
- When asked to scrape laterally, his reads lag behind his feet and he overruns gaps.
- Alabama tape showed poor recovery when re-routed by pass protectors early in the rep.
- Coverage usage stayed narrow: flat follows, hook zones, and the occasional mugged-up drop.
- Frame looks maxed out; adding weight would likely cost him the quickness that makes him useful.
Scouting Report: Summary
Heinecke's path to a roster runs through special teams, and the tape backs that up clearly. Watch him on punt and kick coverage and you see a guy who finds blockers before they find him, accelerates through contact, and finishes at the ball. That kind of effort on all four phases keeps roster spots for players with his profile, and he does it with enough speed and recklessness to be a core contributor from day one.On defense, his best reps come when he knows where he is going before the snap. Gap-shoot assignments, A-gap blitzes, and designed pressures let him use his burst without asking him to diagnose a blocking scheme in real time. That Tennessee sack-fumble was a perfect example: timed the snap, attacked a gap, and finished the play. But when Oklahoma asked him to scrape across the formation or read misdirection like they did against Ole Miss, the processing lagged and he drifted out of position. NFL offenses will test that recognition constantly, and bigger blockers will punish his inability to detach once they get hands on him.
The realistic projection is a back-end roster linebacker whose defensive snaps stay limited to favorable situations. Late-and-long packages where he can rush or match a tight end underneath play to what he does well. The missed tackles and size limitations cap his defensive value, but the motor and aggression are genuine. He earned All-SEC honors against quality opponents for a reason. A coaching staff that keeps his plate small on defense and turns him loose on special teams can get real value from him.
Owen Heinecke percentiles vs other Linebackers (NFL Combine historically - higher value represents better perfomance)
How other scouting services rate Owen Heinecke (Overall Rank)
All Scouts AverageOverall Rank
208.4
All Scouts AveragePosition Rank
29.0
*Percentile Ranking in Player's Position Group (NFL Combine Historical Data): This percentile reflects how a player's specific statistics rank
in comparison to historical performances at the NFL Combine, specifically within their position group. A higher percentile indicates a better performance.
For instance, being in the 90th percentile for a particular stat means the player outperformed 90% of their peers in that category.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.