2021 NFL Draft: Georgia rusher Azeez Ojulari making a play for EDGE1

Georgia’s Azeez Ojulari might be the best edge rusher in the 2021 NFL Draft class.

As the 2020 college football season draws to a close, the 2021 NFL Draft starts ramping up, and it’s everyone’s favorite time to argue about rankings and consume mock drafts on a daily basis. 2021 won’t be any different in that sense, but rankings could be all over the place, from NFL front offices to our pals on draft Twitter.

Some prospects will have no tape from the 2020 season, while others will have put together good campaigns to shoot up boards.

Some positional groups are taking shape. The quarterback class has some risers in 2020, while the receiver class is as talented as advertised. The offensive line group looks deep, and it might be a down year if your team needs a safety.

One group that is full of question marks is the edge defenders. It’s certainly a talented group, but no one has pulled away as the true top player in the class at the position.

Coming into the season, Miami’s Gregory Rousseau looked like the favorite for that title. Rousseau’s athleticism and length will be enticing for GMs in April, but his production consisted mostly of wins on the interior, and he’s more clay looking to be molded rather than a finished product. This could have a hint of recency bias, as we haven’t gotten to see Rousseau play in 2020.

Michigan’s Kwity Paye has looked impressive in recent weeks. He’s another impressive athlete playing on the end, displaying very good first step quickness and a lethal inside move. Paye shows good hand placement and has a wicked push-pull move.

However, the top edge rusher in the 2021 NFL Draft might just end up being Georgia’s Azeez Ojulari.

In eight games this season, the redshirt sophomore has logged 8.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. The 6’3″, 240 pound outside linebacker has looked impressive against SEC competition. He’s a twitched up rusher who loves threatening the outside track, using good hand placement to flatten his path to the quarterback and showing good bend to turn the corner and finish.

His length and hand placement come in handy, as he’s also shown to be more than capable of playing against the run. Ojulari displays good balance, ankle flexion, and hand placement to stand his ground and disengage from blockers.

Ojulari has also shown up for the Bulldogs when it matters most, proving to be a hassle for tackles to the very end of games with a non-stop motor.

While he has shown impressive growth in 2020, Ojulari still has plenty to work on. As is the case with many “bendy” edge rushers, he tends to get too wide at times rushing around the outside and needs to develop more tools to keep tackles guessing before contact.

Despite him not being a finished product, Ojulari has worked his way into the first-round discussion. A strong finish for the Bulldogs, plus a good week of testing at the combine, and Ojulari could end up being the top edge rusher on many draft boards. It’s possible he could hear his name much earlier than anyone could have anticipated back in the summer.