BJ Ojulari 2023 NFL Draft profile: Scout report for the LSU EDGE
BJ Ojulari, LSU: 6’3”, 245 pounds.
A top-100 overall recruit in 2020, BJ Ojulari is the brother of now-New York Giants outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari. BJ flashed as a true freshman before really jumping onto the scene in year two, recording 54 tackles, 12 for loss and seven sacks.
Though his numbers were slightly down last year (8.5 TFLs and 5.5 sacks), the SEC recognized him as a first-team all-conference, in part because he also had a fumble forced and recovered each.
BJ Ojulari scout report: Strengths
+ BJ Ojulari saw a similarly diverse usage as another comparable player profile in Jaguars first-round pick K’Lavon Chaisson did at LSU.
+ Brings tremendously long arms at 34 and ¼ inches, to keep blockers away from his frame.
+ Has clearly worked on his balance/sturdiness to not get blown out of his space against combos with the tight-end and just being caught in traffic.
+ I like his leverage coming out of a three-point stance and you rarely see tight-ends create vertical push against him.
+ Can take that one step underneath tackles who set too wide on him on outside zone and similar concepts and follow through with those lanky limbs to flash in the B-gap.
+ Tightly attaches to the hip of the tackle zone-blocking away from him whilst keeping his shoulders square to redirect if necessary, as well as potentially slipping the TE sifting across the formation.
+ Packs a sudden dip of the outside shoulder to slip pullers who try to kick him out in order to create traffic in the backfield.
+ Displays the agility to shuffle with the mesh point on zone read plays and then a quick burst to corral the quarterback pulling the ball.
+ Realizes when facing play-action, so he can quickly swat away the hands of the tackle and dip underneath.
+ Was frequently dropped out into the flats or hooks, where he displayed active eyes and saw crossers coming his way.
+ The most technically advanced pass-rusher in this class, with pretty much all the clubs in his bag and the mindfulness to find what fits and how to stack them moves on top of each other.
+ Takes those long strides up the arc and really bends low to the ground to give a small area to strike at for tackles.
+ Packs a wicked ghost move where he can really drop his shoulders and slip underneath the reach of tackles, at times also as a follow-up move to win the corner, as blockers are about to get him past the point he can flatten.
+ Yet while he can threaten with his speed, he understands how to pace his rushes accordingly.
+ Has some legit wiggle, combined with the length needed to create issues for tackles by being able to go either way.
+ Last season he was able to string together stutters, jab-steps, cross-overs and more together to keep the guy across from him guessing.
+ When he uses the long-arm, barely anybody can beat his reach, plus the he’s so quick to get to his second hand-combat.
+ A few times you see him stab at the inside shoulder of tackles and follow through with the outside arm to open up a path for him up the B-gap or win cleanly on up-and-unders. He put a nasty one of those on UCLA left tackle Sean Rhyan to beat him for his only sack surrendered in two years.
+ Looks more like a wide receiver when he plants off the outside foot on stunts and loops across the formation, where he’ll flash up the QB’s face in a hurry.
+ Racked up 103 combined pressures over his past two seasons (701 pass-rushing snaps) with the Tigers, according to PFF.
BJ Ojulari scout report: Weaknesses
– Lacks the frame to really set the tone and own his space at the point of attack against drive blocks in the run game, too often offering space by going around his man when facing powerful run blockers.
– Away from the action, he gets too close to his blocker and loses vision of the backfield at times, allowing runners to cut all the way back and defeat contain that way.
– Once blockers are able to get a tight grip on him, Ojulari doesn’t have the violent hands to knock the arms away and disengage.
– BJ Ojulari does show a promising long-arm, but is still learning how to effectively convert speed to power, lacking that thump at contact to really make an impact.
– You see him get guided past the quarterback or his rush stall when he takes a more direct angle, as tackles are able to cut off his path.
BJ Ojulari scout report: Grade
One thing I worry about is that BJ Ojulari is a 3-4 outside linebacker only and if you make him this hybrid defender, with no defined role early on (like similar players have been treated in the past), that may hold up his development.
Either way, he should be an effective designated pass-rusher right away, because of how far advanced he already is at setting up and executing a variety of moves in effective fashion. Ojulari may never be dominant at the point of attack in the run game, but he’s gotten a lot better at defending his space and can create negative plays in that regard.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if BJ Ojulari turned into the second-most productive edge rusher from this draft. He should absolutely be a first-round pick.
Grade: Late first round
You might like other 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Reports: Tyree Wilson (EDGE), Texas Tech; Will Anderson Jr. (EDGE), Alabama; Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR), Ohio; Zay Flowers (WR), Boston; Jordan Addison (WR), USC; Jalin Hyatt (WR), Tennessee; Jordan Addison (WR), USC; Quentin Johnston (WR), TCU; Zach Charbonnet (RB), UCLA; Bijan Robinson (RB), Texas.
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