There’s not a lot of light right now for the New York Giants. Not only did the offense put up another terrible performance in Miami, but the Giants are down another quarterback and may have to start practice squad pickup Jake Fromm. It’s not surprising, then, that the good news is coming from the defensive side of the ball and not the offense.
Even if the performance was, as a whole, more disappointment, Azeez Ojulari still showed up to continue his good rookie season. Ojulari had 4 tackles, 1 of them for a loss, and also picked up another sack to move to 6.5 on the season. It’s his first sack after 4 games without one and the sack gives him the edge over B.J. Hill for the Giants rookie record for sacks in a season.
What Ojulari’s performance means for the Giants
Ojulari is currently the team leader in sacks, sitting a single sack ahead of Leonard Williams.
His performance this season is further proof that the Giants made the right choice in selecting him in the second round, after he was initially projected as an upper first round prospect. Ojulari’s slide was primarily due to last minute injury concerns, but this appears to have been draft week smoke and mirrors.
With that being said, Ojulari is only one player on a defensive line that could use more production as an overall unit. Pass rusher has notably been a position the Giants have had a hard time drafting for.
B.J. Hill, the player who Ojulari surpassed for the rookie sack record, is no longer on the team after a trade this August in exchange for Billy Price. Lorenzo Carter has played in 9 games but has no sacks and only 1 QB hit.
Despite this breakout performance from Ojulari this year, don’t be surprised if the Giants still target a pass rusher such as Aidan Hutchinson with one of their first round picks come the 2022 draft.