The New York Giants — and the rest of the NFL — are curious to know exactly what they have in rookie edge rusher Azeez Ojulari.
The Giants lucked into the former Georgia star with the 50th overall pick in Round 2 of this year’s draft and the projections for his NFL career have been all over the board.
Some think Ojulari will be a man without a natural position and will struggle to find his niche. Others see him as a plug-and-play impact player who will be around the football and lives in opponents’ backfields.
Anthony Treash of Pro Football Focus believes if anything that Ojulari will be a prominent pass rusher out of the gate and predicts he will be only rookie edge defender with a 70.0-plus pass rush grade this year.
This rookie edge class is full of raw players who ooze potential because of their physical tools. Yet, many who were taken early on in the 2021 NFL Draft will take some time to get acclimated.
Ojulari is decidedly different than the rest. He could make a dent for the New York Giants sooner than anyone else in his class despite not having the size or power of some of the Day 1 prospects. He is an advanced pass-rusher who put up monster production numbers in the SEC; his timing and pass-rush plan paired with his speed, length and cornering ability make him a force to be reckoned with. The Georgia product earned a 91.7 pass-rush grade in 2020, second among all FBS edge defenders.
The Giants are hopeful that Ojulari can finally give them the outside rush they’ve ben seeking for years now. The only real issue is how they plan to deploy him. Will they line him up on passing downs only or allow him to play all three downs?
The former seems more likely in the beginning. The Giants’ stacked secondary will dictate they use five defensive backs in most alignments which will limit what they do with their front seven. Or six, in their case. That could mean less snaps for Ojulari.
