5 New York Giants Players Poised for a Breakout Campaign in 2015
After three straight seasons of no playoffs and worsening records, there won’t be any more mulligans for the New York Giants this season.
Win or else. That’s the mandate for head coach Tom Coughlin and Co.
The “or else” part is scary—if the Giants don’t deliver, there will more than likely be a major housecleaning.
The Giants can avoid the “or else” part by winning. If they are going to win, they are going to need some breakout performances from younger players who have shown promise, but who have not just yet been able to put it all together on a consistent basis.
Here, then, is a look at just five of your young players the Giants will be counting on to ensure they don’t have to worry about the “or else” ultimatum at the end of the season.
DE Kerry Wynn
1 of 5
There’s no question that the Giants defensive line is key to the team’s success. Presumably, the unit has enough depth at both tackle and end to compete this year; however, of the two, the defensive end position is likely staring at the most uncertainty for the future.
Jason Pierre-Paul will be playing out this year on the franchise tender, with the team hoping that he has a season that rivals his 2011 campaign.
However, there might be some concern in the organization that regardless of how Pierre-Paul performs, he’s not worth investing in a huge contract. Ross Tucker, a former NFL player turned analyst, in his podcast (h/t Fox Sports) dropped the following bombshell:
"Guys that have played for the Giants are skeptical of how productive Pierre-Paul will be after he gets a big contract. That's a concern. I actually think it's more of a concern at defensive line than any other position because that's such an effort position.
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With Pierre-Paul’s future cloudy, and both Robert Ayers Jr. and George Selvie playing out their respective contracts this year as well, the Giants, who drafted Owa Odighizuwa in the third round to be a future starter, might have another under-the-radar starter in the making in Kerry Wynn.
Wynn, an undrafted rookie free agent out of the University of Richmond last year, was initially a college defensive tackle who made the switch to defensive end for the Giants and did not disappoint once he got on the field.
Although Wynn took the fewest snaps (168, per Pro Football Focus) of the Giants’ defensive ends last year, he had the second-best run defense grade (2.5) on the team, behind Pierre-Paul.
Taking things a step further, in the last six weeks of the season, which is when Wynn was activated, he actually was the Giants’ best run defender, logging an 8.9 percent run-game stop percentage, which topped Pierre-Paul’s 8.1 percent.
If Wynn worked on adding bulk this season, that could only help him further against the run.
The thing to watch, though, is whether he has developed some new pass-rushing techniques that can turn him into a potential every-down defensive end.
That won’t be determined until the pads go on, but Wynn has apparently gotten a good grasp on stopping the run, which head coach Tom Coughlin always lists as a priority.
S Nat Berhe
2 of 5
The Giants’ starting safety roles appear to be wide open at this moment, though it’s probably safe to assume that, if healthy, second-round pick Landon Collins will be one of the starters.
The second starter’s identity is up in the air, but one guy who has a rather promising shot at making it his own is second-year man Nat Berhe, a 2014 Giants fifth-round draft pick.
Although Berhe only saw 32 regular-season snaps, which is hardly enough on which to draw any conclusions, he did see a little more action in the preseason, where he showed promise both as a run defender and in coverage, the latter where he excelled against his competition.
In coverage, Berhe took 103 snaps and was targeted three times, allowing just one catch for 19 yards with just one yard coming after the catch, per Pro Football Focus.
When it was all said and done, Berhe had earned a 1.6 coverage grade for his preseason work in that area.
Although defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has said that he won’t designate a free safety or a strong safety just yet—the safeties will play right or left and will be asked to play both in the box and deep—early indications are that Berhe might just be more competitive than some thought he'd be as a cover safety.
The Giants are hoping that Berhe can parlay that preseason experience into a solid weekly showing this season.
S Landon Collins
3 of 5
With all apologies to first-round draft pick Ereck Flowers, who could potentially be looking at starting the season at left tackle, the one rookie draft pick who stands to have a breakout season from this year’s class is safety Landon Collins.
Collins, who per Nick Powell of NJ Advance Media, said that he has a chip on his shoulder after being snubbed by teams in the first round, already has a bonfire blazing under his backside to where throughout the rookie minicamp, he looked like a man among boys out there.
The animated Collins (and potential future defensive co-captain candidate) was spotted directing traffic and helping to line teammates up.
In the limited team drills, Collins looked as though he had been playing in the Giants’ system for years instead of just a couple of days.
The former Alabama star’s progress did not go unnoticed by defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who told reporters following the conclusion of the Day 2 practices that he saw a jump in Collins’ performance from Day 1 to Day 2.
"They come here initially and they’re feeling their way through. They don’t really want to say anything, but by the time we got to that last team period today, Landon was moving people around and directing, so if he can keep doing that every day, I think we’ll have exactly what we thought we had when we took him.
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Collins still has a way to go before the Giants officially take the wrapping off this potential draft-day steal, but if he keeps making progress the way he did in the rookie camp and stays healthy, he could very well be the Giants’ top breakout player in 2015.
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RB Andre Williams
4 of 5
The Giants have historically eased rookie running backs into the lineup. Last year, they had to make an exception when injuries twice caused starter Rashad Jennings to miss games.
That put the onus on Andre Williams, the team’s fourth-round draft pick.
Williams, who initially looked as though his specific role was to be the short-yardage and goal-line back, not only had the challenge of learning on the fly, he also had to operate behind what Football Outsiders ranked as the league’s 22nd-best run-blocking offensive line.
Although the offensive line is in a state of flux thanks to the torn pectoral injury suffered by left tackle Will Beatty, the good news is that Williams now has a year of experience under his belt and should have a better feel for where the creases are going to be this year.
Indeed, as the year went on, Williams got better. According to Pro Football Focus, he averaged 4.2 yards per carry in his last eight games versus the 3.0 yards per carry in his first eight games.
Williams also upped his yards-after-contact average from 2.0 in the first eight games to 2.3 over the last eight games, while finishing the second half of the season with zero fumbles and four touchdowns.
With the addition of Shane Vereen to handle the third-down duties and to be the receiver out of the backfield, Williams should be able to hone in on a specific role in the Giants' offense which should help him become even more productive moving forward.
WR Rueben Randle
5 of 5
Regardless of what happens with receiver Victor Cruz, who is continuing his rehab from a torn patellar tendon in his knee, the Giants offense desperately needs Rueben Randle to pick up where he left off at the very end of last season.
In the final two games of the 2014 campaign, Randle caught 12 passes for 290 yards, almost 31 percent of his 2014 yardage total of 938 yards.
Randle, who had consecutive 100-yard receiving performances in those last two games, might very well have had even more yardage had he not also dropped two passes in the regular-season finale.
Besides being in a contract year, the Giants could use a more consistent Randle to help take some of the onus off Odell Beckham Jr., who almost certainly will be heavily covered this year.
Unlike Cruz, who struggles against press coverage, Randle has shown that he can fight off press and get open. The problem is he hasn’t done that consistently.
If he can’t figure it out, the Giants passing game is in for a long season.
If Randle can figure it out and play like he did down the stretch, then this Giants passing offense is really going to be fun to watch.
Unless otherwise sourced, advanced statistics via Pro Football Focus.
Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and other information were obtained firsthand, unless otherwise sourced.
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