New York Giants News

Giants news, 7/1: Azeez Ojulari, Evan Neal, Mike Kafka, more headlines

New York Giants news for Saturday

By JamesPHickey Jul 1, 2023, 6:00am EDT

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New York Giants roster: Azeez Ojulari’s health critical to Giants

After posting eight sacks in his rookie season with the New York Giants, Azeez Ojulari suddenly found himself overshadowed the following year with the selection of Kayvon Thibodeaux. An injury-riddled season marred Ojulari’s further development as a pass rusher.

The Giants are counting on a healthy and productive season from Ojulari. They opted not to add any significant depth along the edge. In a defense predicated on pressure that has some question marks in coverage, the Giants need Ojulari to be a disruptive force.

Ojulari’s 23.7% pass rush win rate from his final college season has yet to show up in the NFL, but he has the talent to be just as much of a disruptor as Thibodeaux if he can stay healthy. He is one of the true X-factors for the Giants’ defense in 2023.

Other Giant observations

How Kayvon Thibodeaux, Evan Neal, Giants 2022 draft class can take Year 2 leap | The Athletic

Now New York has a new rookie crop that will steal some of the spotlight from the 2022 class, but the development of those players — the first draftees of general manager Joe Schoen’s tenure — will be critical to the continued success of the franchise.

If Thibodeaux, Neal and the rest take big steps this year, it will go a long way in helping the Giants remain on their positive trajectory and return to the postseason. But what does it mean for these players to take a step forward? How will they do that?

Giants coordinators, position coaches and the players themselves spoke during OTAs on what they are seeing

Giants OC Mike Kafka said his favorite sequence of play calls were the ones against Indianapolis that lead to Daniel Jones receiving a standing ovation from the MetLife crowd

https://t.co/TNDfKUN7iR
— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) June 29, 2023

The most open receivers, stingiest cornerbacks in the NFL in 2022 | PFF

Parris Campbell had an open rate of 62.4% of the time with the Colts last year, ranked second in the league behind Seattle's Tyler Lockett at 67.5%. The man that Campbell is basically replacing, Richie James, was third in the league at 61%.

As for cornerbacks, Fabian Moreau was 14th in the league in a cornerback’s ability to prevent their man from running free at 34.9%.

Go inside the origins of ‘The Eli Manning Show’ | Giants.com

“Authenticity is really key to this whole thing,” Guelli said. “We said from Day 1, let’s just put Eli in some positions where he’s comfortable, and what’s been really eye-opening to me is I don’t think there’s a situation where he’s not comfortable. We’ve put him with a very diverse group of people. One minute, he might be talking to Pete Davidson. The next minute, it might be Michael B. Jordan. The next minute, it might be Bill Murray, might be an influencer like Deestroying – all across the spectrum. We want to engage a very diverse audience, and it’s almost the more uncomfortable we try to make him, the more comfortable he is and the more he connects with these different types of entertainers and influencers. That’s been really interesting to see him navigate all these different personalities, but he just maintains his and it comes off perfectly.”