Eagles Film Review: Azeez Ojulari signing is an absolute no-brainer

Effectively, I didn’t plan on writing about one other Philadelphia Eagles free agent signing, as I believed I lined everybody right here! Nonetheless, the Eagles had different plans and lately introduced the signing of Azeez Ojulari. I’ve watched him over the previous couple of days, and I’m an enormous fan of this transfer. It’s most likely my favourite transfer (aside from re-signing Zack Baun, clearly) of the offseason thus far.

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Numbers

Ojulari’s numbers are good. His go rush win fee numbers are common, however his sack totals are excellent. He can clearly convert pressures to sacks. The most important challenge with Ojulari is his well being. He’s missed manner too many video games over his profession.

The Movie

Let’s roll by way of this shortly. There’s plenty of attention-grabbing stuff. I’ll begin along with his go speeding after which get into his protection and run protection.

Ojulari wins along with his size and hand utilization to disengage blockers. It’s apparent on movie that he has nice arm size.

He’s not essentially the most explosive off the snap, however his elite closing velocity permits him to get off blocks and convert pressures into sacks.

He lacks top-level flexibility on the sting, however his arm size helps him hold blockers away.

Have a look at that closing velocity!

Ojulari can get better sufficiently, even when he overruns performs. He doesn’t want to show the nook completely to complete with a sack.

Regardless of not having elite bend, his velocity and size assist him win towards quarterbacks.

This can be a good rep towards an excellent guard. Blocking him with a decent finish is ineffective as a result of his fast burst and shutting velocity.

As I’ve repeated just a few instances, he nonetheless finds methods to win regardless of not turning the nook that effectively.

Ojulari wasn’t used a lot in protection, however he seems snug dropping again. He seems extra pure in protection than different EDGE defenders like Huff and Sweat. I feel he’ll match Fangio’s system effectively and may drop when wanted.

His run protection is stable, and he makes use of his size to maintain blockers off and shutting velocity to make tackles. I watched all run protection reps the place the opposing staff had a ten+ yard acquire, and I solely held Ojulari accountable for one in all them. He’s playable on early downs.

He generally struggles with run protection, lacking tackles and lunging somewhat than wrapping up. However it’s not an enormous concern. He’s right here to hurry the quarterback greater than he’s to cease the run.

General

I like this signing. It is an absolute no-brainer, and I’m surprised one other staff didn’t give Ojulari greater than $4m on a one-year deal.

Ojulari is a high-motor EDGE with a relentless taking part in type and powerful upper-body power. His size is outstanding and makes him an efficient go rusher. He isn’t somebody who will get stress on each rep, however he’s a finisher. He has an elite closing burst, enabling him to transform a excessive proportion of his pressures into sacks. He jogs my memory a bit of little bit of Haason Reddick in that sense. Once I initially scouted Reddick, I stated this…

He’s not somebody who will win persistently and get fixed stress. Should you assume the Eagles have signed somebody who can do this, I feel you’ll be dissatisfied by how usually very athletic tackles can block him fairly simply and take him out of the play. However he’s a splash participant, a game-wrecker, virtually like a DeSean Jackson sort of participant however on the defensive facet. He won’t get a ton of pressures however he makes big performs and converts these pressures into sacks

I really feel comparable about Ojulari. Nonetheless, he isn’t as explosive and may’t bend like Reddick can. However there are some similarities.

Ojulari doesn’t have many go rush strikes, and he isn’t a real ‘bend the sting’ man, however he wins along with his skill to disengage as a result of his arm size. You possibly can see within the clips from above that he can’t bend and dip just like the true elite EDGE rushers. His measurement may also be a drawback, making him weak towards larger blockers, and he isn’t the cleanest tackler. Nonetheless, I didn’t see an actual detrimental on movie aside from his harm historical past.

I don’t see any negatives to this signing in any respect. Ojulari ought to match effectively into Fangio’s scheme, and a $4m 1-year deal carries barely any threat. If he’s harm and doesn’t play a lot, the Eagles aren’t losing a lot cap room. Nonetheless, he ought to arrive extremely motivated on a 1-year deal and can need to have an enormous season.

I can simply see a state of affairs the place Ojulari has a improbable yr after which cashes in subsequent yr with an enormous contract elsewhere. The Eagles would possibly solely get Ojulari for one season, however there’s an excellent probability it’s a really productive one.

Thanks for studying! I’d love to listen to your ideas, so be at liberty to remark under and ask any questions. Should you loved this piece, you could find extra of my work and podcast right here.