Rumoured 1st Rounder Reviews: Azeez Ojulari

This series of posts focuses on those prospects who have been regularly mocked to the Ravens over the course of draft season.

If I may, I’ll start this series with a caveat, before this last couple of seasons, mock drafts have been all over the place on the Ravens and rarely right. This front office usually sits and waits, lets the board come to them. Under De Costa we have seen two need positions filled in the first round but that’s not to say that he will continue with that trend, value matched with need on both those occasions and I think the Ravens will always value talent over need.

Having said that, the most frequent edge rusher I’ve seen mocked to the Ravens is Azeez Ojulari and he showed his talent last year between the hedges.

If we start with scheme – Ojulari is, I believe, a jack backer only at the next level. That’s the linebacker position that most frequently rushes the passer in a 3-4. He doesn’t quite look to have the necessary bulk to play as a down lineman in a 4-3 scheme and while more competent in coverage than most primarily pass-rushing outside linebackers, I don’t know that he could be a full time sam at the next level – the opposite outside linebacker to the jack, asked to do much more than rush the passer. He may prove me wrong and show more versatility at the next level but it feels to me like his most effective pro transition, the one that would ask him to make the least adjustment to his body and his game, would be at the jack in a 3-4.

Now this wouldn’t concern the Ravens from a scheme perspective but he is a marginally different flavour than the Ravens usually look for in their primary pass rusher. He’s a little undersized for their taste. Matt Judon was fifteen pounds heavier coming out of Grand Valley State and has since bulked up a little more. Ngakoue and Kamalei Correa are a more comparable size and neither had much success in our scheme. When you think about success stories for Raven pass rushers you think of Kruger, McPhee (played a lot as a situational interior rusher too) and Za’darius Smith – all bigger defensive ends in college that the Ravens converted and asked to rush the passer from the jack spot at the next level.

None of this is to say Ojulari couldn’t bulk up and fill that role, Terrell Suggs is probably the best example of this type of conversion in the NFL for us, and the Ravens won’t eliminate based on body size – they go back to the tape. I think the takeaway here is that Ojulari’s gifts as an athlete in space won’t carry too much weight for the Ravens unless it translates to his pass rush skills.

The other data box to check with this front office – sack production. We know this front office believes that sack production at the college level translates to the next level, they’ve explicitly said so. Ojulari’s 9 sacks in 10 games this year fits the bill.

So, finally, let’s get off the data and watch some tape. To get a strength out of the way first, I hinted before, but his lack of bulk does help him in coverage. As I’ve already said, I don’t believe it will sway the Ravens front office into drafting him but he can drop and cover the flat effectively for his size. He’s not going to run up the seam with a tight end but he’s a smooth enough athlete to get out and cover a running back out of the backfield streaking towards the side-line, his hips are surprisingly fluid for his size.

He doesn’t have elite length for the position and the offensive tackles with longer arms can lock him out like a boxer with a good jab and a superior reach. You don’t see Ojulari consistently violent enough with his hands to disengage when the offensive lineman keeps his body clean. He is precise with his hands, he will consistently strike the attempting controlling paw of his enemy but he often can’t finish and disentangle from the beast. When he does disengage with technique, which he’s proven he can do with 37 total pressures over the course of the season, he does it with fast hands before the lineman manages to lock him out. His hands are some of the fastest in the class and combined with the precision, they can be deadly if he can win early. These deadly fast hands examples are interspersed with reps where you’d wish he would violently rip through the contact to finish the disengage more emphatically and snaps where the lineman effectively counters his move and he doesn’t have a secondary move to answer with. The rip though, is something I know he can do as you can see it on tape, just not as much as you would like to see.

When he does win early with those fast hands, wow can he finish with his closing speed and bend and dip off the edge. This part of his game is elite and the angle he can get his body to as well as the explosion and athleticism is scary. The athleticism deployed to rush the passer is best on display when he stunts inside and you can see him way too fast and agile for interior linemen surprised by his stunt. He has a good get-off as you would expect but I think there is some more ceiling to still be found with this.

The other big plus to his pass rush is a dangerous push-pull move that he can execute when he gets into the lineman’s body, he then uses the momentum from the pull finish to propel him forward into his elite closing speed and run down the quarterback.

We know that the Ravens don’t just look for pass rushers though, every prospect at this position must play a violent and disciplined edge against the run if they are to end up in Baltimore. Ojulari is most certainly disciplined, he will always play his assignment, only crashing down the line for the Hollywood play when he knows he doesn’t have the edge assignment. He will play his role too in blowing up pulling guards or trap blocks, you can see him consistently do the non-flashy work that his position requires. When it comes to setting the edge, he can do it but he can get pushed around at the point of attack somewhat, disciplined enough to not give up the edge but sometimes not strong enough to hold his ground, he gets washed downwind, unable to prevent the runner from getting inside his position and then breaking outside.

Ojulari is an intriguing prospect for the Ravens at the end of round one. I think where the Ravens pick is about where his talent dictates he should come off the board. There are things about him the Ravens will love, his pass rush skills are advanced and the way he deploys his athleticism off the edge is enticing. However, I ultimately think he doesn’t quite fit what the Ravens want out of this position. They say that the best predictor of future performance is past performance and while I don’t think they shy away from projections to the next level, I don’t think they countenance taking them in the first round.

Ojulari is not at all a major project, he is as pro ready as late first round pass rushers come and I’m impressed by his tape. But for the Ravens he is a little more of a projection than he is for other teams who will like him more as a better fit for what they do. Also, the fact that where the Ravens pick is where his talent warrants coming off the board is exactly why he likely won’t be the pick at that spot. The Ravens like to get guys who are worth more than where they pick or they trade back. I think my prediction, if pushed, would be that he will be one of a group of players on the board that the Ravens will like and he could be the pick but I think it would have to be with a trade back to then select him at a spot where he is more valuable to them – getting him and another pick in this year’s draft.