BJ Ojulari Dubbed Cardinals' Best Value Draft Pick
The Arizona Cardinals' draft class has been fully wrapped up for almost a week, and many believe the Cardinals walked away with a few quality guys.
Paris Johnson Jr. looks to be everything Arizona was looking for to start the youth movement in the trenches. Garrett Williams is potentially a steal thanks to an ACL injury suffered last season while Michael Wilson projects as a nice depth piece in the Cardinals' receiving corps.
Yet when it comes to finding a "best value" in their draft class, it could very well be LSU edge rusher BJ Ojulari, selected in the second round.
Bleacher Report went through each team's draft and picked one "best value" pick, with Ojulari walking away with those honors in the desert.
"The Arizona Cardinals could have selected Will Anderson Jr. at No. 3 and filled their major need for a pass-rusher. But the value they got in return from the Houston Texans in the trade to go down to No. 12 was too good to pass up," said Alex Ballentine.
"Drafting BJ Ojulari with the 41st overall selection takes some of the sting out of passing on Anderson, too. Ojulari was the 24th-ranked player on the final B/R big board and was praised for his "wide array of finesse moves to win around the edge like a cross chop, arm over and inside or outside stick moves" in his B/R scouting report.
"Ojulari is a bit undersized at 6'2" and 248 pounds. However, new Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon helped edge-rusher Haason Reddick put together the best season of his career last season as the defensive coordinator with the Philadelphia Eagles.
"With his quick first step and bend to get around the edge, Ojulari has the potential to step into that role and lead the Cardinals' pass rush. That's an incredible value in the second round."
Arizona desperately needs help in the front seven after losing J.J. Watt, Zach Allen and Markus Golden, giving Ojulari plenty of opportunity to shine in his first season.
Here at All Cardinals, we chose Jon Gaines II as our under-the-radar pick from last weekend. You can read more about that here.
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