Ranking the 2015 Impact of the New York Giants' Free-Agent Signings so Far
Considering that New York Giants co-owner John Mara characterized the 2015 free-agency class as being “mediocre,” according to Paul Schwartz of the New York Post, that didn’t stop the team from adding a few new faces to the mix, some of whom are being looked at to contribute significantly in 2015 and perhaps beyond.
Here's a look at the potential impact and value of each free-agent acquisition, starting with the lowest-ranked acquisition and finishing with the best.
Among the factors used to arrive at a ranking are: how much of a role the free agent is expected to have, if the new player is an upgrade over what the Giants previously had at the position and if the contract outweighs what the player's projected role will be.
7. OT Marshall Newhouse
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After striking out in their attempts to get something—anything—from 2012 fourth-round draft pick James Brewer and last year’s veteran free-agent signing, Charles Brown, the Giants moved on in their search for veteran depth at the offensive tackle position.
Enter Marshall Newhouse, the former Green Bay Packer and Cincinnati Bengal. Newhouse can play both tackle spots and will serve as that swing guy for the Giants. However, his grades from Pro Football Focus haven’t been very encouraging.
Playing in 389 snaps last year, at both right and left tackle (with four starts on the right side), Newhouse finished with negative grades in both pass protection (minus-8.4) and run blocking (minus-3.8).
Among those tackles who took at least 25 percent of their team’s snaps, Newhouse was 63rd out of 84 tackles in the pass-protection category, and 50th out of that same group as a run-blocker.
The Giants could be planning to add depth at tackle via the draft perhaps as soon as the first round, which would be ideal.
If they can do that, then Justin Pugh can move inside to guard and be the first option at backup tackle in the event of injury. Newhouse could then be the second option and, in the interim, the jumbo tight end.
6. WR/KR/PR Dwayne Harris
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Of all the free-agent acquisitions made by the Giants, receiver/return specialist Dwayne Harris, who received the richest and the longest of the contracts—five years, $17.5 million with $7.1 million guaranteed in the first two years of the deal, per Over the Cap—is probably the biggest unknown as far as the exact impact he’ll make.
Let’s begin with the obvious. Barring injury, he will be the punt and kickoff returner. His role as a punt returner in particular will be key because it reduces the risk of top receiver Odell Beckham Jr. suffering a Jason Sehorn-like injury during a special teams return.
Where Harris becomes a bit of a risk as far as his impact has to do with what he might be able to contribute to the offense. The Giants are clearly loading up on receivers in the event that Victor Cruz’s rehab hits a snag.
As it stands, Cruz is not likely to do anything in the spring OTAs and minicamp, and it would be surprising if he were ready for the start of training camp, which of course is his goal.
Assuming Cruz meets that goal, you can figure the Giants' top three receivers will be Beckham, Cruz and Rueben Randle, with Harris battling Corey Washington and Preston Parker to be the fourth receiver.
If that scenario plays out, it will appear the Giants have overpaid for Harris, who, per Pro Football Focus, was the seventh-best kickoff returner (24.7 average) among those who played in at least 15 games and the ninth-best punt returner (9.5 average).
Yes, Harris has a reasonable cap figure for this year ($1.8 million, per Over the Cap); that number though is going to shoot up to $3.8 million in 2016, the last year of Harris’ contract where he has guaranteed money (and thus doesn’t yield a cap savings if he isn’t on the roster).
It’s possible the Giants are viewing Harris as insurance in case they can’t or don’t want to re-sign Randle after this season, hence the structure of Harris’ deal.
If the best-case scenarios pan out this year regarding Cruz and Randle, it will appear that the Giants overpaid for a return specialist they might have been able to find in the rookie class.
5. LB Jonathan Casillas
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Linebacker Jonathan Casillas is projected to be much more than just another special teams contributor.
Casillas, who is projected to shore up the depth on the kickoff and punt coverage units—the latter unit finishing with a minus-8.3 grade, per Pro Football Focus—will also probably be instrumental on defenses in numerous sub-packages.
At 6’1”, 227 pounds, he is a bit on the light side, but he has decent speed (4.5 40-yard dash), which should help him keep receivers and tight ends from exploiting the middle of the field as they did so regularly in the past against the Giants’ coverage.
He could also become the team’s dime linebacker, which would allow defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo flexibility as far as having the defense check out of certain coverages while not having to worry about too much of a mismatch if a change does get made.
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4. DT Kenrick Ellis
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Last season, opposing running backs probably couldn’t wait to line up against what would become the league’s 30th-ranked run defense.
Who could blame them? The Giants, who, per Pro Football Focus, finished with a minus 30.1 run defense grade, lost more battles in the trenches than anyone would care to admit, especially when it came to defeating solo blocking, no less.
Injuries played a part of this, but so did the fact that other than defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul receiving an occasional double-team block, the rest of the defensive front simply couldn’t win its one-on-one battles on a consistent basis.
That’s why a signing like defensive tackle Kenrick Ellis, who at 346 pounds is currently the heaviest man on the Giants roster, is, no pun intended, huge.
Ellis, who was somewhat of a disappointment with the New York Jets, has that big body that should require a double-team block to stop.
His presence should make opposing offenses have to choose between doubling him, Johnathan Hankins or Pierre-Paul, the latter two being the Giants defense's two best run defenders last season, per PFF.
3. LB J.T. Thomas
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With the Giants declining to re-sign Jacquian Williams to be their starting weak-side linebacker, that role could now fall to J.T. Thomas, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Last year, Thomas was the team’s starting strong-side linebacker for the first half of the season, finishing with an overall 1.3 grade from Pro Football Focus in those eight games played as an outside linebacker.
In coverage, Thomas logged a 2.4 grade playing on the outside and a minus-0.6 mark in run defense. He finished with 28 tackles in eight games and 13 stops.
He moved to the middle toward the end of the season when injuries necessitated such a move. While he didn’t do as well playing in the middle, the Jaguars defense still finished higher than the Giants’ overall (26th vs. 29th overall) and in run defense (28th vs. 30th).
It will be interesting to see if Steve Spagnuolo does indeed line up Thomas, who is currently listed as 6’1”, 236 pounds, as his weak-side starter or if he flips Devon Kennard to the weak side instead.
2. DE George Selvie
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Defensive end George Selvie doesn’t have eye-popping numbers—unless you consider 10.0 sacks over the last two seasons to be of the “wow” variety.
With that said, he might be the most underrated of the free-agent signings the Giants made thus far.
Think back to the last two seasons.
One of the reasons why Jason Pierre-Paul, Selvie’s college teammate at South Florida, likely struggled with posting numbers equivalent to what he posted in 2011 not only had to do with him recovering from back surgery, but also because his bookend on the opposite side of the defensive line, Mathias Kiwanuka, routinely struggled to defeat solo blocks.
With Kiwanuka struggling, teams could then afford to move the tight end over to Pierre-Paul’s side to double-team him, thereby rendering him invisible.
Selvie represents an upgrade.
While it’s too soon to say if he’s going to be the new starter, in addition to having some pass-rushing moves that get home, Selvie is also stout against the run, another issue the Giants struggled with on Kiwanuka’s side of the formation.
Per Pro Football Focus, Selvie was the 14th-best 4-3 defensive end last year against the run.
At the very least, Selvie could be the new run-down defensive end who will come off the field on passing downs.
Given that the Giants' 30th-ranked run defenses was putrid last season, it’s not surprising to see New York focus on run-stoppers to help bolster that defensive front.
1. RB Shane Vereen
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New running back Shane Vereen gives the Giants something they hoped to have with David Wilson last year before a neck injury ended his career.
That would be a quick, scatback type who’s dangerous in space and who can also pound the rock between the tackles, the latter being equally important given how much of a pounding running backs tend to take and considering that starter Rashad Jennings has yet to make it through a 16-game season.
According to NFL Game Statistics and Information Systems, the Giants converted 42.98 percent of their third-down attempts, which was above the league average of 39.94 percent. However, per Football Outsiders, the Giants had the 18th-highest percentage as far as having the most three-and-out drives.
Vereen should be able to help that if he becomes the third-down back, as is projected. Per PFF, Vereen recorded 176 of his 391 rushing yards last season after initial contact with a defender.
As a receiver out of the backfield, he was the fifth-highest graded on PFF’s list of running backs who took at least 50 percent of their team’s offensive snaps.
Unless otherwise noted, advanced stats are from Pro Football Focus.
Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced.
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