The Pittsburgh Steelers dominated the line of scrimmage against the Atlanta Falcons, particularly with their defensive front. T.J. Watt was unbelievable once again, and Cam Heyward was back to form, but Larry Ogunjobi may have had the most underappreciated day. Heyward made sure to give him his due, but it still might not have been enough.
During his press conference on Tuesday, Mike Tomlin was asked about how Ogunjobi impacts what the Steelers do defensively.
“He’s got a chance to be big-time disruptive,” Tomlin said via the team’s YouTube channel. “He displayed some of that and I’m excited about watching that continue. He and I have had a lot of discussions. This has been an awesome offseason for him. He was healthy all offseason. He went into training camp and team development healthy.
“It allowed him to participate fully in the process. Really, it’s the first time he’s been able to do that since he’s been here. It’s reasonable to expect the play to reflect that.”
Tomlin is correct that Ogunjobi has been dealing with health issues since he came to the Steelers in 2022. In fact, the only reason he ended up with the Steelers was due to his poor health. He originally signed with the Chicago Bears, but a failed physical caused the deal to fall through, and he eventually signed with the Steelers.
That did leave him behind entering 2022, but he still started 16 games. His production wasn’t great though, Ogunjobi producing only one-and-a-half sacks. In 2023, he suffered a foot injury during training camp that seemed to limit him to begin the season. He didn’t miss any games, but he still wasn’t at his best.
Before coming to Pittsburgh, Ogunjobi had some productive years for the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals. In his lone season with the Bengals, he put up seven sacks. With the Browns, he had two seasons with over five sacks. He’s been less productive with the Steelers, but the first game of the season this year indicated that he will be much better.
Ogunjobi had pressures on both interceptions in Week 1. As Tomlin says, he was disruptive, and it helped will the Steelers to victory. Without his efforts, it’s uncertain if the Steelers would’ve found victory. Their defense was unbeatable in the second half, and Ogunjobi was a huge part of that. Hopefully it’s more of the same from him not just in Week 2, but for the rest of the year.
