Positions the New York Giants Must Still Address Before the 2015 Season
Wouldn’t it be nice if just once the New York Giants could address every single roster need via free agency and the draft?
Unfortunately, that is rarely the case. Although there are numerous prospects who could address every single position, teams are a little more discerning about who gets a high grade—and thus more consideration—and who doesn’t.
Also factoring into the mix is what they have at each position. Can they, for example, squeeze out another year or two from certain players, as was the hope last year with offensive lineman Chris Snee, who was returning from an injury?
If they can't, do they have a backup plan?
Given these decisions that must be made, the Giants were able to address several needs—offensive line, defensive end and safety are all the obvious ones.
There were, however, a few needs not addressed in the draft that probably would have been if the Giants had more picks.
Here is a rundown of those positions and what the short-term plan might be at each spot until next year's free-agency period begins.
Inside Linebacker
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Like last year, the plan at this position calls for Jon Beason to start.
If Beason, who has had an unfortunate injury history since 2011, can’t play, Jameel McClain will probably step in for him as he did last year.
While Beason and McClain have the experience, both are approaching that age where teams start to really pay attention to the production versus the money being earned.
When McClain was pressed into action at the middle linebacker spot last year, he gave it a solid effort, recording a career-high 116 tackles and tying a career-high 2.5 sacks.
With linebackers, however, not all tackles are equal.
Per Pro Football Focus, McClain finished with a minus-9.4 grade in run support, perhaps due to an underlying stat in which PFF notes that in 341 run-game snaps, he finished 22nd in stops (tackles for zero or negative yardage) among inside linebackers who took at least 50 percent of their team’s defensive snaps.
Then there is a matter of the contracts. McClain is finishing the final year of his deal with the Giants, while Beason, signed through 2016, has another high cap number—$6.5 million, per Over The Cap—that he’d probably need to have a strong, 16-game showing in order to see.
Meanwhile, the Giants do not appear to have a clear-cut successor for the middle linebacker position.
Perhaps the plan is to hope they can find the next Chase Blackburn among the undrafted free agents. Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun reported that the Giants will be signing undrafted free-agent inside linebacker Cole Farrand, a 6’3”, 245-pounder out of Maryland.
Farrand's progress at that middle linebacker spot will be worth watching.
Slot Cornerback
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One surprise of the Giants’ recently concluded draft is that they didn’t add another cornerback to the equation.
The Giants appear to be set for this year, at least, with starters Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Prince Amukamara, the latter of whom appears on track to be playing out the final year of his rookie deal.
The slot cornerback position will likely be played by Trumaine McBride, who took over for Walter Thurmond III last year after Thurmond was lost for the season in Week 2 because of a pectoral injury.
The 29-year-old McBride stands 5’9”, which is not exactly an ideal height for a cornerback who might line up across from a bigger, more physical receiver.
Jayron Hosley, a third-round pick from 2012, has not worked out and would appear to be hanging onto a roster spot by a thread.
One prospect who could potentially emerge as a slot cornerback option—assuming he’s healthy—is Bennett Jackson, last year’s sixth-round pick.
Jackson, whom, according to Jordan Raanan of NJ Advance Media is recovering from microfracture surgery, was also mentioned as a candidate to move inside to safety.
If Jackson is healthy and progresses in that conversion, it’s possible the coaching staff might view him as its long-term solution in the slot once McBride, in the final year of his contract, moves on.
If Jackson isn’t fully recovered or struggles to make the switch, the Giants better have a Plan B for depth at this critical position, especially considering the slot cornerback is usually the first man up to replace the outside guys if they get injured.
Defensive Tackle
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Another position the Giants didn’t address in the draft was defensive tackle. This is an odd decision for several reasons.
First, they have three veterans—Cullen Jenkins, Kenrick Ellis and Markus Kuhn—who are entering the final year of their respective contracts.
Ellis, who was signed to a one-year deal earlier this year, is also the only true one-technique defensive tackle the Giants have.
If he can’t go, New York may have to resort to using Jay Bromley, Jenkins or, if he makes the roster, Kuhn, all of whom are not true pluggers, by definition.
Perhaps it might not be as bad for the Giants, who might just move some of their defensive ends, such as Damontre Moore, Robert Ayers Jr. and Jason Pierre-Paul inside to defensive tackle on passing downs. Steve Spagnuolo used to do this when he was with the Giants the first time around.
Still, it’s a good idea to have some depth at both defensive tackle spots, especially considering how the Giants lacked a true space-eating plugger.
Dominique Hamilton, who spent part of last season on the Giants' practice squad before being elevated to the 53-man roster in Week 16, could be a possible option.
The 26-year-old out of Missouri is 6’5” and 315 pounds and was, according to Mike Eisen of Giants.com, someone head coach Tom Coughlin mentioned he is interested in seeing on the field this year.
“The young man on our practice squad, Hamilton, is a big human,” Coughlin said. “We realized that big dominating guy in the middle is a good starting point for the D-line.”
If they don’t find some depth for that plugger role, they better hope Ellis makes it through a 16-game season.
Unless someone emerges from the undrafted free agent class or the Giants add another veteran later in the summer, their depth at this position both for the present and the future is paper-thin.
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Tight End
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Last year, the Giants made do with their tight end group, a unit that included an undrafted free agent with minimal experience (Larry Donnell), a 2012 fourth-round draft pick who has yet to live up to his team-given “Pierre-Paul of tight ends” moniker (Adrien Robinson) and a guy who was out of football the year prior to last (Daniel Fells).
That same trio is back for its second year together, but in no way should that be taken as a sign the Giants are content with the position for the long-term.
Fells, who re-upped for another year, will be 32 years old in September.
While he was the highest-graded overall of the three Giants tight ends, according to Pro Football Focus, his performance still wasn’t good enough to warrant more than 37.5 percent of the team’s snaps on offense.
Donnell, the surprising coach’s pick to be the starter, will presumably continue in that role this season. The problem with Donnell, though, is after starting out on fire last year by catching four touchdown passes in his first four games, teams adjusted to him, and his performance fluctuated the rest of the way.
As a blocker, Donnell struggled, finishing with a minus-12.1 run-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus, ranking him 63rd out of 67 tight ends last season who took at least 25 percent of their team’s offensive snaps.
Robinson, meanwhile, saw 77 snaps at tight end for the Giants last year, finishing with a respectable 2.1 overall grade and a decent 1.2 run-blocking grade. Slowed down by injuries for most of his NFL career, this coming season, the last on Robinson’s rookie deal, will be critical.
Simply put, there are a lot of question marks about the future of this position, but the good news is the Giants do have a couple of young prospects who will be worth keeping an eye on.
The first is Jerome Cunningham, who played his college ball at Southern Connecticut. Cunningham joined the Giants last year after the first full week of the preseason, impressing enough to earn a spot on the practice squad.
It will be interesting to see how much he has progressed now that he has a full season under his belt.
The other prospect is Matt LaCosse, an undrafted free agent who, per his agent, Sam Renaut, is headed to the Giants for this weekend’s rookie minicamp.
Based on the contract LaCosse reportedly received from the Giants—Jordan Raanan of NJ Advance Media reported that the deal included a $5,000 signing bonus and $5,000 in guaranteed salary—it sounds as though the Giants have high hopes for LaCosse.
Given his versatility—he is a solid blocking tight end who can also play a little H-back and some fullback—it’s easy to see why the Giants might be so intrigued.
It remains to be seen if LaCosse can make the jump to the NFL level and put any concerns that might actually exist about the future of the tight end position at ease.
Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information were obtained firsthand for this article unless otherwise sourced.
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