Azeez Ojulari

Originally a 2nd-round (50th pick overall) draft choice by the Giants in 2021.

TRANSACTIONS:

• Originally a 2nd-round (50th pick overall) draft choice by the Giants in 2021.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:

• Has played in 35 regular-season games with 25 starts and in 2 postseason games with one start for the Giants…Regular-season totals include 79 tackles (47 solo), 16.0 sacks, 27 quarterback hits, 14 tackles for loss, 4 forced fumbles, 3 passes defensed, and 2 fumble recovery…In the playoffs, he has 2 tackles (one solo), one tackle for loss and one quarterback hit.
• In 2023, played in 11 games with 7 starts…Missed 6 games with hamstring and ankle injuries…Recorded 16 tackles (9 solo), 2.5 sacks, 7 quarterback hits, 3 tackles for loss, and one fumble recovery.
• Tallied 4 tackles (one solo), 3 quarterback hits, one tackle for loss and a half-sack vs. Green Bay (12/11)…Contributed 4 solo tackles, including 2.0 sacks – his 3^rd career multi-sack game - one quarterback hit, one tackle for loss, and one fumble recovery vs. Philadelphia (1/7).
• In 2022, played in 7 games with 5 starts for the Giants…Missed 10 games with calf and ankle injuries…Did not start vs. Washington (12/4) or vs. Indianapolis (1/1)…Played in both postseason games, starting the NFC Wild Card Game at Minnesota (1/15)…In the regular season, totaled 14 tackles (9 solo), 3 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, 7 quarterback hits, one pass defensed, 3 forced fumbles and one fumble recovery…Despite playing in only 7 games, his 5.5 sacks were 2nd on the team to Dexter Lawrence's 7.5…In the playoffs, added 2 tackles (one solo), a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit.
• Recorded one tackle in his season debut vs. Dallas (9/26)…Recorded a strip-sack of quarterback Justin Fields, recovered by Kayvon Thibodeaux, vs. Chicago (10/2)...Inactive for the next 2 contests with a calf injury…On injured reserve from Oct. 21-Dec. 3.
• In his first game back, strip-sacked Taylor Heinicke, recovered the fumble and tallied 4 tackles (3 solo) vs. Washington (12/4)…Led the Giants with 2.0 sacks and tied his season-high 4 tackles (2 solo) vs. Philadelphia (12/11)…Credited with a half-sack of Taylor Heinicke at Washington (12/18)…Recorded 1.0 sack of Kirk Cousins for a 6-yard loss at Minnesota (12/24)…Inactive in the regular-season finale at Philadelphia with an ankle injury (1/8).
• Made one tackle for loss in the NFC Wild Card Game at Minnesota (1/15) and one stop the divisional round at Philadelphia (1/21).
• As a rookie in 2021, played in all 17 games with 13 starts for the Giants…Finished the season with 49 tackles (29 solo), 8.0 sacks, 13 quarterback hits, 8 tackles for loss, 2 passes defensed and one forced fumble.
• Led the Giants with a franchise rookie record 8.0 sacks and paced the team with 13 quarterback hits… He was the first rookie to lead the team since sacks became an official statistic in 1982…Dallas' Micah Parsons (13.0) was the only other rookie to top his sacks in the 2021 season…Ojulari finished 3rd among NFL rookies in sacks, 4th in quarterback hits and tied for 4th in tackles for loss (8)…Tied for the 6th most sacks.

Most Sacks by Rookies, Giants History

Player, Year Sacks

Azeez Ojulari, 2021 8.0

B.J. Hill, 2018 5.5

T3 Cornelius Griffin, 2000 5.0

T3 Andy Headen, 1983 5.0

• Pro Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor had 9.5 sacks as a rookie in 1981, the year before they became an official statistic by a player 21 or younger in NFL history.
• Made his NFL debut vs. Denver (9/12) and sacked Broncos quarterback Teddy Bridgewater for a 3-yard loss…Started his first NFL game at Washington (9/16) and sacked quarterback Taylor Heinicke for a 16-yard loss, tied for the 2nd-longest sack by a Giant since 1994…Strip-sacked Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan with 14 seconds remaining in the 2nd quarter vs. Atlanta (9/26)…Also added 3 tackles (one solo) in the contest.
• Ojulari was the only rookie in the NFL with at least 1.0 sack in each of his first 3 games and the 5th rookie since 2000 with at least 1.0 sack in each of his first 3 career games. The others were Baltimore's Terrell Suggs in 2003, Oakland's Tommy Kelly in 2004, and Cleveland's Barkevious Mingo in 2013 and Myles Garrett in 2017.
• Tallied 5 tackles (3 solo), 2.5 sacks, 4 quarterback hits and 3 tackles for loss vs. Carolina (10/24)…His 4 quarterback hits and 3 tackles for loss were the most by a Giants rookie, while his 2.5 sacks were the 2nd-most in a game since 1982 (B.J. Hill had 3.0 on Dec. 2, 2018)…Posted 5.5 sacks through the first 7 games of a season, which were the most by a Giant since Jason Pierre-Paul (8.5) and Osi Umenyiora (6.0) in 2011.

COLLEGE:

• Ojulari played in 27 games with 23 starts in 3 seasons at Georgia…Totals included 71 tackles (41 solo), 19.5 tackles for loss, 14.0 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one pass defensed…As a redshirt sophomore in 2020, Ojulari started all 10 games…Semifinalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, which goes to the nation's top defensive player...Voted All-SEC 2nd Team by the league's head coaches and the AP…Finished with 31 tackles (22 solo)…Led the SEC with 12.5 stops for loss, 8.5 sacks and 4 forced fumbles…Had 5 sacks in the final 6 games…His 35 quarterback pressures were 11 more than any of his teammates had...Defensive MVP of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, where he had 4 solo tackles in the Bulldogs' win vs. Cincinnati, including a career-best 3.0 sacks…In 2019, played in 14 games with 13 starts…Finished with a career-high 36 tackles (16 solo), including 6 tackles for loss and team-high totals of 5.5 sacks and 34 quarterback pressures…In 2018, redshirted and played in 3 games…Had one tackle for loss vs. Middle Tennessee State in his first collegiate action.

OFF-THE-FIELD ACTIVITY:

• Attended The Giants Foundation Golf Classic, which raised over $400,000 for the foundation…Met with members from the Wounded Warriors Project during their visit at the Quest Diagnostic Training Facility to watch practice and enjoy a day with the Giants… Hosted a youth football camp in his home state of Georgia…Hosted children from the Boys and Girls Club of Newark for a holiday shopping spree and attended their holiday party to serve dinner and participate in holiday activities…Partnered with the American Heart Association to meet and play with students for 60 minutes and encourage them to be active and create healthy habits at Yantacaw Elementary School in Nutley, N.J.…Participated in Jingle Jam, where he helped spread holiday joy to more than 500 New Jersey foster children, spending time with them and assisting with the gift distribution.

PERSONAL

• Name is pronounced (ah-ZEEZ) (Oju-LAHR-ee)…Named to the 2020 SEC Community Service Team…Son of Nigerian immigrants…Born in Austell, Ga., Ojulari began playing football at age 9…Lettered in football and basketball at Marietta High School in Ga., spending 4 varsity seasons as a pass rusher and tight end…As a senior in 2017, led Marietta to the semifinals of the 7A state playoffs and contributed 118 tackles, 31.0 tackles for loss and 11.0 sacks before suffering a torn ACL in November…In his junior season, recorded 103 tackles, 17.0 tackles for loss and 8.0 sacks…His maternal grandfather, Prince Twins Seven-Seven, was a Nigerian prince (descendent of an Ibadan king) and accomplished African artist, who passed away in 2011…Mother, Bolanle, and father, Monsuru, are Nigerian natives who met in the mid-1990s after moving to Philadelphia, married and settled down in the Atlanta area...Brother, B.J., was a 2nd-round draft choice by the Arizona Cardinals in 2023, from LSU.