BJ Ojulari a possibility to join brother Azeez on Giants' defensive line
LSU linebacker BJ Ojulari speaks during a news conference at the NFL Combine on Wednesday in Indianapolis. Credit: AP/Erin Hooley
INDIANAPOLIS — Asked here at the NFL Combine about the depth along the Giants defensive line, general manager Joe Schoen initially offered two words to reporters.
“Not great.”
He elaborated by saying, “That’s a premium position.”
And this: “We gotta be better next year stopping the run.”
Schoen wasn’t lying.
Help is likely on the way, perhaps via free agency and certainly, you would think, in April’s draft.
During the 2022 season, nose tackle Dexter Lawrence was an ironman when it came to his weekly snap count, which consistently ranked among the highest in the league for his position.
Leonard Williams dealt with a neck injury and played hurt.
Azeez Ojulari played in only seven regular-season games — and recorded 5.5 sacks — in what became an injury-riddled sophomore season.
And rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux provided plenty of reason to believe he will be a true impact player for the Giants for years to come.
But reinforcements are needed.
The kind that could be found in this draft.
One possibility? His name is BJ Ojulari. Yes, the brother of Azeez.
Azeez played college football at Georgia. BJ just concluded his college career at LSU.
“He has a great impact on me,” BJ said Wednesday at the Combine. “He’s like a mentor to me. He’s playing for the Giants right now, but I lean on him a lot. He’s been through the same process. He’s at the level where I’m trying to get. So anything I can ask him, I’m going to ask him.”
BJ had a storied career at LSU. Before last season, he was given the ultimate football honor at the university, jersey No, 18, which is given to the player who leads in an extraordinary manner and represents the football program in a positive manner on and off the field.
“Wearing 18, it meant a lot to me,” Ojulari said. “It meant a lot to my legacy and to the state of Louisiana as well. Being able to represent that number 18, and to all the 18s that came before me, it was a great honor. I think it was a testament to my character.”
Azeez is listed by the Giants as 6-3, 240 pounds; BJ is listed by LSU as 6-3, 249. But the younger brother sees differences in their games.
“I think we have some similarities but I don’t think we’re the same,” BJ Ojulari said. “I have a little different playing style. I think I’m more of a finesse play style and he’s more striking and like a bulldozer. I’m more finesse.”
He later qualified what he meant by “more finesse.”
“In our rushes, he’s using more power moves. More long arms,” BJ said. “I’m using more finesse moves to get to the quarterback. Finesse as in speed and swipes and other moves like that. He’s able to use [those] but that’s not his play style.”
Ojulari had a formal Combine interview with the Giants coaching staff in Indianapolis. He said coach Brian Daboll was there. Indications from those who were in the room for the interview was that Ojulari acquitted himself very well.
“It was a great feeling walking out of the room after that [interview],” Ojulari said,” adding that Azeez had texted him and told him who would be in the room and what to expect.
“I got a little sneak peek,” he said, with a smile, “but the interview went very smooth. It was a great meeting.”
BJ said he and his brother have “always talked about” being teammates.
“When he went to college, he wanted me to come play with him, but I took a different route," he said. "If I end up with him [in the NFL] I think it would be a blessing to be able to play with my brother again and just dominate.”
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
