NFL
New York Giants 2024 Training Camp Preview: OLB Azeez Ojulari
The New York Giants expected outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari to be Thibodeaux’s partner in crime, but after his 8-sack rookie season, instead of doing battle against opposing blockers, Ojulari has done battle–often losing at that–against the injury bug.
How bad has it been for this once-promising athlete? In his rookie season, he had eight sacks, 49 tackles, 13 quarterback hits, and eight tackles for loss in 17 games played. Over the last two seasons (18 games played), however, his numbers in all those statistical categories either just match or fall below those rookie totals: 30 tackles, 14 quarterback hits, and six sacks.
Two seasons of unavailability have turned Ojulari into as big a question mark as this team has, a question that they’re attempting to answer with Brian Burns, acquired via trade with the hope that he will become the partner in crime the team’s brass thought Ojulari might become.
The former Georgia standout has lost his starting job (unless Burns or Tibedaux are injured), and the timing and circumstances couldn’t have been worse. He enters a contract season and will be nothing more than a situational pass rusher.
He can still get a new contract in that role, but he’ll need to stay healthy and start being more of a presence than he’s been in those snaps played over the last two seasons.
Height: 6-3
Weight: 240 lbs.
Exp.: 4 Years
School: Georgia
How Acquired: D2-2021
Ojulari suited up for 11 games this year and started 7 of them. However, finding any impact plays made by this young pass rusher was challenging, as the production wasn’t there. He did record two sacks in Week 17 and finished with 2.5 on the year with just 16 tackles.
Ojulari’s movement in the open field was lethargic. If he can’t flash around the edge–and rarely did so last year–then the rest of his game is useless.
He’s also not a guy you want dropping back in coverage, as he has yet to show any awareness or instinct. One doesn’t sense the “dawg” mentality in his game–that relentlessness all good defenders seem to have.
Ojulari is set to enter the final season of his four-year, $6,774,908 rookie contract. His 2024 numbers will see him earn a base salary of $1,583,851, while carrying a cap hit of $2,155,653 and a dead cap value of $571,802.
With Brian Burns’s acquisition, Ojulari has lost a starting job in the defense and will be reduced to being a situational pass rusher. Who knows? Maybe a reduced and specialized role will be enough to keep him out of the trainer’s room and on the field.
Ojulari is, after all, a decent pass rusher when healthy. His biggest issue has been availability, and if he can’t figure out how to ward off the hamstring and groin strains that have cost him chunks of the last two seasons.
But with his lower body continuing to break down, he can’t be counted on to deliver consistently. That needs to change. As of this point, Ojulari has been a coach-killer who needs to break that reputation and start producing if he wants a second contract from this team.
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