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New York Giants 2024 Training Camp Preview: OLB Ovie Oghoufo

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New York Giants 2024 Training Camp Preview: OLB Ovie Oghoufo

The New York Giants roster has been a work in progress on almost every level since Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll joined the organization. To address this, they have thrown resources at the outside linebacker position, with the first-round selection of Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux in 2022 and this offseason’s trade for Carolina Panthers star Brian Burns.

It feels like the top of the edge’s depth chart has been solidified, but depth is still a major question. The outside linebacker spot tends to be one of the positions where players rotate the most in modern football, and depth has never been more important.

Of the eight edge rushers currently on the roster with the Giants, only three have contracts that keep them with the team past this season: Burns, Thibodeaux, and undrafted free agent Ovie Oghoufo.  

Height: 6-4
Weight: 250
EXP: R
School: LSU
How Acquired: FA-24

Oghoufo transferred to LSU after starting his career at Notre Dame and then transferred to Texas for two years. At LSU, Oghoufo played the JACK position, the hybrid outside linebacker/defensive end role commonly referred to as outside linebacker at the pro level.

Oghoufo saw a significant drop-off in production from 2022 to 2023, mostly because of a decrease in snaps for multiple reasons.

Oghoufo started for the Tigers all season in 2023, but because the Tigers rotated on the edge frequently, almost every major contributor saw a decrease in snaps. Transferring from Texas to LSU also saw fewer snaps available on the edge.

Perhaps the most glaring reason for a decrease in production was just how awful the coaching was on LSU’s defensive side of the ball. LSU had one of the worst defenses in college football, allowing 6.1 yards per play—third-worst in the SEC. 

As a pass-rusher, Oghoufo had 15 pressures and two sacks while being the JACK linebacker who would drop into coverage more frequently than the other LSU edge rushers.

Oghoufo signed a standard undrafted free-agent contract with the Giants following the 2024 NFL Draft. The deal is for three years and is worth $2,837,500, with just $7,500 guaranteed.

The $7,500 is spread evenly throughout the duration of the contract, which costs the Giants just $2,500 per season. There are no financial incentives to release Oghoufo, meaning that if he is released, it’s more about the front office and staff simply thinking he doesn’t make the team better in 2024.

Even if Oghoufo exceeds expectations this summer, I would expect the Giants to consider him either a bottom-of-the-rotation player or a potential practice squad addition. Oghoufo isn’t the kind of player who I think was signed because of his technical prowess on film but because of his potential, if he’s given time to develop, to be a prime practice squad candidate.

Oghoufo isn’t an elite athlete, but he’s also not a bad one. On film, he’s a hot motor player who wins with effort, has a long frame, and plays smart. Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen has found success with that kind of player before and could be looking to catch lightning in a bottle again.

Schematically, Bowen would likely have Oghoufo line up as a stand-up edge rusher who can both occasionally come down to an inside defensive end spot and drop back in coverage off of the line. Dropping edge rushers into coverage has been and will continue to be a part of Bowen’s gameplan, and that’s something Oghoufo has been comfortable doing throughout the last three years of his college career.

I expect him to wind up on the practice squad following the preseason. There’s just not enough quality film out there on Oghoufo to expect more than that right now, and keeping veteran edge rushers who are proven to have depth will give the Giants a better chance to win in 2024.

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