Bobby Okereke, the New York Giants’ new inside linebacker, expects to be blitzing more this season.
“Yeah, I’m going to blitz a lot more, which I’m excited about. I’ve had a lot of blitz sack-fumbles,” Okereke told reporters on Thursday. “I had a really good one, I want to say a year or two ago, against the Titans.
“I love playing fast and physical. And I think that’s why Coach Martindale blitzes so much, so players can play free. There’s not a lot of thinking, and that’s what you want to eliminate. You want to eliminate thinking and just have fast decision-making.”
Okereke is spot on. Last year, the Giants led the NFL in blitz rate, blitzing on 39.7 percent of opponents’ dropbacks. The Indianapolis Colts, Okereke’s former team, had a blitz rate of just 16.4 percent, which was fifth-lowest in the league.
The Giants were sixth in the NFL in pressure rate with a 24.3 percent average. The Colts weren’t far behind at 22 percent.
The Giants had 66 quarterback knockdowns last season to the Colts’ 37 but the Colts had 44 sacks to the Giants’ 41.
Personally, Okereke was a true off-ball linebacker with no sacks and no QB hits last season. That will likely change in 2023.
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