The New York Giants received some good news this morning because the team’s top pass rusher is expected to be back on the field for their monumental NFL Divisional Round clash against the Philadelphia Eagles Saturday night.
After a strong rookie year, this season has been extremely frustrating for Giants defensive end Azeez Ojulari. The 22-year-old has dealt with ankle and calf injuries that limited him to just seven games. However, the hope was that he would be able to make up for that lost time in the team’s Wild Card game against the Minnesota Vikings.
Unfortunately, the injury bug bit him again early in the New York Giants playoff matchup last week, and he wasn’t able to make an impact on the game. Fortunately, Big Blue was able to score a win nonetheless without him. However, they will need all hands on deck for a difficult test against the Philadelphia Eagles tonight.
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Despite being listed as questionable during the week with a quadricep injury, ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler reported on Saturday morning that Azeez Ojulari is expected to play in the team’s Divisional Round NFL Playoff game.
Azeez Ojulari’s importance to New York Giants pass rush
While Azeez Ojulari was behind Pro Bowler Dexter Lawrence on the season’s stat sheet for sacks, his 5.5 sacks are still impressive considering the fact that he only played in seven games. He posted eight in 17 games last season, which means the Georgia star was on pace to blow past his previous best and could have racked up double-digit sacks if he had gotten to play a similar amount of games as he did in 2021-2022.
The New York Giants have some solid talent on defense, however, they are far from a finished product in the first season for new head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen. They are a unit that finished near the bottom in takeaways and were in the middle of the pack in sacks, so need to be at full strength to be effective against the elite teams. They will face such a squad this evening in the Eagles.
Philadelphia has a legitimate MVP candidate in quarterback Jalen Hurts, who is a serious threat with his arm and legs. If the Giants are to have any chance of advancing to the NFC Championship game, they need Ojulari on the field, even if he is not 100% on game day.