Tag: Bobby Okereke

Giants’ Bobby Okereke wins Michelle Brown Toughness and Perseverance Award

Following a phenomenal first season with the New York Giants, Bobby Okereke won the Michelle Brown Toughness and Perseverance award.

Last offseason, the New York Giants made a big splash in free agency when they signed linebacker Bobby Okereke to a four-year deal.

Okereke excelled in his first season in a Giants uniform — he was one of the team’s most consistent pieces and arguably the team’s best player on the defensive side of the ball.

Earlier this week, Okereke was named the winner of the Michelle Brown Toughness and Perseverance Award.

The award, named after a lifelong Giants fan and late mother of Giants366’s Dylan Davis, was awarded to Okereke after playing through multiple injuries and leading the team in tackles on the year.

Okereke was one of two players in the entire NFL to play every defensive snap this past season. The other was teammate Xavier McKinney.

This wasn’t the first award Okereke was nominated for during his impressive first year in Giants’ blue. Okereke’s performance this season drew conversations about him being the Giants’ best free agent acquisition in a very long time.

Despite his impressive season, Okereke was snubbed from Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors. Certainly, the Giants got something special in Okereke and clearly someone with a team-first mentality which is a big reason he took home the award.

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Kayvon Thibodeaux ‘thanked God’ the Giants signed Bobby Okereke

New York Giants LB Kayvon Thibodeaux says fellow LB Bobby Okereke is someone he wants to emulate and “thanked God” the team signed him.

Kayvon Thibodeaux, the New York Giants’ premier edge rusher, has high praise for his teammate, Bobby Okereke.

The Giants signed Okereke from the Indianapolis Colts to a four-year, $40 million deal in the 2023 offseason. This was their splash signing of the year and it paid off in dividends as Okereke was a force to be reckoned with.

The middle linebacker finished the season with 149 tackles (his third straight season posting over 130). He also finished with career-highs in sacks (2.5), tackles for loss (11), and forced fumbles (four). His defense in the pass game was also elite as he posted a career-high 10 passes defensed and tied his career-high in interceptions with two.

Okereke’s presence can be felt alone by how much he stuffed the stat sheet but his leadership and drive make him that much more impactful.

“We just signed a guy, Bobby Okereke. He’s our middle linebacker. And I literally sat and I thanked God that they brought him on the team,” Thibodeaux said on the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast. “His ambition — he’s on Year (6) now, I’m on Year 3. When you talk about who he is at this moment and who I am at this moment, we’re not the same player. He embodies who I want to be.”

Okereke is a great person for Thibodeaux to look up to and probably helped him already this past season.

The sophomore edge rusher saw his stats boost from 4.0 to 11.5 sacks and six to 12 tackles for loss as he had a true breakout season. Thibodeaux’s offseason work definitely paid off and he truly showed why the Giants picked him fifth overall.

Nevertheless, the inspiring words of Okereke in the locker room surely helped.

“He literally told me, ‘Bro, every day you come here you gotta find motivation.’ (One day) he gets in the cold tub, right, (and) he put his neck all the way down up to here. Cold tub, me? I’m going to the hips. He’s like, ‘Damn, KT, you ain’t gonna give your shoulders no love?’ I’m like, ‘Man, my shoulders don’t need no love.’ He said, ‘Man, what, your shoulders ain’t worth $100 million?’ He said, ‘Oh, your shoulders ain’t worth greatness?’ And I’m like, ‘alright you got me messed up.'”

Okereke still has three years left on his contract and with a fifth-year option on Thibodeaux’s contract, it looks like the linebacker/edge-rusher duo will be wreaking havoc for a few more years.

The Giants have found two foundational building blocks for their defense for years to come.

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Bobby Okereke named Giants’ unsung hero of 2023

NFL Network has named linebacker Bobby Okereke the unsung hero of the 2023 New York Giants.

In what was a down year for the New York Giants, who finished with a 6-11 record, there were few bright spots. Poor coaching, underperformance, injuries, and in-fighting dominated most headlines.

But that’s not to say all was bad.

There was the emergence of rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito, who briefly took the league by storm, and there was a season-ending victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

There was also the play of linebacker Bobby Okereke.

Signed to a four-year, $40 million contract in free agency, Okereke came in and immediately improved the inside linebacker position. He not only dominated at his post but raised the play of those around him — most notably Micah McFadden.

For his efforts, Okereke was named the Giants’ unsung hero by Kevin Patra of NFL Network.

It feels almost like cheating to name Okereke here, but the linebacker was snubbed from every awards list, getting shut out of the initial Pro Bowl rosters and All-Pro teams. In his first season with Big Blue, Okereke was all over the field, generating 149 total tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 21 QB pressures, two interceptions, 10 passes defended and four forced fumbles while playing every single defensive snap. Stellar in coverage and stout versus the run, Okereke was the glue for New York’s defense in 2023. He will remain a force in 2024 for the team’s next defensive coordinator.

For those associated with the Giants or those who watched them on a weekly basis, Okereke was far from under the radar. He was paramount to any success on defense and deserved any and all praise he received.

Unfortunately, as Patra notes, Okereke was passed over for both the 2024 Pro Bowl Games and the All-Pro Team. Perhaps that does make him an unsung hero.

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Giants’ Dexter Lawrence named to PFWA All-NFC Team

New York Giants NT Dexter Lawrence has been named to Pro Football Writers of America’s (PFWA) 2023 All-NFC Team.

New York Giants defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence was named to the Pro Football Writers of America’s All-NFC Team on Monday.

For the second consecutive season, Lawrence, 26, who was also named a second-team All-Pro as well as a Pro Bowl selection, received PFWA honors.

Lawrence registered 53 total tackles (32 solo, seven for a loss) with 21 QB hits and 4.5 sacks.

Lawrence was named along with future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald as the NFC’s top defensive tackles. Lawrence was aced out by Donald and Kansas City’s Chris Jones for All-NFL honors.

The Dallas Cowboys placed a league-high five players on the All-NFL team, while the San Francisco 49ers had four players honored.

The PFWA has selected an All-NFL team since 1966, and All-AFC and All-NFC teams since 1992.

Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke, who seemed to have a lot of support heading into the voting, did not make the cut.

Okereke played his first four seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and signed a four-year, $40 million free agent contract with the Giants last March.

The former Stanford star led the Giants in tackles in his first season (149 total, 92 solo, 11 for a loss) and added four forced fumbles, two interceptions and 2.5 sacks.

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Bears LBs coach Dave Borgonzi named defensive coordinator for East-West Shrine Bowl

Dave Borgonzi joins Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower’s staff at this year’s East-West Shrine Bowl.

Another Chicago Bears coach is joining the staff for the East-West Shrine Bowl. Bears linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi will be the defensive coordinator for the East team. Borgonzi joins Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower’s staff for the game, who will serve as the East’s head coach. Arizona Cardinals passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach Drew Terrell will serve as Hightower’s offensive coordinator.

Borgonzi joined the Bears in 2022, coming over from the Indianapolis Colts with head coach Matt Eberflus, where he held the same role. Borgonzi has played a role in developing young linebackers such as Shaq Leonard and Bobby Okereke with the Colts and Jack Sanborn with the Bears. Under his tutelage this past season, linebackers TJ Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds excelled in their first season with the Bears.

The East-West Shrine Bowl is one of college football’s postseason all-star games that dates back to 1925. Since 2017, the game has pulled assistant coaches from the NFL to serve as coaches for each side. This year’s game takes place Thursday, February 4th, at 7 p.m. CT at the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, TX.

Giants’ Bobby Okereke motivated by All-Pro, Pro Bowl snubs

New York Giants LB Bobby Okereke sounds like a man motivated by being snubbed for the 2024 Pro Bowl Games and AP All-Pro Team.

The New York Giants made their biggest splash of free agency when they signed former Indianapolis Colts linebacker Bobby Okereke to a four-year deal last offseason.

It wasn’t long before we learned Okereke actually told his agent he wanted to play for Big Blue and later in the offseason, Okereke was tabbed as a player set to become a star.

Okereke did just that in his first year in a Giants’ uniform and at times, he was the best player on the team’s defense.

Unfortunately, Okereke was probably the biggest surprise on the Giants’ roster to be snubbed from Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors.

Okereke took exception to his absence for each and intends to use it as motivation.

Judging by Okereke’s play in his first year with Big Blue, they may have their best free agent signing in a long time.

Okereke fell two tackles short of his career-high but collectively had his best season as a pro.

Okereke was certainly deserving of both Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors. It appears the snub from the All-Pro list is something that he’s taking note of as he heads toward his second year with the Giants.

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Giants 2023 season awards: MVP, Rookie of the Year and more

Giants Wire votes on and hands out 2023 season awards, including MVP and Rookie of the Year, for the New York Giants.

The New York Giants finished the 2023 regular season with a record of 6-11 which was a far cry from their playoff appearance (and single playoff win) a year ago.

Despite the regression, there were quite a few bright spots that deserved recognition.

While the NFL announces its official awards at a later date, we’ll be discussing who deserves the MVP, Rookie of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, and Defensive Player of the Year awards for the Giants in 2023.

Giants-Eagles Week 18: Offense, defense and special teams snap counts

The New York Giants won their Week 18 game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Here are the snap counts on offense, defense and special teams.

The New York Giants closed out a dismal 2023 campaign in unexpected fashion, dominating the Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10, at MetLife Stadium.

The score doesn’t indicate just how badly the Giants stomped all over their NFC East rivals as Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni waived the white flag at halftime, removing most of his starters from the game.

With the win, the Giants closed things out with a record of 6-11 and now head into an offseason filled with uncertainty.

Here are the snap counts that contributed to the Giants’ most season-ending victory.

Offensive snaps: 67
Defensive snaps: 65
Special teams snaps: 26

In what was likely his final game as a member of the Giants, wide receiver Sterling Shepard saw action on 25 percent of the team’s offensive snaps. Fellow wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins also saw an increase in playing time with 53 snaps.

Defensively, safety Xavier McKinney and linebacker Bobby Okereke closed out the season having taken all 100 percent of the team’s snaps for the 17th straight game. Impressive.

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Studs and duds from Giants’ Week 18 win vs. Eagles

Here’s a look at the studs and duds (and studly duds) from a 27-10 win for the New York Giants against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 18.

The New York Giants closed out the regular season with a wildly unexpected drubbing of the Philadelphia Eagles — something they hadn’t done to such a degree since 2012.

The game was over by halftime with the Giants leading 24-0 and the Eagles waiving the white flag. Head coach Nick Sirianni began pulling his starters, acknowledging they could no longer compete with Big Blue.

Although the game itself meant nothing to the Giants in terms of playoff seeding, it was significant in the sense that it ended Philly’s dominant reign.

Here is a look at some of the studs and duds (and studly duds) from the Week 18 victory.

5 Giants were snubbed from the 2024 Pro Bowl Games

New York Giants NT Dexter Lawrence is headed to the 2024 Pro Bowl Games but five of his teammates were arguably snubbed.

The rosters for the 2024 Pro Bowl Games were announced on Wednesday and only one New York Giants player made the list.

For the second season in a row, defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence was honored as a member of the NFC squad.

There were other Giants, however, who were under consideration that did not make the list.

Here are four players who just missed the honor this season.