Analyzing the Giants’ acquisition of LB Bobby Okereke

It took a little longer than most Giants fans wanted, but general manager Joe Schoen struck his first splash of free agency by signing Colts linebacker Bobby Okereke to a four-year deal.

Okereke fills a massive need for the linebacker-deprived Giants.

Here’s more on Wink Martindale’s newest defender.

Getting to know the Giants’ new ‘backer

The Colts originally drafted Okereke, 26, in the third round in 2019. He played in 30 games with 16 starts his first two years, then took over as the Colts’ full-time starter in 2021. Okereke had 132 tackles and a sack that season.

Then, in 2022, he recorded a career-high 151 tackles. He also had six tackles for a loss, five pass breakups, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

Okereke had a ProFootballFocus grade of 73.3, including an impressive 79.3 rating against the run. It was a nice bounce-back after registering grades of 47.7 (2020) and 58.5 (2021) the two years prior. According to NFL’s NextGen Stats, Okereke generated 75 defensive stops in 2022, which was tied for 10th-most among linebackers.

Okereke stands at 6-foot-1 and weighs 235 pounds. He played college ball at Stanford. Okereke hasn’t rushed the quarterback much in the NFL (two career sacks), but he did have 7.5 sacks his final two seasons at Stanford.

Where does he fit?

Inside linebacker was arguably the Giants’ most pressing need to begin this offseason. The two linebackers they started in the playoffs (Jarrad Davis and Jaylon Smith) weren’t even on the roster during the summer. The Giants have high expectations for Darrian Beavers, a sixth-round pick last year, but it’s hard to rely heavily on him after he missed all of 2022 with an injury (ACL).

Impacting others

The Giants re-signed Davis before the start of free agency. That gives them a decent starter-depth combination when paired with Okereke and Beavers. The Giants might not be done adding at this position, though.

Early read on contract

Okereke’s entire contract specifics aren’t yet known, but from the outside, it looks like a good deal for the linebacker: Four years, $40 million with $22 million guaranteed.

Comments are closed.