The Cardinals placed Ojulari (knee) on injured reserve Monday, Darren Urban of the team's official site reports. Ojulari tore his left ACL two days ago, so his move to Arizona's IR is no surprise. The 2023 second-round pick out of LSU had a solid rookie campaign, recording 40 total tackles, including 4.0 sacks, and one pass defended across 17 regular-season games (394 defensive snaps). With Ojulari missing the entire coming season, expect 2024 first-round pick Darius Robinson to see more first-team reps as the preseason unfolds.
Ojulari is set to miss the entire 2024 season after tearing the ACL in his left knee at Friday's practice, Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network reports. This is a tough break for Ojulari, who was slated to be one of the Cardinals' top pass rushers in the upcoming season and start opposite Zaven Collins at defensive end. However, he will now miss his entire sophomore campaign and focus on rehabbing his knee instead. As a result, Dante Stills and Darius Robinson figure to be prime candidates to compete for the newly available snaps in the trenches. Xavier Thomas and Cameron Thomas could also earn bigger roles on the edge.
Ojulari has added 10 pounds and focused on shortening his stride this offseason, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN reports. Ojulari, a 2023 second-round pick, was sidelined until training camp as a rookie due to hamstring and knee injuries, making this his first fully healthy offseason. Now, Ojulari will need to compete for a sizeable role in Arizona's crowded outside linebacker rotation in order to build on a rookie campaign in which he tallied 40 tackles (32 solo), 4.0 sacks and one pass breakup across 17 games. With a larger snap share in Year 2, Ojulari will be a sleeper candidate to make the leap to IDP fantasy relevance.