The Pittsburgh Steelers got ran over by the Baltimore Ravens Saturday night both figuratively and literally as the Baltimore offense rushed for 299 yards in the 28-14 loss for Pittsburgh. The front seven was underwhelming as a whole against the Ravens as the unit was constantly getting knocked back and washed out in the run game, allowing RB Derrick Henry into the second level of the defense, bludgeoning the Steelers’ defense for 186 yards on 26 carries and two scores on the ground.
Ogunjobi faced double teams on several occasions and couldn’t hold his own in the gap as you can see in an example below as LG Daniel Faalele extends an arm into Ogunjobi’s chest as he climbs to the second level, allowing RT Roger Rosengarten to cover him up as Henry explodes through the hole for a first down.
In the second clip, we see a similar story as Ogunjobi gets doubled by Faalele and C Tyler Linderbaum several yards back to clear him out of the way before looking for more work as Henry gets the corner for the first down.
It’s hard to expect Ogunjobi to beat double team blocks, but there were several occasions throughout the contest where single blockers overwhelmed him and neutralized him as a run defender. Watch Rosengarten wash Ogunjobi down the line for scrimmage in the clip below, giving Henry a wide open hole to run into the second level, eventually being dragged down by LB Elandon Roberts.
Ogunjobi was in-position to make some plays Saturday night, with which he came away with two total tackles (one solo). When Ogunjobi uses his hands, he’s able to fend off blocks and make an impact like you see in the clip below as he manages to get the arm over on Rosengarten to clear the block and get in on the tackle on Henry.
However, there were times where he managed to clear the block, but was unable to make the play in the gap. Watch the clip below where Ogunjobi manages to rip through the block by Rosengarten into the gap, but just overshoots Henry running up the hole, watching the back shoot up the gap as he tags him on the hip with his left hand, but is unable to wrap up the ball carrier.
Ogunjobi finished the 2024 season with 41 total tackles (16 solo), five tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and seven quarterback hits in 15 games (12 starts). He will be entering the 2025 season at the age of 31 with a cap number of $10,533,334 in the final year of his current deal. Pittsburgh could save $7 million against the cap if they choose to move on from Ogunjobi, a realistic possibility given Ogunjobi’s cap number and lack of effectiveness this past season.
Pittsburgh needs to make changes upfront after what transpired against the Ravens in their last two meetings, and Ogunjobi is likely to be one of those changes. Like Alex Kozora said in his winners and losers piece, Ogunjobi played an extremely lackluster game from what you would expect from one of Pittsburgh’s top-paid defenders. As Pittsburgh looks to revamp their roster this offseason, there’s a good chance that Ogunjobi could be one of the first to go.
