5 NY Giants Who Must Show Significant Improvement This Year
On Monday, the New York Giants will begin the first phase of their annual offseason program—the strength training and conditioning phase, which will run for about two weeks.
Although the offseason program is voluntary, most, if not all, of the players are expected to be there to begin the bonding process as a team and more importantly, to begin officially working on ending a three-year playoff drought that has seen head coach Tom Coughlin's teams finish a combined 22-26 over that period.
With the start of spring football on deck, we'll take a break from the draft talk and speculation and instead, focus on five Giants players who really need to step up this offseason and show the coaching staff that they are ready for bigger roles.
DE Damontre Moore
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Former Texas A&M Aggies defensive end Damontre Moore was supposed to be one of the steals of the 2013 draft class.
Who could blame the Giants—a team that plucked Moore out of the draft in the third round—for hoping that would be the case?
All Moore did during his three-year career for the Aggies was record 26.5 sacks, including 12.5 in 2012, his final year of eligibility.
The problem with Moore isn't so much his pass rushing but his lack of consistency, especially in playing run defense.
Although Moore finished his college career with 197 tackles (116 solo) with 45 tackles for a loss, those run-stopping skills simply haven't transferred over to the NFL level.
That's probably why of Moore's 455 career snaps on defense, he has only received 124 as a run defender, 90 of which came last season, according to Pro Football Focus.
With a new defensive coordinator on board, Moore has a golden opportunity to finally have that breakout season that has thus far eluded him, according to ESPN's Dan Graziano.
With a starting job open at defensive end and if Moore can finally show the coaching staff more maturity and more of a commitment to fine-tuning his craft, he could very well be on the field on opening day as a starter.
S Nat Berhe
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With the Giants having two openings at safety, second-year player Nat Berhe will be in competition for one of those jobs.
As a rookie last season after being picked in the fifth round, Berhe was mostly limited to special teams work, where he led the unit in total tackles.
When it came to playing defense, the former San Diego State Aztec's snaps were very limited, totaling just 32 for the year at both free and strong safety, per Pro Football Focus.
As with anything, Berhe came out of his rookie season having learned some valuable lessons that he believes will help him in his second year as he prepares to compete for a starting job.
“I think coming in, it was just a really long year for me—the draft, the combine, all that stuff. When I got there for OTAs, I really didn't know what to expect,” he told me recently during a podcast interview.
“What I do know now, and what helps, is to be patient and to not get so frustrated with myself because my rookie year during OTAs, I was really frustrated.
“I was studying night in and night out, and I wanted to get it that day, that week, and it was going to take time. So, I learned to be patient and eventually, as the season went on, I was able to really understand the playbook.”
Berhe and the rest of his defensive teammates will have to study a new playbook now that the team has a different defensive coordinator, but the difference is that Berhe will be able to jump head first into the playbook at the same time as the veterans on the team.
While his skill set seems to translate best to that of a strong safety, Berhe believes he can play either safety spot for the Giants.
“I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I can pretty much play both,” he said. “Throughout college, I played both strong and free, and I even played a little linebacker and blitzed off the edge.”
In addition to getting into the playbook earlier than he did last year, Berhe is hoping to apply some of the tips and tricks that former teammate Antrel Rolle, now with the Chicago Bears, taught him.
“When you have a guy who has played that long in the league, you want to soak up everything you can from him and add stuff to your game,” Berhe said.
“He really, especially playing in the deep middle, he really taught me how to use my eyes, seeing two- and three-step drops and quick passes and being able to come down and make a play.”
The opportunity is there for the taking. If Berhe can seize it, that will be one less position the coaches will have to worry about.
DT Jay Bromley
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Typically, the Giants hope to see at least their first three draft picks end up as regular contributors at their drafted positions as rookies.
New York came close last year, getting contributions from first-rounder Odell Beckham Jr. and second-rounder Weston Richburg.
They also got contributions from fourth-rounder Andre Williams and fifth-rounder Devon Kennard.
The same couldn't be said for their third-rounder, defensive tackle Jay Bromley, who saw just 113 snaps on defense last year, per Pro Football Focus—the majority of those snaps coming in pass-rushing situations.
As a rookie, Bromley was raw, his technique a constant work in progress. The good news, though, is he has already started to put in the time to make sure he's on the field a lot more this coming season.
Bromley told Dan Salomone of Giants.com that he spent time earlier this month training with defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who posted pictures via his Instagram account of his young prodigy doing a variety of strength and conditioning drills.
Bromley is smart to get a head start on his offseason training. Besides Johnathan Hankins, a promising young star in his own right, the Giants' defensive tackle situation is in transition.
Veteran Mike Patterson was not re-signed, while Cullen Jenkins re-did his contract to stick around for the final year of his deal, though with no guarantees that he will be a starter.
Kenrick Ellis was signed to a one-year deal as a free agent to provide a big body in the middle against the run.
Lastly, the team has Markus Kuhn, a hardworking seventh-round draft pick from 2012 who hasn't developed into a long-term force at defensive tackle, and Dominique Hamilton, a big-bodied man who is still relatively unknown in game situations.
The bottom line is that Jenkins, who has been a starter in each of the last two seasons, is in no way assured of regaining that starting spot again in 2015.
If Bromley can show he has made progress not just from a strength perspective but also in terms of quickly picking up Steve Spagnuolo's new playbook and then executing it on the field, the former Syracuse Orange defender could very well find himself lining up next to Hankins.
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WR Corey Washington
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Last summer, receiver Corey Washington had a dynamic showing by finishing as the Giants' leader in touchdowns with four, a number that also tied him with Oakland Raiders receiver Brice Butler for the league lead, as well.
However, Washington—who played mostly against third-string players, many of whom didn't have the good fortune to make an NFL roster—disappeared from the regular-season landscape, despite making the 53-man roster.
Per Pro Football Focus, Washington saw just 57 snaps on offense of which he was targeted seven times in the passing game, catching five of those targets for 52 yards and one touchdown.
Washington told Tom Rock of Newsday of his displeasure over how his rookie season played out and said all he can do to get that chance to contribute more to the offense is to “come back next year, keep doing what I've been doing this season. Give a little more. Catch some more touchdowns in the preseason.”
While a good preseason showing is important, so too is being able to earn reps to play against the opponent's second-stringers and starters, something Washington didn't really do last summer.
Another thing Washington can do is better embrace special teams, instead of questioning what kind of impact he might be able to make.
Coughlin told reporters last year that he hoped for Washington to contribute more on special teams; however, Rock wrote Washington indicated he had “little chance to make an impact in the positions he plays” on specials.
Washington is a budding talent, no question. However, the sooner he understands that all young players have to contribute in some capacity on special teams without an attitude, the better.
He also needs to understand that if he is not demonstrating that he has an understanding of the playbook or game plans via the classroom quizzes the coaches regularly administer to the players, he's not going to be handed practice reps.
Without practice reps, he's not going to get opportunities in the game.
RB Andre Williams
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Running back Andre Williams will probably be the first to admit that he has much in his game that he can improve.
To be fair, any criticism of Williams needs to take into account several factors.
First, he was a fourth-round pick who was initially supposed to be used in spot situations, such as short-yardage and goal-line.
Second, he was thrust into playing a much larger role than he was probably ready for thanks to an early season injury suffered by Rashad Jennings and then the season-ending concussion by veteran Peyton Hillis.
Third, Williams played behind the league's 22nd ranked run-blocking offensive line, as ranked by FootballOutsiders.com.
Still, there are some things that Williams has to work on to improve. One of the most notable deficiencies in his game, so far, is his average yards after contact.
Per Pro Football Focus, Williams finished his rookie season with a 2.1 average in yards gained after contact, tying him with former Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy for 18th in the league last season among running backs who took at least 50 percent of their team's snaps on offense.
As the 2014 season wore on, Williams did start to show noticeable improvement in finding the holes and in catching the ball out of the backfield.
Williams also has spent time down in south Florida to train with teammates Jennings and Orleans Darkwa, with an eye toward improving every facet of his skill set in hopes of that translating onto the field.
Given the physical nature of the position, we can figure that at some point in the season, Williams is once again probably going to be called to do more than just relieve Jennings in the rotation.
When that opportunity does come, the second-year player out of Boston College will need to be ready.
Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and other information were obtained firsthand, unless otherwise noted.
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