Azeez Ojulari is an athletic edge rusher from the University of Georgia. Although he has just two seasons of average college production his traits really shine through and it’s clear that he has a lot of talent that can be harnessed. One thing that may give him a leg up over some of the other guys in this class is that not only can he play both 3-4 OLB and 4-3 DE but he also does a decent job dropping into coverage as well. 

Strengths: 

  • Very Athletic Player

Azeez Ojulari was gifted with a great athletic profile. At 6’3 240 he has decent size, with good functional strength and room to add more to his frame. Other than that he has great long arms which he uses very effectively, and he also has great flexibility to get around the edge.

  • Great Off the Snap

Azeez Ojulari is frequently the first player on the Georgia defense to get moving once the ball is snapped. His first step is very good and he gains a lot of ground and speed. He’s overall just very explosive right after the snap.

  • Amazing Speed to Power Conversion

Azeez Ojulari does a great job converting the speed that he gains with his explosive first step and snap timing to power that he uses to push offensive linemen off their spot.

  • Uses Long Arms Extremely Well

Having long arms is useless if not used properly but Ojulari certainly uses his levers extremely well. He has a great long arm that he uses often and uses his arms to move blockers and gain leverage.

  • Great Bend

Azeez Ojulari has great hip dip and ankle flexibility which allow him to get around the edge to beat offensive tackles. Ojulari has the deadly combination of being able to convert speed to power effectively as well as using that speed to get around tackles as well. 

  • Great at Gaining Leverage

Azeez Ojulari has a great understanding of leverage and he uses this to his advantage. He plays with good pad level and his hand placement does a great job to gain him leverage in the direction he’s going. 

Weaknesses: 

  • Rushes Without a Plan Too Often

The reason why Azeez Ojulari didn’t have much college production is because he was just so chaotic way too often. He would barge straight in with no plan whatsoever and sometimes he would try to beat offensive tackles without using his hands at all.

  • Inconsistent Hand Usage

Sometimes Ojulari won’t place his hands effectively, and other times it looks like the punches that Ojulari is delivering just don’t have any pop to them.

  • Can’t Disengage Often

Azeez Ojulari struggles if an offensive lineman is able to get a good grip on him. He gets overpowered when blockers come up on him in the run and sometimes he’ll try and go through blockers instead of attempting to disengage when rushing the passer.

Player Comp: The player comparison of Yannick Ngakoue for Azeez Ojulari in my opinion is a very accurate one. Similar to Ngakoue, Ojulari wins with amazing first step explosiveness, as well as using his long arms to outleverage defenders. Both guys do a great job converting their speed into power as well as using their speed and bend to get around the edge. In the run game both guys are quick processors and violent tacklers but can sometimes get pushed around by blockers. Ngakoue has also played for both 3-4 and 4-3 teams and Ojulari should have the versatility to do the same. Ngakoue is a bit more under control and has more pass rush counters but other than that I think this a very good comparison. 

Final Thoughts: Azeez Ojulari is an edge rusher that I think I’m around the general consensus on Ojulari, with him being a player that I would take in the mid late portion of the first round of the draft. He barely edges out Paye as my EDGE2 and I like that he’s super versatile and can be used in a number of different ways and he also has a good ceiling with a decent floor. His coverage ability that’s better than most edge rushers would be best utilized for a 3-4 team and a team that blitzes a lot could utilize his shallow zone coverage ability, which is why I think the Giants are a great fit. They fit this criteria and they also have a need at the edge.