BJ Ojulari Selected by Cardinals - Fit, Grade and Scouting Report

With the 41st pick in the 2023 NFL Draft the Arizona Cardinals took LSU's BJ Ojulari to help the pass rush. Here's what you need to know.

Author:
Richie Bradshaw
Publish date:
Apr 28, 2023 8:50 PM EDT

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Arizona Cardinals

Monti Ossenfort and the Arizona Cardinals kicked off day two of the 2023 NFL Draft with a trade down with the Tennessee Titans, involving pick swaps an a future third for the hometown team. After moving down, the team chose LSU edge rusher BJ Ojulari.

During his three seasons in Baton Rogue, Ojulari accumulated 16.5 sacks and was not exactly a full-time player. He has room to get better and feels like a safer but enticing player in this year's draft.

B.J.'s brother, Azeez, currently plays the same position for the New York Giants.

Ojulari is now the first defensive player drafted under defensive-minded head coach Jonathan Gannon, and he likely will find play time immediately. The Cardinals are in the midst of replacing their sack leaders leaders (J.J. Watt and Zach Allen) from last season.

They have some intriguing upside prospects like Cameron Thomas and Myjai Sanders, but Ojulari feels like a much safer prospect to bet on.

The fit here is obvious for this reason, but we also saw how many guys the Eagles used to get after the quarterback in 2022. Four players had 11+ sacks for his defense and three of them played edge or linebacker. That's the mold that Ojulari fits into.

Here's what Keith Sanchez of The Draft Network had to say about Ojulari's pass rushing skills:

"Ojulari’s biggest upside comes with him as a pass rusher. At the snap, Ojualri has an explosive first step that he can use to beat the offensive lineman with speed around the arc. At the apex of his rush, Ojulari showcases the ability to dip and rip under offensive linemen, keeping great balance and bending the edge to win around the edge on offensive linemen. Ojulari also is a fluid mover and has good change of direction, which is a problem for offensive linemen. Ojulari likes to use a hesitation move at the top of his rush to get offensive linemen off balance and then be able to choose the angle that he wants to attack. Ojulari has shown to have a couple of different hand combat moves that he can use to defeat offensive linemen in his pass-rush sequence." --Keith Sanchez

(Click for full TDN profile for Ojulari)

All in all, I like this pick even if it may not get others screaming at the top of their lungs. It was a safe selection and a player I safely anticipate will be a day one contributor.