Latest news with #BJOjulari
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
2025 Arizona Cardinals training camp roster preview: OLB BJ Ojulari
The Arizona Cardinals report to training camp on July 22 and begin the process of preparing for the regular season, forming the roster and determining starting jobs and roles on the team. Leading up to the start of camp, we will take a look at every player on the offseason roster, their background, their contract, their play in 2024, questions they face and their roster outlook. Next up is OLB BJ Ojulari. BJ Ojulari background, 2024 season A second-round pick by the Cardinals from LSU in 2023, Ojulari's rookie season was affected by an offseason injury although he began making an impact in the second half of the season. Then, his 2024 season was completely lost by a torn ACL suffered early in training camp that landed him on injured reserve Aug. 5 for the entire season. BJ Ojulari 2025 contract details, cap hit In the third season of his rookie four-year contract, Ojulari's base salary this year will be $1.532 million with $1.389 million guaranteed. The salary-cap charge is $2.345 million. 2025 questions, roster outlook The Cardinals added Josh Sweat in free agency, selected Jordan Burch in the third round of the draft and re-signed unrestricted free-agent edge Baron Browning to a two-year contract. Zaven Collins returns as does 2024 fifth-round pick Xavier Thomas. It's a crowded room. Ojulari surely has the ability to be one of the team's top pass-rushers, but the unknown is how he will be affected by the torn ACL a year out from the injury. Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts. This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Arizona Cardinals training camp roster preview: OLB BJ Ojulari


USA Today
17-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
2025 Arizona Cardinals training camp roster preview: OLB BJ Ojulari
We will preview every player on the Cardinals roster leading up to training camp. This is about OLB BJ Ojulari. The Arizona Cardinals report to training camp on July 22 and begin the process of preparing for the regular season, forming the roster and determining starting jobs and roles on the team. Leading up to the start of camp, we will take a look at every player on the offseason roster, their background, their contract, their play in 2024, questions they face and their roster outlook. Next up is OLB BJ Ojulari. BJ Ojulari background, 2024 season A second-round pick by the Cardinals from LSU in 2023, Ojulari's rookie season was affected by an offseason injury although he began making an impact in the second half of the season. Then, his 2024 season was completely lost by a torn ACL suffered early in training camp that landed him on injured reserve Aug. 5 for the entire season. BJ Ojulari 2025 contract details, cap hit In the third season of his rookie four-year contract, Ojulari's base salary this year will be $1.532 million with $1.389 million guaranteed. The salary-cap charge is $2.345 million. 2025 questions, roster outlook The Cardinals added Josh Sweat in free agency, selected Jordan Burch in the third round of the draft and re-signed unrestricted free-agent edge Baron Browning to a two-year contract. Zaven Collins returns as does 2024 fifth-round pick Xavier Thomas. It's a crowded room. Ojulari surely has the ability to be one of the team's top pass-rushers, but the unknown is how he will be affected by the torn ACL a year out from the injury. Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
OLB Baron Browning named Arizona Cardinals' bounce-back candidate in 2025
The Arizona Cardinals hope to bounce back from a bad end to their season, going from 6-4 and in the NFC West lead to losing five of their final games. They also have players who could bounce back. Who is their most likely bounce-back candidate? Advertisement PFF gave a bounce-back candidate for each team. For the Cardinals, it is linebacker Baron Browning. On the surface, the Cardinals extending a player who earned just a 58.0 PFF grade last season may not seem wise. However, Baron Browning found his groove as a pass rusher after being traded to Arizona and could be poised for a return to his 2023 form. From Weeks 10 through 18 last season, Browning ranked 16th among qualified edge defenders with a 77.3 pass-rush grade. He also ranked sixth among that same group with an 18.6% pass-rush win rate. A full season of that level of production would significantly improve the outlook of Arizona's pass rush. Browning gradually increased his playing time late in the season and the Cardinals re-signed him for two more seasons. They hope he can be the player who had 9.5 sacks in 24 games in 2022-2023. His issue has been staying healthy. He is now in an improved outside linebacker room with Josh Sweat and with BJ Ojulari returning. And Zaven Collins, who led the Cardinals with five sacks, remains on the roster and could improve in his third year playing off the edge. Browning isn't the only player who could bounce back. Ojulari, who missed all last season, is another possibility, as is tackle Jonah Williams, who went down twice with knee injuries. If Browning can produce five to seven sacks in a rotational role, he will be well worth his two-year deal and the trade to acquire him last season. Advertisement Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts. This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: PFF reveals Arizona Cardinals' bounce-back candidate for 2025


USA Today
11-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Arizona Cardinals OLB BJ Ojulari 'getting better every day', nearing return
Arizona Cardinals OLB BJ Ojulari 'getting better every day', nearing return Ojulari still isn't practicing coming off the ACL tear, but he is rearing to go soon. In minicamp for the Arizona Cardinals, one of the players who has not gotten on the field yet is third-year outside linebacker BJ Ojulari. He is still coming back from a torn ACL he suffered last year in training camp, causing him to miss the entire season. He is getting close to his return. "He's doing well," head coach Jonathan Gannon said before Wednesday's practice. "One day at a time, getting better every day. He's looking forward to getting back on the grass." The outside linebacker room is much more competitive this year with the signing of Josh Sweat, the return of Baron Browning and the addition of Jordan Burch in the third round of the draft. But Gannon knows what Ojulari can do, and he is still engaged mentally. "He's smart, so I'm not really worried about him schematically doing the right thing. He's played ball for us. "So with him, it'll just be pour into his health bucket and make sure that he feels really good when he's back out there, that he can do what he can do. He's one that's constantly in my ear, getting ready to go. So he's excited." With training camp beginning at the end of July, he should be ready to go by then. A healthy Ojulari doing what the Cardinals believe he is capable of (double-digit sacks) will be a huge boost to the pass rusher, even with the new additions. Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.


USA Today
12-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Arizona Cardinals had major defensive improvements in 2024 despite challenges
Arizona Cardinals had major defensive improvements in 2024 despite challenges The Cardinals have bolstered their defense in 2025. But they had a surprising improvement in 2024 with less talent The Arizona Cardinals have made a concerted effort this offseason to improve their defense, adding starting talent and depth on the defensive line, the defensive edge and linebacker in free agency and then addressing every defensive position in the NFL draft. But that roster improvement comes after they made marked improvements from 2023 to 2024 defensively. BetMGM's Nick Hennion noted that the Cardinals "moved from 32nd in defensive DVOA in 2023 to 14th in 2024" and that the improvement was impressive for a number of reasons. They played the third-hardest schedule of opposing offenses in 2024 after playing the hardest schedule in 2023. They lost 72.9 adjusted games to injury on defense, the fourth-highest total in the league. They lost BJ Ojulari, Dennis Gardeck, Justin Jones and Bilal Nichols to season-ending injuries. They were 15th in scoring defense last season but 21st in yards allowed. They were 14th in passing defense and 20th in run defense. However, they had an interesting dichotomy of metrics. They were sixth in the league in the percentage of opposing offensive drives ending in scores, but they were dead last in plays allowed per drive and second-to-last in time allowed per drive. If they improved that much with a roster that is markedly worse than the current one, imagine what this year's defense might be when they have an easier schedule. Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.