It was clear throughout the preseason that the New York Giants needed additional depth along the interior of their defensive line.
The Giants got some on Saturday when they traded a 2028 seventh-round pick for C.J. Okoye, a 6-foot-6, 365-pound 24-year-old who played for Harbaugh last season with the Baltimore Ravens.
Why did the Giants make the deal?
“He’s a guy that we got to know recently last year, came in, was with the Chargers actually with my brother [Jim] for a couple years in the international
program,” Harbaugh said. “So a guy who had been developmental type guy, learning the game and tremendous physical skills, hard worker, has really dedicated himself over the last few years to learning the game really because he didn’t play it growing up and made great strides, made great strides with Dennis Johnson, our defensive line coach last year. That’s where he kind of broke through and had a really good season.”
How will Okoye be used?
“We see him as an inside defender, a defensive tackle, A gap, B gap player, run stopper, pocket pusher in terms of the past game and just a really a real big physical player,” Harbaugh said. “So kind of a type of guy we’ve been looking for and we’re really excited to get him up here.”
Harbaugh said the Giants are “still looking” for defensive tackle help, but that “I don’t want to rule out anything else either. It’s not like we aren’t looking everywhere.”
Harbaugh added that the Giants are both getting and making calls, but called it “the usual due diligence.”
NFL teams have to reach the 53-man regular-season roster limit by 6 p.m. ET on Sunday.
