Ezekial Ansah was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 2013 with the 5th overall pick. Before 2010, he had never even put football pads on and mainly played soccer and basketball. Ironically, it was his academic honors that helped him get a scholarship at Brigham Young University. He was then persuaded by the football coach to try out for the team after successfully walking onto the BYU track team with a 10.91 100-meter dash.

On Thanksgiving day, Ansah led the Detroit Lions’ defense in a dominating performance versus the Eagles. He collected 3.5 sacks, two tackles for loss, and three quarterback hits. The following week versus the Packers, he collected another sack, two more tackles for loss, and two quarterback hits in their stunning hail mary defeat. On the season, Ansah leads the NFC in sacks by five with 12.5 and is only one behind J.J. Watt. Let’s take a look at his sacks in the past two games.

Play 1
Situation: 3rd and 9 at PHI 25
Description: (7:21 – 1st) (No Huddle, Shotgun) M.Sanchez sacked at PHI 17 for -8 yards (E.Ansah)

• Lions rush five pass rushers, while the Eagles keep five blockers to protect Sanchez.
• Ansah takes three steps from outside faking the speed rush and then cuts inside through the Eagles weakside B-gap.
• LT #65 Lane Johnson (former right tackle) steps outside to block Ansah’s pass rush, widening the opening between the left guard and Johnson, which ultimately gives him the path inside for the sack.

Play 2
Situation: 3rd and 10 at PHI 20
Description: (7:41 – 2nd) (No Huddle, Shotgun) M.Sanchez sacked at PHI 13 for -7 yards (E.Ansah). Penalty on PHI-M.Tobin, Offensive Holding, declined

• The Lions rush stunts using defensive tackle #92 Haloti Ngata through the strongside B-gap and Ansah through the strongside A-gap.
• The right guard and right tackle step outside right to block Ngata and Ansah, respectively.
• The center, left guard, and left tackle block left creating a hole between the center and the right guard.
• After Ngata penetrates inside, Ansah loops around through this opening showcasing his speed and turning ability.
• He gets hooked around his neck by Tobin drawing the holding penalty before breaking inside to collect his second sack on Sanchez.

Play 3
Situation: 3rd and 7 at PHI 23
Description: (6:42 – 3rd) (No Huddle, Shotgun) M.Sanchez sacked at PHI 15 for -8 yards (E.Ansah). FUMBLES (E.Ansah) [H.Ngata], RECOVERED by DET-E.Ansah at PHI 15. E.Ansah to PHI 14 for 1 yard (D.Murray)

• Ansah lines up wide-9 on the left side of your screen (boxed in red).
• He speeds outside in a speed rush swiping away the hands of the left tackle in man-protection.
• He then turns his hips and angles them back towards the center of the pocket to strip Sanchez from behind.
• Ngata gets pressure through the right guard Mike Tobin and crushes Sanchez to the ground.
• Ansah realizes the ball is up for grabs, so he dives on it recovering the football for the Lions’ offense.

Play 4
Situation: 3rd and 4 at PHI 48
Description: (15:00 – 4th) (Shotgun) M.Sanchez sacked at PHI 40 for -8 yards (sack split by E.Ansah and D.Taylor)

• The Lions rush five pass rushers with Ansah rushing around the left side of the offensive line (right on the endzone view).
• On the opposite side of the defensive line, defensive end #98 Devin Taylor and linebacker #59 Tahir Whitehead run a stunt to penetrate into the backfield.
• The stunt forces Sanchez to scramble to the left side of the pocket.
• Ansah bullrushes the left tackle setting up him and Taylor to finish Sanchez for the split sack.
• Clearly, Taylor and Whitehead’s pressure is the reason why he got a piece of this sack.

Play 5
Situation: 3rd and 14 at GB 27
Description: (14:26 – 4th) (Shotgun) A.Rodgers sacked at GB 18 for -9 yards (E.Ansah)

• Just like in Play 2 above, the Lions run a stunt around the left side of the pocket.
• The stunt uses his speed to loop around the interior offensive lineman with Ngata penetrating into the backfield.
• The Lions rush five defenders and defensive tackle #97 Caraun Reid penetrates through the strongside A-gap which pulls the open the hole between the center and the left guard for him to sprint through and get the unimpeded sack.

From the film above, it’s clear that the Lions’ defensive coordinator Teryl Austin and defensive line coach Krik Kocurek love to use Ansah’s athletic ability with stunts. His ability as a pass rusher certainly has improved since he’s entered the NFL. The Lions traded for the Ravens’ All-Pro defensive tackle Haloti Ngata this summer, which is has been a large upgrade to the defensive line after the Lions lost Ndamukong Suh to the Dolphins in free agency. His presence is definitely enough to create one-on-one match-ups for this rising defensive star in his third season in the NFL.

Follow Samuel Gold on Twitter: @SamuelRGold.