Dec 31, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Arizona Cardinals linebacker BJ Ojulari (18) before action against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Cardinals Pass Rusher Named Breakout Candidate

Originally posted on Arizona Cardinals on SI
By Donnie Druin | Last updated Jan 21, 2025 1:23 PM ET

The Arizona Cardinals saw second-year pass rusher BJ Ojulari miss the entire 2024 season due to a knee injury suffered in training camp.

After a promising rookie campaign, the LSU product was expected to take a massive jump forward in helping one of the league's worst pass rushes. Instead, he suffered a setback.

Pro Football Focus believes Ojulari will rebound in a massive way, dubbing him as Arizona's breakout candidate for 2025:

"The Cardinals finished 25th in team pressure rate and tied for 30th in team pass-rush grade this season, but that came with Ojulari missing all of 2024 with a torn ACL. During his rookie season, Ojulari ranked fourth among qualified rookies with a 13.4% pass-rush win rate, generating 20 pressures on only 161 pass-rushing snaps," wrote Bradley Locker.

"With Dennis Gardeck, Baron Browning, L.J. Collier and more hitting the market, Arizona will likely turn to Ojulari to provide internal pass-rushing help."

There's a good amount of hype for what a healthy Ojulari can look like next season, and rightfully so. Ojulari's blend of size, speed and bend gives him the tools to become a solidified presence on the edge, something Arizona hasn't had since Chandler Jones.

Very excited to see what a healthy BJ Ojulari can do in 2025. pic.twitter.com/632AOAgaGz
— Donnie Druin (@DonnieDruin) January 21, 2025

Ojulari's injury was felt through the locker room.

"I was pretty emotional about it. We went all through last year together, BJ's a dog," said fellow outside linebacker Zaven Collins after it happened back in early August.

"We'd stay after and we would work on pass-drop, run fits, stuff like that. He was wanting to learn more than just be a pass-rusher. ... Something like that comes about, it's unfortunate."

The Cardinals are expected to add some sort of outside help to their edge group, though when healthy Ojulari should have all the opportunity in the world to cement himself as a top guy in the room.

When exactly Ojulari will return to full health remains to be seen - as the Cardinals haven't provided any updates on him, though when he eventually does strap on a helmet again, there's hope he can continue on his upwards trajectory.

This article first appeared on Arizona Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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