The Giants have locked up their second-round pick. Edge rusher Azeez Ojulari has officially signed his rookie contract, the team announced today. They also announced they’ve signed sixth-round running back Gary Brightwell and sixth-round cornerback Rodarius Williams.
Ojulari was expected by many to be a first-rounder, but medical red flags dropped him to 50th overall. If he can stay healthy, the Giants might end up getting a total steal. His upside is sky-high, as he’s coming off a season where he led the SEC in sacks at the age of 20. The Georgia product won’t turn 21 until next month.
Some analysts thought he was the most talented edge rusher in the draft when he first declared back in January. He’s got good size and explosiveness and finished with 9.5 sacks, 12.5 tackles for loss, and four forced fumbles in only 10 games in 2020. He should get plenty of playing time as a rookie.
Ojulari is an incredible talent, but the medical concerns are real and kinda scary.
NFL teams conducted medical assessments for potential draft picks during the combines. And, as Tony Pauline reported, teams were very concerned with Ojulari’s knee after those re-checks.
“He had a bunch of significant medical red flags (knee/ankle) diagnosed during Combine medicals, which is the reason he dropped down draft boards”.
I hope he can stay healthy because he could be great.
The ACL injury happened in High School.
Prior to the draft, Ojulari was checked out by Dr. James Andrews, who gave him a total pass as far as being recovered from that injury.
The story that I heard was then Ojulari was one of several players who at the combine were checked by a “group of doctors” who became very concerned about a degenerative lower leg issue (not a bunch of significant red flags) which was advertised as the reason he dropped on many teams draft boards..plus he wasn’t considered a photo-typical edge rusher probably is a reason why the Giants got him when they did.