The Baltimore Ravens drafted OLB David Ojabo in the second round in 2022, a gamble that is not paying off. Entering the final year of his rookie contract, one beat writer speculates he may not even make the team. And looking at the construction of the roster, it certainly appears to be a distinct possibility.
Ojabo, a potential first-round pick at the time, tore his Achilles during his Pro Day. At the time, the Ravens felt as though they had a sufficiently loaded roster that they could roll the dice. To date, however, he has not lived up to the promise they saw in him. He has played 379 career snaps over the past three seasons, amounting to four sacks.
Long-time Ravens beat writer Jeff Zrebiec wrote for The Athletic that Ojabo is the biggest name who is on the bubble. Noting that they understood his injury situation, he wrote, “They also knew he was a raw prospect who would need to develop. Ojabo is running out of time. He has four sacks and eight quarterback hits in parts of three seasons. He’s missed a lot of game and practice time with injuries, and he’s yet to carve out a regular role in the outside linebacker rotation”.
The year before the Ravens drafted David Ojabo, they took Odafe Oweh in the first round. Though it took time for him to develop, he seemed to reach that point last season. In 2024, he posted 10 sacks. He also has 25 career tackles for loss and seven forced fumbles. In addition to Oweh, they also have Kyle Van Noy, who had a career year last season and made the Pro Bowl.
“Starters Kyle Van Noy and Oweh, who both had double-digit sacks last year, are returning, and so is Tavius Robinson, a young role player the coaching staff loves”, Zrebiec writes of Ojabo’s road ahead. “The Ravens added to their edge rusher mix by drafting Mike Green in the second round. They also want to see more of 2024 third-round pick Adisa Isaac, whose rookie season was marred by injuries”.
In case you struggle to count, that’s five Ravens players Zrebiec named without David Ojabo. They are not going to keep six outside linebackers, and Ojabo has virtually no special-teams experience. He has struggled to stay healthy, and those injuries start to add up.
But the Ravens will certainly give Ojabo an opportunity to compete for a roster spot—there’s no incentive not to. While Van Noy, Oweh, and Mike Green are locks, he could at least compete with Robinson and Isaac.
A 2023 fourth-round pick, Robinson played 486 snaps last season, recording 3.5 sacks with 12 hits. They drafted Isaac last year in the third round, but he only played 32 snaps, recording four tackles. Isaac didn’t play much on special teams, but Robinson logged 286 snaps there. If David Ojabo wants to keep his job, he’ll need to stay healthy and carve out a role in that phase.
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