Azeez Ojulari came to UGA in 2018. That season he redshirted, seeing time against Middle Tennessee, Georgia Tech and Texas in the Sugar Bowl. In 2019, Ojulari made his name heard. He played in every game — starting 13 — and had 33 total tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble, a team-best 5.5 sacks and a team-high 34 quarterback pressures. He was the co-winner of the Defensive Most Improved player at the team’s postseason awards gala.
In 2020, he had the best season of his career. In 10 games, Ojulari had 31 total tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks (led SEC), 2 pass deflections, 1 fumble recovery and 4 forced fumbles. That is one of the best defensive performances that Georgia has seen in one season.
Azeez came up big for the Dawgs in the 2021 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, going for three sacks, a forced fumble and a safety to end the game. Georgia most likely loses that game if not for Ojulari making some of those highlight plays.
Now he’s projected as a first round pick in this week’s NFL Draft.
PFF compares Ojulari to Baltimore Ravens defensive end Yannick Ngakoue. Ngakoue is a smaller defensive end, who uses his explosiveness, size, and technique to win as a pass rusher. Azeez Ojulari is similar to Ngakoue in all of these respects.
Ojulari will look to make a large impact in the NFL like the Ravens defensive end, Yannick Ngakoue, who has recorded 45.5 sacks in five NFL seasons. On a similar note, Ojulari will try to continue his impressive production (15.5 sacks in two seasons as a starter) at the NFL level.
He also ranks No. 24 on ESPN’s “best available” list.
“Ojulari has good size, speed and bend, (and) I really like his first-step burst when pass-rushing, and his instincts are advanced,” McShay wrote. “He is definitely better as a pass-rusher than in coverage, but he does have pretty good range underneath when asked to drop back.”
Take a look at these highlights of Ojulari’s career as a disruptive edge rusher for the Georgia Bulldogs.
