2015 DETROIT LIONS MEDIA GUIDE

94 - EZEKIEL ANSAH
Defensive End Brigham Young Accra, Ghana
Year: 3 Ht: 6-5 Wt: 279 Born: 5/29/89
Draft: ’13, R1 (5)-Det
Complete biographical information available on Detroitlions.com.
MANE FACTS
‣ ¾ Pronunciation: ZEEK-e-all AHN-sah
‣ ¾ Nickname “Ziggy”
‣ ¾ First witnessed American football when he attended a BYU game in 2008.
‣ ¾ Originally aspired to play basketball upon arriving in the United States before his family and friends convinced him to
try out for football in 2010.
‣ ¾ Voted by his teammates for the Mel Farr Rookie of the Year Award in 2013.
‣ ¾ Named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 6 of 2014.
TRANSACTIONS
‣ ¾ Drafted by the Detroit Lions in the first round (5th overall) in the 2013 NFL Draft.
PRO
Bruising defensive end with unrivaled size and raw talent who possesses the ability to play multiple roles along the Lions
defensive line. With a team-leading eight sacks in his first NFL season in 2013, Ansah recorded the most sacks by a Lions
rookie since DT Ndamukong Suh had 10 in 2010.
‣ ¾ Ansah led the Lions in Week 6 at Minnesota (10/12/14) with a career-high 2.5 sacks, five tackles and a career-high four
tackles for loss. His 2.5 sacks are the most by a Lions defensive player since DE Cliff Avril had three vs. Chicago in 2010.
It also marked his fourth-career game, and first in 2014, with two or more sacks in a game.
‣ ¾ Ansah had three multi-sack games in 2013, posting two sacks at Washington (9/22), vs. Tampa Bay (11/24) and vs.
Green Bay (11/28). His three two-sack performances are tied for the most on the Lions all-time list for single-game
sacks by rookies.
‣ ¾ On his very first defensive series as an NFL player in Week 1 of the 2013 preseason vs. New York Jets (8/9), Ansah
picked off Jets QB Mark Sanchez and returned it 14 yards for a touchdown.
2014: Followed up on his tremendous rookie season with 7.5 sacks, one behind DT Ndamukong Suh (8.0) for the team lead,
as well as 49 total tackles (37 solo) and three forced fumbles. With 15.5 sacks after his first two NFL seasons, Ansah ranked
third among all second- or third-year players behind only Olivier Vernon (18.0) and Chandler Jones (17.5.)
‣ ¾ Began the 2014 season at defensive end and collected four quarterback hits with 0.5 sacks in Week 1 vs. New York
Giants (9/8).
‣ ¾ Had three tackles and put pressure on the quarterback for 0.5 sacks in Week 2 at Carolina (9/14).
‣ ¾ Made two solo tackles in Week 3 vs. Green Bay (9/21).
‣ ¾ Collected five total tackles (three solo), including one tackle for a loss, in Week 4 at New York Jets (9/28).
‣ ¾ Pieced together four total tackles and had one tackle for a loss in Week 5 vs. Buffalo (10/5).
‣ ¾ Wreaked havoc on the Vikings offensive line, sacking the quarterback a career-high 2.5 times, collecting five total
tackles on the day and forcing one fumble in Week 6 at Minnesota (10/12). This was his fourth-career game, and first
in 2014, with 2+ sacks.
‣ ¾ Had four total tackles, including one tackle for a loss in Week 7 vs. New Orleans (10/19).
‣ ¾ Collected one sack for 10 yards and forced a fumble in Week 8 at Atlanta (10/26).
‣ ¾ Made six total tackles, including one sack for 11 yards in Week 10 vs. Miami (11/9).
‣ ¾ Had three combined tackles in Week 11 at Arizona (11/16).
‣ ¾ Collected three solo tackles in Week 12 at New England (11/23).
‣ ¾ Made a pair of tackles, including one sack, in Week 13 vs. Chicago (11/27).
‣ ¾ Picked up a sack and hurried the quarterback on multiple occasions in Week 14 vs. Tampa Bay (12/7).
‣ ¾ Had one solo tackle in Week 15 vs. Minnesota (12/14).
‣ ¾ Made two solo tackles in Week 16 at Chicago (12/21).
‣ ¾ Recorded five tackles in Week 17 at Green Bay (12/28).
‣ ¾ Registered two tackles (one for loss), one sack and four quarterback hits in the NFC Wild Card game at Dallas (1/4).
2013: Started in 12-of-14 games as a rookie and totaled 32 tackles (19 solo), a team-leading eight sacks (72 yards), one
pass defense and two forced fumbles. Ansah led all NFL rookies with eight sacks.
‣ ¾ Came off the bench in his Detroit Lions rookie debut in Week 1 vs. Minnesota (9/8) to record three tackles (one solo),
0.5 sacks (1.5 yards) and one quarterback hit.
‣ ¾ Recorded one solo tackle in Week 2 at Arizona (9/15).
‣ ¾ Made his first-career start in Week 3 at Washington (9/22) and recorded seven total tackles (four solo), two sacks (26
yards) and one forced fumble.
‣ ¾ Assisted on one tackle and recorded one pass defense in Week 4 against Chicago (9/29).
‣ ¾ In Week 5 at Green Bay (10/6), had two solo tackles, including one tackle for loss, 0.5 sacks (five yards), one quarterback
hit and one forced fumble.
‣ ¾ Assisted on three tackles in Week 6 at Cleveland (10/13).
‣ ¾ In Week 8 vs. Dallas (10/27), made two solo tackles.
‣ ¾ Inactive for Week 10 at Chicago (11/10) and Week 11 at Pittsburgh (11/17).
‣ ¾ Registered two sacks (20 yards) and two solo tackles, including two tackles for loss, and two quarterback hits vs.
Tampa Bay in Week 12 (11/24).
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