Can BJ Ojulari pick up the slack in the Cardinals’ pass-rushing department?
Cardinals pass rusher BJ Ojulari doesn't have to worry about rehabbing a catastrophic knee injury in the offseason for the first time in a long time.
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Arizona Cardinals pass rusher BJ Ojulari went from projected starter to the sideline in one fell swoop during training camp in 2024.
“Blowing out just about everything” in his knee, as one source told Arizona Sports, Ojulari’s trajectory suddenly shifted with a steep road to recovery directly in front of him. On top of tearing his ACL, Ojulari had two more torn ligaments to come back from.
Just taking the field in Week 11 for the first time since the injury was a major accomplishment for the pass rusher last season. Getting eight games under his belt and logging a sack was icing on the cake given the hole Ojulari had to dig himself out of.
But while it’s one thing to make a return, it’s another to get back to the standing he once held. Not having to worry about rehabbing a catastrophic injury should certainly help.
“It feels amazing. It’s very refreshing,” Ojulari told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta on Wednesday. “It just feels great to do everything when it’s supposed to be done. I’m excited. I’m able to get more repetition to just fine-tune my game and be able to go into camp hitting the ground running.”
Ojulari’s continued resurgence from injury is something the Cardinals are hoping on for 2026.
With Arizona opting against bringing in any outside pass-rushing help, there’s a spot for the taking opposite Josh Sweat, who reportedly will not be traded.
Baron Browning and Zaven Collins split starting duties across from Sweat last year and figure to be in the mix once more. That being said, their grasp on the role is far from a stranglehold.
While Sweat got it done last year with a career-high 12 sacks and 13 tackles for loss, the rest of the OLBs room combined for 5.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss. Browning logged two sacks and four tackles for loss. Collins added 1.5 sacks and six tackles for loss.
Simply put: Pass rushers not named Sweat need to produce.
With Ojulari having one less thing to worry about in the offseason now that he’s clear of any rehab, can he be the guy to pick up the slack?
Having some defensive continuity with coordinator Nick Rallis sticking around while continuing to add more to his pass-rushing repertoire should only help with that.
“I have to establish more power. Guys see me as a speed guy, so I have to be able to have a little changeup off that power and then off my speed rushes,” Ojulari said. “That’s going to be something that I really hone in on and master that technique.”
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Comments
2 Comments
Talent and ability has never been Ojularis issue. His rookie year he looked very good, had like 4.0 sacks n 32 pressures in a limited role , people expected him to take off and post a double digit sack season in 2024 then he tears up his knee in camp in August that year ending his season.Last season he came back midway through the year or later in the year but was still clearly working his way back.
Now back to full health his knee 100% healthy and Ojulari in good shape he should be very good this next season especially as a #2 pass rusher. He has the ability to finally breakout in what’s essentially his 2nd season as a starter and put together a 7.5-10 sack/45+ pressure season with his speed and quickness which are pretty modest numbers for his ability. A 2nd rd pick in 2023 and in a contract year hopefully he lives up to his draft billing and earns that second contract in a contract year.
Zaven Collins is a much better pass rusher than he is credited for and a very good, getting pressure on 17% of his rushs with 31pressures, 22 hurries and 10 QB Hits on 235 pass rushers snaps and is excellent in the run game setting the edge at OLB vs the run with 6TFLs and 21 defensive stops.. He just needs to finish better turning 50%+ of those hits into sacks and with pass rushers like Walter Nolen n Proctor in the middle flushing QBs out of the pocket a lot of these QBs will run into our OLBs arms. Collins has improved every year he easily could be a 7.0-8.0 sack OLB this next season.
Arizona will have much better MLB play this year bringing in an excellent gifted young LB like 6”3-240lb Jack Gibbens with another very good young MLB going into yr2 in 6”2-235 Cody Simon both of whom excel bringing the blitz n rushing QBs getting after the passer, they also excellent in coverage as well. Mack Wilson is an above average ILB himself returning healthy, and they drafted a run MLB known for his ability versus the run n being a tackling machine who could be an elite special teams demon early on in 6”2-240.Karson Sharrar we took in the 6th from Iowa. Safe to say Pappoe is a long shot to make the roster unless they carry 5.
Good luck BJ….. you certainly have earned the right to some good fortune after all that rehab.