One year ago to this point, Larry Ogunjobi was still about a month away from testing out his foot injury in a full capacity and training for the upcoming season.
The Lisfranc sprain sustained in the postseason of 2021 while he was with the Bengals turned out to be more costly than imagined. He was in agreement on a three-year, $40 million deal with the Bears before failing his physical, thus putting a big payday to the table and forcing him to go back into free agency.
He was forced to miss training time until July, one month after the Steelers inked him to a one-year deal worth $8 million. It was still a good chunk of change for the then-28-year-old, but he was still unable to, rightfully, capitalize on the best season of his career as most defensive linemen would have been able to do.
With a lengthy rehab process that, essentially, had to be strung out along the course of the 2022 season, Ogunjobi was able to prove it while on the prove-it deal. He was back on the field in January of this offseason making up for lost time, and he was rewarded with a three-year, $28.8 million contract extension in March.
For the first time in three offseasons, Ogunjobi was able to focus on one team, one system and, perhaps most important, one feel.
“I think it’s paramount,” Ogunjobi said Tuesday at Steelers OTAs. “Just trying to get your footing right, your feel right, just getting that football conditioning. Obviously you train all offseason but there’s nothing like football, so I think it’s important.”
Despite battling back, knee, and toe injuries that limited his ability to practice throughout the course of the 2022 season, Ogunjobi missed just one game. He was able to to rack up 7.0 tackles for loss and 11 quarterback hits over the 16-game stretch but was limited to just under 60% of the Steelers’ defensive snaps last season.
Following that trend, though, Ogunjobi played in 81.1% of snaps in Week 15, and he followed it with 80.8% of snaps in Week 16. Those two figures are his highest snap count percentage on a game-by-game basis in 2022, and they came in two of the final three weeks of the season.
“I think from just a feel standpoint,” Ogunjobi said of how sitting out practices impacted him. “Obviously you play with that good foundation and what you’ve been doing for years, but I think just being able to stay on that speed, stay on that trajectory that you’ve been trying to lay for a long time, it’s important, so having that ability in practices and being able to do it in full speed, fast, it all translates.”
A buzzword of sorts, although perhaps a crucially underrated aspect of Ogunjobi's game is that "feel." He was a commonplace name on the Steelers’ injury report last season for, again, three separate injuries. One can only imagine having to consistently go into a start-stop mode as frequently as he did, which undoubtedly would hinder progress at any level -- and just about any profession.
He might not have completely lost that "feel" altogether, but having to constantly reboot can definitely make it more difficult to keep a hold of.
“I wouldn’t say super long, but I think it’s just constantly progressing and working on your craft each and every day,” Ogunjobi said. “Obviously it’s tedious, repetitive … sometimes those breaks can be kind of annoying.”
With a new contract in tow and a healthier toe … in tow … the former third-round pick Ogunjobi has one of the more unique roles to play within the Steelers’ defensive line this coming season.
He won’t necessarily have to be the driving force of the interior unit -- save that for Cam Heyward -- but he has already shown glimpses of what made him a third-round selection six years ago, why he was set to earn the big pay day in Chicago, and why he brings value to a defense marked with anticipation for improvement.
“I think he feels more comfortable and confident in what he’s doing, and, it’s funny, I got to see (Wednesday) Larry trying to coach some guys up, and it’s nice to see him being vocal,” Heyward said. “… I think he frees a lot of guys up and it allows -- Larry’s going to eat a lot more this year.”
That’s resounding praise from the defense’s captain and the player that will line up opposite Ogunjobi for another go-round.
But, it isn’t just coming from Heyward.
I asked second-year lineman DeMarvin Leal: What does a healthy Larry Ogunjobi bring to the defense?
“A scary Larry Ogunjobi. That’s what he brings,” Leal said. "Larry is a smart veteran. He knows everything about the game, he sees things before they happen. Having Larry back and having him even healthier than he was last year is just … our defense is going to be crazy.”
Leal has absorbed Ogunjobi’s teachings. So has rookie pass rusher Nick Herbig, so far.
“Larry’s more of a guy, he leads by action,” Herbig told me. “He don’t say much, but when he says something we listen. He’s one of those guys that, he’s proven. He’s a dawg. He’s one of the best in the league, I think, and he’s not all about the glitz and the glamor is what I like about him. He’s very humble. Stays to himself. When he needs to speak up he will. He gives me little tips like telling me to keep working on my bend. Just giving me motivation sometimes and encouragement. I see this, you’re good at that, you’re good at this, and him being out there, just watching him go through drills and how he practices is inspiring.”
