Last season, Pittsburgh Steelers veteran defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi didn’t put up the kind of stats that many hoped he would in his first season with the team, and that likely was a result of him never being fully healthy and in the best physical condition due to the late 2022 season foot injury that he sustained. This summer, however, seems to be a different story when it comes to Ogunjobi, who now seems to be back healthy again.
On Tuesday, the first day of the Steelers’ 2023 mandatory minicamp, defensive line coach Karl Dunbar was asked what it means to the team to have Ogunjobi seemingly back to full strength now.
“I don’t know,” Dunbar said, via Steelers.com. “I mean, we got a good Larry O. last year and he didn’t practice much. So hopefully with him being able to practice and go, that’s gonna mean a lot to our team…a lot of times he didn’t practice until Friday because of that foot, and I appreciate Kevin [Colbert] and Mike T. [Tomlin] bringing him in and giving him a looksee when the other team didn’t want him. And now we’ve got him back and I think a healthy Larry’s gonna be great for Pittsburgh.”
While Ogunjobi certainly wasn’t fully healthy last season, it’s not like he didn’t make any sort of impact on the team. Dunbar made sure to address that point on Tuesday during his media season, his first one since the 2023 NFL Draft took place.
“He gave us a veteran presence at that place that we didn’t have a guy that was explosive enough,” Dunbar said of Ogunjobi. “We had some guys who could help, and he let [Isaiahh] Loudermilk mature and come along and he kept [DeMarvin] Leal out of that position. That way we were able to play Leal outside when T.J. [Watt] got hurt.”
In 2022, Ogunjobi played 636 total defensive snaps on his way to registering 48 total tackles, seven of which were for a loss. However, Ogunjobi only managed to register 1.5 sacks and 11 quarterback hits in the 16 games that he played last season. Dunbar was asked about Ogunjobi’s extremely low sack production in 2022 on Tuesday and essentially if he thinks that number will be drastically improved this season now that the defensive tackle seems to be back healthy again.
“When we watched the games there was a couple of four or five sacks that he missed that Cam [Heyward] or T.J. [Watt] took from him, but he was in the backfield,” Dunbar said of Ogunjobi. “So, hopefully he can cash a check and make some of those plays [in 2023]”
Ogunjobi certainly will cash some big checks in 2023 as a result of him signing a three-year, $28.7 million contract back in the middle of March. As part of that deal, Ogunjobi received a $10.6 million signing bonus, so he’s set to earn a total of $12 million in 2023 after earning just $8 million in 2022 on a one-year deal.
At $12 million for 2023, the Steelers certainly need Ogunjobi to return to being the player he was in 2021 before suffering his foot injury. That season, as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals, Ogunjobi registered 49 total tackles, 12 of which were for a loss, seven sacks and 12 quarterback hits. That was career year for him as well. Dunbar sounded optimistic about Ogunjobi possible producing somewhere near that 2021 level in 2023.
“Having him back now healthy is gonna be great for us,” Dunbar re-emphasized on Tuesday.
