Scouting John Ojo
Earlier this month, the Jets confirmed the signing of former CFL defensive back John Ojo, who will compete for a roster spot in the Jets’ re-tooled secondary.
The 27-year-old Ojo is listed at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, and was an undrafted free agent from Florida A&M. Prior to signing with the Jets, Ojo had never been on an NFL roster, although he tried out with the Seattle Seahawks following the 2014 draft. He has had several injury problems over the past few years, including a torn Achilles tendon last season.
Background
Having played wide receiver and safety in high school, Ojo ended up at Florida A&M for six years, after twice obtaining a medical redshirt. The first came in his first season, when he broke his ankle. Then, after staying healthy for the next three seasons and setting a career-best with four interceptions in 2011, he suffered a turf toe injury early in 2012 and was granted a sixth year of eligibility.
In his final season, Ojo registered a career high 73 tackles and tied a career-high with four pass break-ups. He had 204 tackles, eight interceptions and 10 pass break-ups for his career and was named all-conference a couple of times.
Despite posting some good measurables during the pre-draft process, Ojo went unselected in the 2014 draft and was not signed to an undrafted free agent contract. He attended Seattle’s mini-camp on a try-out basis but did not win a roster spot.
Ojo instead looked to earn a job in Canada, although he did not play in 2014, spending part of the year on the Edmonton Eskimos practice roster. However, in 2015, he earned a starting role and had a hugely successful year as he was named as a CFL all-star and helped the Eskimos win the Grey Cup. Ojo had 46 tackles, five interceptions and four pass break-ups on defense.
The Jets were one of several teams interested in signing Ojo this offseason, even though he is coming off an Achilles tear that cost him most of his 2016 campaign.
Let's move onto some more in-depth analysis of what Ojo brings to the table, based on my research and film study.
Usage
From looking at Ojo’s college film, it doesn’t appear that he was in man-to-man coverage very often. Most of his highlights see him either patrolling center field and reacting to deep passes into his area or creeping up into the box in run support.
When he moved to Canada, Ojo would match up on the outside a lot more, although this would typically involve him playing off-coverage or quarters zone coverage. He still played deep center field at times in Canada. I would anticipate that he’s going to play safety in the NFL.
Measurables/Athleticism
Ojo has excellent size and length. His arms are reportedly over 35 inches long. While his 40-yard dash wasn’t that great (4.62 seconds), he posted a 41” vertical jump and a 125” broad jump. His strength and agility numbers were also below average.
Coverage skills
In college, Ojo made a lot of plays where he was positioned deep and came up to make a play on a downfield throw. Many of these were simply wayward passes, but there were a few where he broke on the ball nicely to make a play on it or hit the receiver to force an incompletion:
While he doesn’t have elite 40 speed, Ojo’s length gives him added range and he made a couple of nice plays at full stretch.
In man-to-man coverage, he is more of a work in progress. Maybe he was expecting inside safety help here, but he still appears to have given the receiver too easy of an inside release:
Physicality/Penalties
As noted, Ojo mostly played in off-coverage and I couldn’t find any details of him being called for penalties. I would, however, note that several of his hits could easily have attracted a flag for being unnecessary roughness on a defenseless receiver.
Here’s one rare play where he makes contact with a defender to try and slow him up within five yards. As you can see, he ended up letting the defender get behind him and was lucky to be able to strip the ball loose from the receiver to save a touchdown:
Ball skills
Ojo’s previous experience as a high school receiver is evident, as he seems to have good hands and that has contributed to 13 interceptions in really only three full seasons of action. In particular, he has been able to make use of his 41” vertical leap to high point a couple of downfield throws well and can hang on in traffic:
He had one pick-six in Canada, as shown below. On this play, he clearly anticipated well to jump a route:
Run defense
Ojo is more than willing to come up in run support and make contributions. He was a productive tackler, especially in his senior year, and made several plays behind the line of scrimmage. His range in coverage is also an asset in pursuit and his length enables him to drag down ball carriers that would be beyond the reach of a smaller player.
He sheds a block to make a good stop here, albeit on a short pass rather than a run:
Tackling
As you’ve already seen, Ojo can certainly level a hit and he’s usually effective at bringing the runner down. However, he seems to have a habit of making contact too high on a ball-carrier. Some of the NFL’s more elusive backs will slip under these tackle attempts and those with a low center of gravity will be able to drive through him.
Blitzing
I can’t find any record of Ojo having recorded a sack or even a quarterback hurry at the college or CFL level and I don’t recall him blitzing on film. However, he made a good tackle in the backfield off a run-blitz so I wouldn’t rule out this being something he can do effectively.
Instincts/Intelligence
From what I’ve seen of Ojo in Canada, there appeared to be a couple of plays where he was involved in confusion in the defensive secondary. One play went for a 67-yard touchdown as the slot receiver ran right down the seam and Ojo, who was lined up outside didn’t run with him as he was pre-occupied by his own man. If that was supposed to be a deep quarters coverage, then the offense may have exploited Ojo’s inexperience on that play. Alternatively, it might have been the slot corner or safety who was supposed to drop deep, in which case Ojo was not directly at fault.
Generally speaking, when he’s in center field, there were times where he hesitated for a split second before breaking for the ball. This would sometimes mean he only broke up the pass or made a tackle, rather than having a chance to intercept it. With experience it’s possible he will improve in this area.
Demeanor/Attitude
Ojo seems to be a high energy player and is demonstrative on the field without being too over-the-top. He’s shown good resilience to overcome his previous injuries and is regarded as a good leader with a solid work ethic.
Special teams
You’d imagine that special teams would be somewhere the Jets would be hoping for Ojo to make his mark. However, prior to the 2014 draft, Nolan Nawrocki suggested he didn’t think Ojo would have much success on special teams at the NFL level. He had shown flashes in college though, and fared well in Canada with nine special teams tackles in 2015.
Here’s a nice play in kick coverage:
Ojo also saw work as a punt gunner, although on this particular example he overpursued and ran himself out of the play:
Playing in Canada can pose some different challenges for punt coverage units, as you must be five yards away when the return man fields the ball. While that necessitates an adjustment at the NFL level, it can be helpful because it gets you to focus on breaking down ahead of the runner and staying in your lane.
Injuries
As already noted, injuries have been a major issue for Ojo, who is already 27 even though he only really has one year of pro football experience. He had a broken ankle in 2008, a turf toe injury in 2012 and the torn Achilles in 2016.
At least these injuries have been spread out over a long period of time, so at least he’s not been the type of player to be constantly banged up with a variety of ailments.
Conclusions
Ordinarily, there’s not too much to get excited over when a player comes from the CFL, although the player is taking a risk because if he is released during training camp, it will usually be too late for him to head back to Canada.
With no NFL experience whatsoever, Ojo is clearly an extreme long shot and could require some seasoning even though he’s already 27.
What he does have is excellent athletic potential, which will make him a useful challenge for anyone going up against him in camp. Should he perform well enough to get an opportunity, he’s going to have to impress on special teams and with his size and range in the secondary.
UP NEXT
Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing scouting reports on the rest of the Jets' free agent signings so far this offseason, including Josh McCown, Kelvin Beachum and Morris Claiborne.