Katherine Fitzgerald
Larry Ogunjobi got used to watching the Buffalo Bills. The defensive tackle, who most recently was with the Pittsburgh Steelers, would catch the Bills often when he flipped on the television.
“It's exciting,” he said on Friday in Orchard Park. “A lot of times, when it's on 'SportsCenter,' the highlights, the Bills are always somewhere in there. And just to be on this side is very, it feels very good because I've been on the other side, you know, when it's not so good.”
Now, Ogunjobi, who turns 31 in June, is joining them. He signed a one-year deal with Buffalo on Friday, and he thinks returning to a defensive scheme he’s more comfortable in will open up his game.
Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi
Steelers defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi lines up against the Falcons on Sept. 8 in Atlanta. Ogunjobi has 199 solo tackles and 27.5 sacks in his eight-year NFL career. Associated Press
Ogunjobi, of course, will have to wait to make his Bills debut after general manager Brandon Beane announced that Ogunjobi and defensive end Michael Hoecht will start the season serving six-game suspensions for violating the league's policy against performance-enhancing drugs.
People are also reading…
Both players joined the Bills as free agents this offseason. Beane said the team knew going into the deals about Hoecht’s suspension, and that Ogunjobi found out about his positive test in between agreeing to terms with the Bills and signing with them.
But when the suspension ends, and Ogunjobi can take the field in Week 7, he thinks he’ll make an impact.
“I feel like I can definitely help. This team reminds me, I remember when we were in Cincinnati, we had that Super Bowl run,” Ogunjobi said. “The defense is very similar to what I played in Cincinnati. The success I had in Cincinnati was exciting.”
The 6-foot-3, 305-pound Ogunjobi nearly completed a tour of the AFC North. He entered the league as a third-round pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2017. He spent four seasons there before a one-year stint with the Bengals, followed by three seasons with the Steelers.
Analysis: Brandon Beane taking a big risk by signing two suspended players
"Beane had a desire coming into the offseason to retool his defensive line. The suspensions of Hoecht and Ogunjobi basically leave the team exactly where it was a week ago. They’ve swapped out Von Miller for Joey Bosa. That should be an upgrade, if Bosa is healthy, but that’s a big if," Jay Skurski writes.
His lone season with the Bengals came in 2021, when they made a run to the Super Bowl and fell to the Los Angeles Rams. Ogunjobi missed the final stretch of the playoffs, sustaining a season-ending foot injury in the wild-card game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
His season with the Bengals was Ogunjobi’s most effective, logging seven of his 27.5 career sacks. That bodes well for the Bills, who play a 4-3 defensive scheme like the Bengals. In Pittsburgh, Ogunjobi played in a 3-4 base defense.
Ogunjobi and Beane think that a return to a 4-3 defense will bring out the best of the defensive tackle.
“I think he's a guy we look at as can provide some interior depth rush,” Beane said. “Pittsburgh was using him a little bit different than Cincinnati did. I think he had a seven-sack season (in Cincinnati). Not as many sacks the last few years with Pittsburgh's D, what he was asked to do, maybe a little bit more two-gapping than penetrating.”
Beane has had Ogunjobi on his radar since the defensive lineman was at Ragsdale High School in North Carolina. Beane’s cousin taught at the school, and when Ogunjobi went to college at UNC Charlotte, Beane was with the NFL's Panthers.
“We've actually followed him before, but either couldn't financially make it work or whatever,” Beane said.
When it came to this year’s free agency, finding the right fit was a top priority for Ogunjobi.
“Oh, I think it was everything, really. Just the way they get off the ball, they attack, they penetrate, they get up the field. And that just kind of fits my play style a little more,” Ogunjobi said. “And just looking at the defense and seeing where I could be a fit and help was really important. And after we weighed our options, I thought it was a perfect marriage. And just being able to attack blocks, get on blocks, make plays, splash plays.”
Brandon Beane: Two of Bills' new additions will start season suspended
Bills general manager Brandon Beane announced Friday that two of the team's new players will start the year with six-game suspensions: defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi and defensive end Michael Hoecht.
Part of why Ogunjobi thinks he can make those plays is his ability to penetrate into the offensive backfield.
“I use my hands really well but being able to kind of marry that up – certain defenses, where you're kind of like sitting on the line is a little difficult to kind of do that,” Ogunjobi said. “But when defenses are more attacking and letting you move around, letting you get off the ball, I think it just fits my play style a lot better.”
The Steelers’ use of Ogunjobi varied throughout each set of downs.
“Third down was a little different, but predominantly, especially, when we're playing big run teams like the Ravens or teams that like to go double tight, we're going to be in that four sometimes,” Ogunjobi said. “We might even have an extra D-lineman where it's like an arrow, and it might be five out there. So, it kind of depends, but a lot of times, it was read and react.”
Outside of football, Ogunjobi sees other ways that the Buffalo community will be a good fit for him. In Pittsburgh, he was the team’s nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2024. Ogunjobi is close with Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins and former Bills defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, both of whom have been nominated for the Payton award in the past.
Talking with them about their charities, Ogunjobi knows he can make an impact off the field in Western New York.
“Just to be a part of this community and see what I can do and how I can impact and being (with) all the kids and all the other organizations that I can impact,” he said. “I'm super excited to be a part of it.”
0 Comments
Get in the game with our Prep Sports Newsletter
Sent weekly directly to your inbox!