Azeez Ojulari's to-do list: Sack QB, stay on the field
Azeez Ojulari and Jason Pinnock of the Giants react after a defensive stop late during the fourth quarter against the Commanders at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Azeez Ojulari’s potential is off the charts.
He can rush the passer. He can disrupt an opposing offense. He can be one of the most vital defensive players for the Giants.
As long as he stays healthy.
In his two years in the NFL, Ojulari has been extremely productive despite being slowed by injuries last season.
“He played in, what, five or six games [in 2022]?” defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said. “I think he averaged a sack a game, so that’s the layup. He’s a pure pash rusher. He’s fun to watch.”
Ojulari played in seven games last season. He had 5.5 sacks.
Martindale considers Ojulari the Giants' “most natural pass rusher.”
Did the defense miss Ojulari during his stop-and-start, injury-marred season last year? That answer undoubtedly is yes.
Injuries to his hamstring, both calves and an ankle caused him to miss 10 regular-season games. In the Giants' victorious postgame locker room after defeating the Vikings in the playoffs, Ojulari wondered aloud: “I’m so frustrated. Why can't I ever finish a game?”
That day, a thigh bruise had forced his early exit in the wild-card game. The following week, when the Giants were ousted by the Eagles in the divisional round of the playoffs, Ojulari was credited with just an assisted tackle.
This season, it’s imperative to the defense — even a defense that has been bolstered by other additions since last season — that Ojulari stays on the field.
And he knows it.
Ojulari said after talking to teammates, he added more stretching and yoga into to his routine.
“I just wanted better for myself,” he said. “I just want to do whatever I can to help myself and my team.”
So far, so good during preseason.
“It's very exciting to be out here and practice with my teammates and just be available for my team,” Ojulari said. “I’m ready to work this year. I’m ready to go.”
Martindale is looking forward to having Ojulari and Kayvon Thibodeaux on the field together much more often this season.
“It’s going to be exciting,” Thibodeaux said. “For [Ojulari] on paper, you know how many sacks he had [compared to] how many plays he had. Knowing that, I mean, if you can get him 17 games, who knows how many sacks you’ll get? So yeah, I'm excited to really get it going.”
The great Giants linebacker Carl Banks said recently that he believes a goal of 15 sacks this season is realistic for Ojulari. (Only five NFL players recorded 15 sacks last season.)
To that, Ojulari said: “I'm just trying to do what I can for the team or whatever I can, no matter what it is, to just help the team win. However, I can be productive for the team, I’m just trying to do the best I can.”
For Ojulari, that means staying on the field. Which is exactly where he aims to be.
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
