Bj
Ojulari.
Bj
Ojulari.
LSU· 6'2"· 248 lb
"The most refined pass rusher in his tier and the lightest one too: a technician who already knew how to win the corner, priced by whether an NFL front could hide him on first down."Pre-draft read
Ojulari was LSU's primary edge rusher, a 6-2, 248-pound stand-up or hand-in-dirt end who won with bend and hand quickness rather than mass. His calling card was the corner: he dropped his inside shoulder and flattened to the quarterback from a wide alignment, and paired that arc with a club-swipe that beat tackles who oversat the speed rush. He rushed with a plan, chaining moves inside a rep.
Against the run he was a leverage player, not an anchor — quick to spill and slip blocks, but too light to hold up when tight ends and tackles got into his frame. Coverage reps in LSU's odd fronts showed he could carry a flat. The athletic ceiling was good rather than rare; the signature was refinement — an edge who already knew how to rush at 21.
Odd-front 3-4 outside linebacker or sub-package designated rusher in an even front; needs a scheme that treats him as a specialist first.
Year 1: third-down rusher for 20-25 pass-rush snaps a game while he adds functional weight. Ceiling: full-time 3-4 OLB in the 8-10 sack range once he can survive first and second down.
A 4-3 base left end asked to set the edge against 12 personnel on early downs, or a two-gap front that puts his hands on an offensive tackle before he can use his get-off.
Value spikes on a defense with an established primary rusher, so he can attack a favorable matchup rather than take a left tackle's full menu.
BJ Ojulari 2022 Highlights | LSU EDGE | 2023 NFL Draft Prospect
Junior-year cutup: the bend around the corner and the club-swipe that produced 6 sacks and 10 tackles for loss.
BJ Ojulari 2021 Highlights | LSU EDGE | 2023 NFL Draft Prospect
His most productive season — 7 sacks and 12 tackles for loss as a sophomore, rushing from both edges.
BJ Ojulari LSU Highlights Junior Season 2022
Alternate 2022 reel with more run-defense and coverage reps, showing the leverage-based edge play.
A three-year LSU starter and the younger brother of Giants edge Azeez Ojulari, BJ was the most technically advanced pass rusher in his tier: undersized for a base end, but the surest bet in the class to win a one-on-one on third down. He played on both sides for Ed Orgeron and then Brian Kelly, holding a full-time role from his true freshman year and never coming off the field for pass-rush packages.
The production was consistent rather than explosive. He finished with 17 sacks and 27 tackles for loss across three seasons, including 7 sacks in 2021 and 6 more in 2022, and his pressure numbers always outran his sack totals — LSU's staff kept pointing to the quarterback hurries as the real story. The flags were physical, not technical: he weighed 248 pounds with a slight lower half, and tape against SEC power runners showed him getting displaced when he had to hold a gap.
Boards had him as a top-50 sub-package rusher with starter upside once he added weight, a floor pick more than a swing. Arizona took him 41st overall to give a barren pass rush a rotational third-down piece who could grow into a full-time role.
- 01
Bend and flexibility
he drops his shoulder and flattens the arc as well as anyone in the class, turning speed rushes into actual sack production.
- 02
Hand quickness
a fast club-swipe and rip that punishes tackles who overset, with the wrist strength to knock hands down mid-rush.
- 03
Rush plan
chains moves inside a single rep and sets up counters across a game rather than repeating one move until it fails.
- 04
Three-year SEC starter
full-time role from his freshman season, 17 sacks and 27 tackles for loss, with pressure numbers ahead of the box score.
- 05
Positional flexibility
comfortable standing up in an odd front or with his hand down, and capable of carrying a flat on the rare coverage rep.
- 01
Play strength
at 248 pounds with a light lower half, he gets displaced by SEC tackles and tight ends when he has to hold a gap on early downs.
- 02
Anchor against the run
spills and slips more than he stacks, which caps him as a two-down player until he adds functional mass.
- 03
Length limitations
shorter arms mean tackles who land first can control the rep, and he has to win before contact to stay clean.
- 04
Power rush missing
no reliable bull to make the speed rush honest, so a patient tackle can play the arc and take away the whole plan.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- —s
- Vertical
- 32.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 126inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | LSU | 10 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | LSU | 13 | 54 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | LSU | 11 | 55 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | — | 34 | 125 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Season totals cross-checked against cfbstats and Sports-Reference; 2021 includes the Texas Bowl. Season sums match the career line (125 tackles, 27 TFL, 17 sacks). Forced fumbles and fumble recoveries were not verified season by season and are left null.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Honors
- 2021 Second-Team All-SEC (coaches)
- 2022 Second-Team All-SEC
- Three-year LSU starter at edge
Rotational speed edge who grows into starter snaps once the run defense catches up to the pass rush.
His older brother and the honest ceiling: a bendy sub-package rusher who produces double-digit pressure seasons when healthy.
Second-round edge whose role never expanded past situational work and who faded out of the rotation.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Rookie-year rotational producer whose career was derailed by a torn ACL plus two more ligaments in 2024 training camp; healthy again in 2026 camp and competing for rotation snaps behind Josh Sweat.
Arizona got a rookie season and then two years of medical charts. Ojulari played all 17 games in 2023 with 40 tackles, five tackles for loss and four sacks — the most by a Cardinals rookie since Markus Golden in 2016, and enough to project him as a 2024 starter. He was one of the stars of the 2024 training camp until he tore his ACL along with two more ligaments in his knee, wiping out the entire season. A follow-up surgery in June 2025 pushed him to the reserve/PUP list; he was activated on November 15 and finished the year with eight games, nine tackles and one sack. GM Monti Ossenfort said publicly he never looked all the way back. He entered the 2026 camp fully healthy for the first time since his rookie year, working behind Josh Sweat in a rotation that badly needs a second rusher.
The evaluation was right and the medical file rewrote it. The pre-draft read — refined technician, undersized, sub-package rusher who needed weight — described exactly the player Arizona saw in year one. Nothing about the injury was foreseeable, and it cost him the two development seasons this profile most needed. He is still just 24 in 2026 with a rookie-contract year left to make the projection true; the question is knee, not craft.
Data note: Season totals cross-checked against cfbstats and Sports-Reference; 2021 includes the Texas Bowl. Season sums match the career line (125 tackles, 27 TFL, 17 sacks). Forced fumbles and fumble recoveries were not verified season by season and are left null.