Giants’ Kayvon Thibodeaux wants to do everything better then Azeez Ojulari

The New York Giants got good production out of 2021 second-round pick Azeez Ojulari in his rookie season. Finishing the season with 8.0 sacks, Ojulari broke the rookie sack record set by B.J. Hill in 2018. Rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux has taken notice.

“I told him yesterday in the meeting like everything he does I want to do it better,” Thibodeaux said on Friday. “Whether it’s eating, sleeping, or breathing, I’m going to try to do it better. So, just continuing to set a standard and continuing to chase and create that competitive banter.”

With that Thibodeaux has his eyes set on one particular part of Giants history, the rookie sack record. The rookie made it known with a smile that his goal for the season is to beat 8.0 sacks and claim the record.

“I mean, I wouldn’t not want it so.”

Lawrence Taylor, of course, had 9.5 sacks in 1981, before the sack was kept as an official statistic.

Thibodeaux has a track record of making an impact in his first season. As a freshman at the University of Oregon, Thibodeaux lead the Ducks with 9.0 sacks and took home PAC-12 freshman of the year honors.

Even though Thibodeaux has had success pretty quickly at most points through his career, he knows this is different.

“I think that’s the nature of the game. When you get people that are bigger, faster, and stronger things move a little quicker,” Thibodeaux said. “There is more strategy in every play and, yeah, you definitely have to sharpen all your tools.”

Thibodeaux has been lining up against two young tackles in Andrew Thomas and fellow 2022 first-round pick Evan Neal. Thibodeaux knows the season Andrew Thomas put together last year becoming one of the bright young left tackles in the game. This gives him all the more motivation to prove he can get his wins in the NFL.

“I’ve had this chip on my shoulder with Andrew just making sure that I continue to keep going after him,” Thibodeaux said. “I’ve got to even up the score. He kind of got ahead a little bit, and I’ve got to even it back up.”

While Neal has had some notable struggles, Thibodeaux gives credit to the battles they have had in the trenches for helping both him and Neal get better.

“I feel like that’s one of the biggest things. One of the coaches always says, ‘Everyone touches everybody else’s money,’ whether it’s directly or indirectly,” Thibodeaux said. “So just making sure that we continue to push each other and really give each other a look when it’s time.”

The one thing Thibodeaux does not want is to draw the negative attention of Giants fans.

“They’re relentless, that’s it. They don’t hold back. No sugar coding in Giant land,” Thibodeaux said. “I haven’t really experienced it. But in third person, it looks pretty tough.“

If Thibodeaux hits his goal of breaking the Giants rookie sack record though, he may not have to worry about that.