How Jay Bromley Fits with the New York Giants

The New York Giants capped the second day of the NFL draft by selecting yet another high-character player and team captain in Syracuse defensive tackle Jay Bromley.

The move comes as little surprise. The Giants lost Linval Joseph to free agency in March. They also have not re-signed defensive tackle Shaun Rogers.

Those two moves left the Giants with projected starters Cullen Jenkins and Johnathan Hankins and backups Markus Kuhn and Mike Patterson as the only defensive tackles on the roster with NFL experience.

“This guy is big and has two-gap ability,” said Giants general manager Jerry Reese, who compared Bromley to a “shorter” Chris Canty.

“(Bromley) can stand in there and hold the point of attack. He has speed—he ran a 4.9 and some change at the combine, so he can get up the field and finish on the quarterback. Like I said, he had 10 sacks. He can hold the point, he can run, he has some range to run lateral and make plays down the line of scrimmage.”

Bromley, who went to high school in Flushing, New York, becomes the third member of the Orangemen to be drafted by the Giants in the last two years. He figures to initially work as part of the rotation as a pass-rusher.

Bromley posted 10.0 sacks last season for the Orangemen and has 25.5 career tackles for a loss, which ranks 13th in the school’s history. His 121 career tackles put him 15th on Syracuse’s all-time list of tackles by a down lineman.

"If you don’t have big people, it’s hard to win in this league,” Reese said of Bromley. “You’ve got to have big people up front, in your defensive line rotation, and you have to have some playmakers.”

In Bromley, they appear to have just that. And they're hoping he can come in and contribute right away.

"He’s a big kid, he’s played at a high level of competition and he’s a strong kid," Reese said. "He had good reps at the combine, big, clean, hard-working, tough football player. We expect him to come in and be part of the rotation."

Patricia Traina is the senior editor for Inside Football. All quotes and information obtained firsthand, unless otherwise noted. Follow me on Twitter, @Patricia_Traina.