Azeez Ojulari's Return Set to Turbocharge Giants' Pass Rush

Here's why the New York Giants' pass rush just became scarier.

If you thought the New York Giants pass rush featuring rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux and a host of blitzes from defensive coordinator Wink Martindale looked scary, you ain't seen nothing yet.

That's because the Giants, on Sunday, got the good news that Azeez Ojulari, last year's sack leader with eight, finally passed his physical and was removed from the non-football injury list where he landed at the start of camp.

Ojulari, who strained a hamstring while training for camp, was limited in his first football snaps since the spring, but with fresh legs, he's raring to be a part of what Martindale is building.

"It feels good to be back with the team doing what I do best – what I love to do, the game of football," Ojulari said Sunday. "It felt good to be back with the team working."

The second-year player said he loves the group of pass rushers the team currently has--Thibodeaux, Elerson Smith, Jihad Ward, and Quincy Roche being among that group--and opined that the sky is the limit for the unit.

"Everybody likes to come in and compete every day. Come in, work hard, stay the course, keep the main thing the main thing. We try to push each other every single day. I feel like we’re going to be good," he said.

Although he couldn't practice these last three weeks, Ojulari said he stayed locked in to what the defense was doing so that when the day came when he'd be declared healthy enough to participate, he could hit the ground running. 

"Even though I was on the side, I’m still locked in with the walk-throughs, the play calls, the playbook and everything – the conditioning and everything," he said. "I’m still locked in. Just continue to get back into the flow of things with pads on and everything."

To get himself ready for his second NFL season, the Giants' 2021 second-round draft pick added roughly 10 pounds of muscle in the off-season, which is most noticeable in his upper body. 

Whereas the added bulk might slow a player down, Ojulari said he feels no different. 

"I’m still moving fast. Moving fluid and smooth. I feel good," he said.

The Giants are most anxious to see what a pass-rushing duo of Ojulari and Thibodeaux will look like this fall. Offensive tackle Andrew Thomas, who has to go against both guys on any given snap in practice, thinks they can become a lethal pass-rushing duo. 

"Definitely explosive, and not just those two," Thomas said. "We’ve got a pretty good outside linebacker group right now. I’m excited to see what they do. It's still early in training camp, but we definitely have some guys who can make some plays."

Especially Ojulari, his former college teammate at Georgia. 

"Azeez first has freak athleticism, good get-off on the ball, and he has pretty good length and then his power at the point of attack. He’s a good rusher, he mixes it up, so it makes it hard on tackles to figure out what he’s doing," Thomas said.

Ojulari wasn't about to spend too much time celebrating his return, not when a lot of work is still to be done.

"I’m just going to keep going, trying to work hard every day, trying to improve my game," he said.

 "What you do at practice turns out to be what happens in a game. Just trying to lock in day-by-day. Just trying to improve my game day-by-day."

And of his goals, Ojulri isn't necessarily looking at the "me" as much as he is the "we."

"We just want to win it all," he said. "Just try to come in and compete; don’t think about numbers. Just go game-by-game, make plays, do as you do to help the defense win, and help the team win." 

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