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Cardinals Trade Down, Draft LSU's BJ Ojulari

After trading down in the second round, the Arizona Cardinals have selected LSU edge rusher BJ Ojulari.

TEMPE -- The Arizona Cardinals began Day 2 of the 2023 NFL Draft by doing what so many anticipated: Moving down. 

The Cardinals initially held the No. 33 pick before doing business with the Tennessee Titans, who traded up to the spot to draft Kentucky Wildcats QB Will Levis. 

Full terms of the deal:

The Cardinals trade: Pick 33, pick 81.

The Titans trade: Pick 41, pick 72, a 2024 3rd round pick.

The Cardinals have now added two third-round picks for the 2024 NFL Draft on top of the first-round selection they acquired from their trade with the Houston Texans last night. 

The deal pushed Arizona back to pick No. 41, where they took LSU edge rusher BJ Ojulari.

Ojulari's draft profile from NFL.com reads as the following:

"Stand-up rush linebacker with upside as a pass rusher but inconsistent effort stopping the run. Ojulari is bendy as an edge rusher and will wreak substantially more pocket havoc once he builds a more complete rush plan. He plays contain as a run defender and has the pursuit speed to spill the run wide or make tackles in space, but needs to play with consistent effort on all run snaps. B.J. Ojulari possesses all the tools necessary to start for an NFL team once he adds a bit more polish to his game."

After losing Zach Allen, J.J. Watt and Markus Golden, the Cardinals needed to add to their pass rushing department - as 18 of 36 sacks came from Allen/Watt and Golden started at OLB for Arizona last season. 

The Cardinals are now slated to have three third-round selections, as picks 72, 94 and 96 belong to the team.

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