Report: Arizona Cardinals OLB BJ Ojulari tears ACL in training camp

Arizona Cardinals outside linebacker BJ Ojulari tore his ACL in training camp, according to Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network.

“Cardinals OLB BJ Ojulari suffered a torn ACL in his left knee at practice Friday, per source,” Wolfe wrote on Twitter. “Ojulari, Arizona’s 2023 2nd round pick, had a strong finish to his rookie season notching 4 sacks and was expected to be 1 of Cardinals’ top pass rushers this year.”

Ojulari played in all 17 games as a rookie last season. He finished with 40 total tackles, 23 solo tackles, five tackles for loss, four sacks and one pass deflection.

The Cardinals drafted Ojulari with the No. 41 overall pick (second round) in the 2023 NFL Draft out of LSU. He was First-Team All-SEC in 2022 with the Tigers.

Over the course of three seasons in college, Ojulari had 129 total tackles, 80 solo tackles, 25 tackles for loss, 16.5 sacks, two pass deflections, two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles.

As a member of the Class of 2020, Ojulari was a four-star recruit out of Marietta (Ga.) High, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 12 overall prospect in the state, the No. 6 EDGE in the class and the No. 76 overall prospect in the class.

NFL.com‘s Lance Zierlein provided the following analysis of Ojulari ahead of last year’s draft.

“Stand-up rush linebacker with upside as a pass rusher but inconsistent effort stopping the run. Ojulari is bendy as an edge rusher and will wreak substantially more pocket havoc once he builds a more complete rush plan,” Zierlein wrote.

“He plays contain as a run defender and has the pursuit speed to spill the run wide or make tackles in space, but needs to play with consistent effort on all run snaps. B.J. Ojulari possesses all the tools necessary to start for an NFL team once he adds a bit more polish to his game.”