New York Giants: If NFL Had a Most Improved Player, It'd Be Jason Pierre-Paul

When the New York Giants selected South Florida defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul with the 15^th overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft, he had the reputation as being an athletic freak of nature, a 6’5”, 270-pounder who became a YouTube sensation for his ability to do back flips.

What a difference a year makes.

After recording 4.5 sacks as a rookie in 2010, Pierre-Paul had a breakout year in 2011. His 86 tackles (65 solo) were the most among NFL defensive linemen. He was fourth in the league with 16.5 sacks, trailing only Jared Allen of the Minnesota Vikings, DeMarcus Ware of the Dallas Cowboys and Jason Babin of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Pierre-Paul got noticed by fans and his peers. He was named to his first Pro Bowl and last week was named along with Allen as a defensive end on the Associated Press’ NFL All-Pro Team.

The Giants have a renowned list of pass rushers in their long history.

Lawrence Taylor made the Hall of Fame as a quarterback-terrorizing outside linebacker in Bill Belichick’s 3-4 defense of the 1980s. It took Taylor four seasons to become a double-digit sack producer and six seasons to get as many as the 16.5 sacks Pierre-Paul had in 2011.

Michael Strahan will be a Hall of Famer because of his prowess as a pass-rushing defensive end. Strahan didn’t reach double-digits in sacks until his fifth season and was in his ninth year before he reached Pierre-Paul’s numbers from this season.

No Giant stepped up his individual play as did Pierre-Paul over the final month of the regular season, when New York was in a dogfight with Dallas for the NFC East title. In a prime-time matchup against the Cowboys at Arlington, Texas, in Week 14, Pierre-Paul turned the affair into his national coming-out party.

He had two sacks of Tony Romo. He made eight tackles. He forced a fumble. He scored a safety. And, oh by the way, he blocked Dan Bailey’s field goal on the last play of the game that would have forced overtime.

He followed that up with another two-sack performance against the New York Jets in Week 16 and had six sacks in the Giants’ final four games—earning NFC Defensive Player of the Month honors for December—as New York closed the season with three wins in its final four games to make the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

Not bad for a guy who never got onto a football field until 2005. His rise can best be described as meteoric. He played one season of high school football in Deerfield Beach, Fla., a season at College of the Canyons in California, a season at Fort Scott Community College in Kansas and a season at South Florida before coming to the NFL.

Pierre-Paul got a lot of attention after the Giants beat the Atlanta Falcons in Sunday’s NFC wild-card playoff by declaring Big Blue would beat the Green Bay Packers in the next round.

If his play over the last several weeks is any indication, Pierre-Paul might have a lot to say about Sunday’s outcome at Lambeau Field.