Should Steelers Bring Back Larry Ogunjobi?

When longtime starting defensive end Stephon Tuitt announced his retirement in June of last year, it left the Pittsburgh Steelers scrambling for other options in the heat of summer. A few weeks later, they were able to secure his replacement, a familiar face in the AFC North, Larry Ogunjobi.

Originally a third-round pick of the Cleveland Browns back in 2017, Ogunjobi made a pit stop in Cincinnati in 2021, having a career year in the process. His performance earned him a gaudy contract offer of three years, roughly $40M from the Chicago Bears, but after failing his physical, the deal fell through.

After a couple months of rehabbing a foot injury that he suffered in the prior postseason, Ogunobi was looking for a home, and Pittsburgh came calling.

The Steelers inked him to a one-year, $8M contract, including a $6.5M signing bonus which was obviously a step down from what he was looking for in free agency. However, options at that point in the offseason were relatively thin. Ogunjobi wound up logging over 600 snaps along the Steelers' defensive line in 2022 for a defense that played particularly strong down the stretch once T.J. Watt made his return.

The numbers were down a bit from the career-best figures that he posted in his lone season as a Bengal in 2021. Here is where Ogunjobi ranked in 2022 among interior defensive linemen, per PFF:

Total Pressures: 30 (37th)
Sacks: 2 (T-54th)
Pass Rush Productivity: 4.4 (32nd)
Pass Rush Win Rate: 10.1% (33rd)
Run Stops: 21 (T-25th)

Still, Ogunjobi did show some enticing flashes of disruption, most notably in the opener against his former team in Cincinnati and in the regular season finale against Cleveland.

Man, Larry Ogunjobi was impressive Sunday. Slings Alex Cappa down to the turf before assisting in on the tackle of Mixon. pic.twitter.com/HNHskh7tFr
— Derrick (@Steelers_DB) September 13, 2022

While he didn't quite build off his breakout season, explaining the reasoning behind that could be relatively simple - he wasn't ever fully healthy.

If you paid attention to the Steelers' daily injury reports put out by the team, you noticed that Ogunjobi was a frequent flyer. As the weeks went on, Ogunjobi missed a ton of practice time, and in the event that he did practice, it was more often than not in a limited fashion.

Ogunjobi exited the Bills game in Week 5 with a back injury, playing only seven total snaps in the contest. He returned the following week against the Tampa Bay Bucs only to suffer a knee injury, one that he would continue to play through as time moved on.

The knee injury eventually kept him out against the Eagles in Week 8, as he was given two weeks to get healthy with the bye week to follow. Later in the season, Ogunjobi was dealing with a toe injury, but it wasn't something that kept him out of action completely.

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None of those injuries were directly related to the one that ended his breakout 2021 campaign and presumably cause him to fail his physical with Chicago last offseason. That said, it's extremely unlucky for one player to go through that many injuries in just one season.

Ogunjobi will be 29 years old next season and should theoretically be in the heart of his prime as a player. The biggest question surrounding his future is likely rooted in finding out how his body feels and attempting to predict how he'll hold up over the course of another physically tolling season. The last twelve months have surely been tough on him in a myriad of different ways, and he's hitting free agency in a similar way that he did last season- banged up.

Pittsburgh has an interesting decision on their hands regarding whether or not to attempt to retain his services in the short term. On one hand, Ogunjobi is certainly talented enough to be a plus starter in the right situation. He can be quite disruptive when he's on, a springy athlete with a good burst off of the line of scrimmage to go along with natural play strength. There's a better version of Ogunjobi that the Steelers more than likely didn't see last year because he wasn't close to 100% physically.

The Steelers also don't really have anything to write home regarding the depth behind him. DeMarvin Leal, the team's third-round selection last year, is currently more of a tweener without a real home along the defensive front. Chris Wormley, also an unrestricted free agent, tore his ACL in December, putting his immediate future in question. Isaiahh Loudermilk wasn't even getting a helmet in the opening weeks of the season, playing sparingly as the year went on but doing little to impress in limited action.

They say the best ability is availability, and you have to give credit to Ogunjobi for only missing one game last season despite dealing with a plethora of injuries. But you have to wonder whether his general bill of health is going to improve with age.

Is his body just breaking down, and are these last twelve months a sign of things to come? How much did those injuries directly impact his performance last season? Only Ogunjobi and the team could attempt to adequately answer those questions right now, but they are certainly fair to ponder from a third-party perspective.

With health concerns present, it seems highly unlikely that Ogunjobi will get a long-term deal on the open market, with a shorter one, two-year deal seemingly more plausible.

In 2022, Ogunjobi was the 27th highest-paid interior defensive lineman, according to OverTheCap. The site's valuation puts him just a shade over $5 million, which certainly seems more in line with his performance last season.

Even with premier free agency options like Da'Ron Payne and Javon Hargrave, Pittsburgh might not be willing to make a splash signing on the defensive side of the ball. Minkah Fitzpatrick and T.J. Watt both recently reset the market at their respective positions, and Cam Heyward is entering the final seasons of an expensive contract that he agreed to a couple of seasons ago. With a potential Alex Highsmith extension looming, the Steelers have a lot of potential money already invested on that side of the football. Only the Chargers currently have more money invested in their defense at this current point in time.

With that in mind and the lack of current options on the roster, the Steelers may be best suited to run it back with Ogunjobi for another season, so long as he enjoyed his time in Pittsburgh. A less expensive, short-term contract for around $5 million per year would be perfectly reasonable and take one major need off of the board before the NFL Draft rolls around. If Ogunjobi is seeking something different in terms of length or guaranteed money, Pittsburgh is probably better suited looking for more affordable options in an attempt to replicate his production.

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