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2 Arizona Cardinals could save lowly OLB group
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- 2 Arizona Cardinals could save lowly OLB group
The Arizona Cardinals did nothing to their outside linebacker room to change things this offseason. Josh Sweat , Zaven Collins , Baron Browning , Jordan Burch and BJ Ojulari are all back.
Sweat had a career-high 12 sacks, which led the team. The rest combined for 5.5 sacks.
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If things are going to improve in 2026, it will come down to two guys and their potential — Ojulari and Burch.
Collins is what he is at this point. He is very good in every phase of playing the edge except for getting sacks. He defends the run well. He sets the edge. He is good in coverage. He isn't good at getting quarterbacks on the ground. It would be foolish to think he suddenly will be wildly successful at it.
Browning hasn't shown much in a season and a half with the team.
But Burch and Ojulari have upside.
Burch enters his second year. He is big. He had one sack as a rookie. But he is far from a finished product.
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Ojulari showed flashes of production as a rookie in 2023. He was expected to be their top pass rusher in 2024, but he tore his ACL in training camp and missed the season. That and another knee injury didn't allow him to play until the second half of the season. He had one sack in eight games.
But he has only played about a season of football because he didn't play much in the first half of his rookie season.
Is it fair to expect him to do much in Year 4 in the NFL? Not really, but he does have the highest ceiling in the group.
Assuming Sweat remains productive, the Cardinals need production elsewhere. If we can't expect it from Collins or Browning, we can at least hope and pray that Burch and Ojulari can be the guys to save this group.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: 2 Arizona Cardinals could save lowly OLB group
