The New York Giants agreed to a four-year, $40 million deal with inside linebacker Bobby Okereke on Monday — a good signing at a position of need.
But what exactly are the Giants getting in Okereke? We sat down with Kevin Hickey of Colts Wire to discuss exactly that.
“Okereke brings a really high floor to the defense. He’s a smart player who knows how to make the correct reads with his run fits and rarely is found out of position. His coverage is a bit of a mixed bag, but he showed a lot more improvement in 2022 in terms of his route recognition and ball skills,” Hickey said.
Not only does Hickey believe Okereke brings a high floor to the Giants’ defense, but he also believes there is quite a distance between where his development is now and where his ceiling exists.
And as Hickey alluded to, he expects Okereke’s coverage to continue to improve.
“It was really only his second year as a starter because he split time with Anthony Walker for two seasons (2019-2020). He’s not a physical linebacker in the traditional mold so he’s better at reading and reacting than he would be as an aggressive attacker at the line of scrimmage,” Hickey said. “He’s not going to be a game-changer in coverage but he won’t lose games because of it.”
In the desired Brian Daboll mold, Okereke is smart, tough and dependable.
“He’s well-liked in the locker room and genuinely brings a strong work ethic to the table. He’s never been the topic of controversy outside of one issue at Stanford that was later dismissed,” Hickey said. “But the Colts pride themselves on high-character players so they obviously felt comfortable enough to draft him.”
Okereke is going to fit in nicely with the Giants.
