Omar McManus
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No. 55 Arizona Cardinals | |||||||||
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| Defensive End | |||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||
| Date of birth: November 11, 1997 (Age 25) | |||||||||
| Place of birth: Sioux Falls, South Dakota | |||||||||
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Career information | |||||||||
| High school: Minnesota West Community & Technical College (Worthington, MN) | |||||||||
| College: Fresno State | |||||||||
| NFL Draft: 2020 / Round: 2 / Pick: 43 | |||||||||
| Debuted in 2020 for the Arizona Cardinals | |||||||||
Career history
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| Roster status: Active | |||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
Career NFL statistics as of Week 1, 2020 | |||||||||
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Omar McManus (born November 11, 1997) is an American football defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Fresno State.
Contents
Personal Life and Early Years
Omar McManus was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and ended up moving to a small town in the heart of the state at the age of 9, so that his parents could work at one of the many tourist attractions in the area. He excelled at the game of football after joining in middle school, and was well-regarded around the state. His biggest problem was visibility - he only played on a 9-man team, and just getting things like game film were hard enough, much less having colleges take serious looks at him. McManus also excelled at wrestling, and received a few offers from Big Sky Conference members to come join their wrestling programs. But McManus' heart was in football, and so he decided to attend Minnesota West Community & Technical College to participate in both sports with the Blue Jays.
College Career
McManus was instantly a rising star in the junior college field, but decided to stay for a second year to graduate from Minnesota West with dual Associate of Science degrees in Chemistry and Plant Science.
McManus had a few offers on the table to play football at the FBS level as a JuCo transfer. He ultimately decided to base his decision on "what he would do if he had to stop playing football", electing to pursue a Major in Enology with a Minor in Viticulture - McManus had a dream of one day owning and operating his own vineyard/winery - at Fresno State.
Recruiting
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
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| Omar McManus DE |
Sioux Falls, South Dakota | Minnesota West C&TC | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 258 lb (117 kg) | JuCo | |
Skill: Potential:
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| Overall recruiting rankings: | ||||||
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College statistics
| Season | Defense | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheets | Tackles | Int | Sacks | FF | FR | TD | Safeties | ||||||
| 2016 | | ||||||||||||
| 2017 | | ||||||||||||
| 2018 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 2019 | 10 | 51 | 0 | 12.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| NCAA Career Totals | 13 | 63 | 0 | 16.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Professional Career
Predraft Processes and Draft
McManus finished his schooling in time for a December 2019 graduation, and used his time off of school to train for the 2020 NFLHC Draft.
During the Combine, he set marks of a 4.86 40-time (9th of 10 DEs in attendance), 27.5" vertical (10th), 33 bench reps (T-1st, with Isaiah Hall and Shah Vereen), 4.33 shuttle (2nd, behind only Tyler Jones), and a 7.11 3-cone (7th).
His pro day helped bump his stock a bit, with one scout saying "after watching his game tape, he's pushing for a top 5 defensive end prospect in this class." Another said "he really doesn't bring it as much as the other kids in this class when we're in climate-controlled buildings with t-shirts and sweatpants on running around... but he and two or three others could be plug and play starters as rookies, when you actually get some pads on, his presence is known."
McManus was selected with a 2nd round pick by the Arizona Cardinals, the 43rd pick overall, and 8th defensive end selected.
Arizona Cardinals
McManus plugged right into a horrid Cardinals pass rush as a day one starter. As a rookie, he provided a nice boost to the team's pass rush, though the defense and team in general continued to struggle in mediocrity.
With the 7th overall selection of the 2021 NFLHC Draft, the Cardinals bolstered their pass rush with the selection of All-American End Josiah Harden. Harden would go on to have one of the best rookie seasons in franchise history, and his addition helped improve McManus' game as well, with Harden notching 10.0 sacks to set the franchise single-season record (doing so as a rookie), and McManus adding 9.0 of his own, which itself would have been the record had Harden not topped it during the same season.
During a week 7 game against Seattle in 2022, McManus tore his ACL, ending his season.
With questions concerning McManus' abilities following his injury, and about his long-term outlook in Arizona after contract negotiations broke down, the Cardinals selected Samir Sample with the 8th overall pick of the 2023 NFLHC Draft, sending McManus to a bench/rotational role.
During 2023 mid-season re-signings, McManus and the Cardinals agreed to a 3 year, 5.25 million, 52.38% GTD deal keeping McManus in Arizona through 2026.
Career Professional Statistics
| Year | Team | Sheets | Tackles | TFL | Int | Sacks | FF | FR | TD | Safeties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | AZ | 4 | 14 | - | 0 | 5.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | AZ | 7 | 23 | 5 | 0 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | AZ | 3 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 14 | 47 | 7 | 0 | 17.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
