Breaking Down the New York Giants' Situation at Defensive Tackle

Up next in my look at the New York Giants position units is defensive tackle. 

2015 in Review

If “blech!” was the word for the defensive ends, then “ouch!” is probably the best word to describe the Giants defensive tackles in 2015. 

Let’s start with Johnathan Hankins, the super-talented interior lineman who suffered a season-ending pectoral muscle in Week 9 against Tampa Bay.

Up until that point, it should be noted that Hankins’ production was nowhere near what it had been the year prior. Let’s take a look at that production through nine games.

Year	Sacks	Hits	Hurries	Batted Passes	Total Tackles	Missed Tackles	Stops
2014	4	3	12	3	25	2	18
2015	0	3	11	1	28	1	14

Based on the table data above, Hankins pass rush success vanished in 2015 (along with the rest of his defensive line mates). With that, his ability to disrupt plays at or behind the line of scrimmage also fell off.

Why was this so? There are two possible reasons.

The first is an undisclosed upper body injury that Hankins might have been trying to play through until he suffered the pectoral tear.

The second and more tangible reason, though, is that when Hankins was at his best, he was lined up alongside of Jason Pierre-Paul.

Pierre-Paul, remember, didn’t return to the lineup until that Week 9 game, the same one where Hankins was knocked out of action. It would have been interesting to see if Hankins’ numbers would have picked up playing alongside of Pierre-Paul in those final seven games. 

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

Let’s turn now to Cullen Jenkins who, thanks to the absence of Pierre-Paul, had to move from his defensive tackle spot to defensive end, a move made out of desperation when Owa Odighizuwa was battling his injury issues.

When Jenkins moved to defensive end, Markus Kuhn was often called upon to step in ahead of Jay Bromley. After bulking up to better hold up as the plugger inside, Kuhn’s struggles against solo blocking continued anyway.

With no one to draw double or triple teams inside, opponents had a field day in the running game. As previously noted in my breakdown of the defensive ends, the Giants finished 24th in run defense, allowing 121.4 yards per game.

Ouch indeed.

2016 Outlook: Where Can This Unit Improve?

Go grab a cup of coffee as we’re about to go back to a season that was pure magic for Giants fans, particularly those who were fans of strong defensive play.

The season was 2007, when rookie coordinator Steve Spagnuolo burst onto the scene with swagger and a bunch of ideas that helped transform a Giants defense that recorded just 32 sacks in 2006 into a quarterback-eating monster.

You remember that, right? The Giants went from 23rd in 2006 to first in the league in sacks, recording 54 in the regular season under Spagnuolo (and for good measure, added a league-leading eight sacks in the postseason).

What was the secret?

Stopping the offense cold on first down (typically a running down) would force opposing offensive coordinators to abandon the run and go to the pass on second and third downs, when, of course, the pass rushers would do their thing.

History lesson over, but let’s see how it applies to last year and how the Giants need to improve as far as defensive tackle performance is concerned.   

According to NFL Game Statistics and Information Systems (GSIS), the Giants run defense was abysmal on 1st-and-10 situations last year.

Opponents ran the ball 216 times against the Giants defense on 1st-and-10 in 2015. New York allowed 1,030 yards (seventh most in the NFL) on those plays, an average of 4.77 yards per play, with 23 of those rushes turning into first downs (13th most in the league). They also allowed an average of 6.09 yards per play on all first down plays, 31st in the league.

Also per NFL GSIS, opponents gained an average of 5.21 yards rushing up the middle, next to last in the NFL.

Those numbers need to improve, and that’s where the defensive interior comes into play.

Damon Harrison’s presence could be instrumental in helping to plug up some of those interior running lanes that opponents have been able to exploit.

According to Pro Football Focus, Harrison, who in four years has 122 career stops, was tied last season with Aaron Donald of the Rams for the most stops at or behind the line of scrimmage (51) among interior defensive linemen who took at least 50 percent of their team’s snaps.

While one man alone isn’t necessarily the answer, Harrison is going to be a big (no pun intended) piece of the puzzle in shoring up what has been a leaky run defense.

Further, if the Giants can get the run under control and get the pass rush going at full speed once again, that will definitely help the back end, particularly where there is still some inexperience at safety and where there is projected to be inexperience at the slot cornerback if rookie Eli Apple does indeed win that job. 

The X-Factor: Jay Bromley

The Giants haven’t had the best luck with their third-round draft picks recently.

Their last third-round pick to yield any kind of production for the Giants was receiver Mario Manningham, part of the class of 2008.

Since then, the string of third-round picks who for one reason or another haven’t panned out for the Giants includes defensive end Damontre Moore, defensive back Jayron Hosley, receiver Jerrel Jernigan, safety Chad Jones, receiver Ramses Barden and tight end Travis Beckum.

Defensive tackle Jay Bromley is hoping to snap that streak in this, his third season.

Last year, Bromley received the most playing time of his short career and showed a surprising ability to move well for a man of his size.

In 484 snaps, he recorded 15 quarterback disruptions (four hits and 11 hurries according to Pro Football Focus), while recording 28 total tackles, 14 of which were stops for zero or negative yardage.

Bromley’s development combined with how well Johnathan Hankins performs this year could very well play a large part in whether New York pushes hard to re-sign Hankins or lets him walk after this season.

Questions 

Will Damon Harrison be strictly a two-down player or is there a place for him on pass-rushing downs?

Based on past production, Damon Harris is the big-bodied plugger that the Giants haven’t had in quite some time. If he continues to make plays for his new team, it would be pretty hard to justify taking him off the field on passing downs.

This is the dilemma the Jets had last year when Harrison was donning the green and white. In the second half of the season, the Jets threw caution to the wind and got Harrison involved in more snaps, including pass rushing snaps, and he delivered.

According to Pro Football Focus, when Harrison played in at least 50 defensive snaps in a game (which he did four times down the stretch for the Jets last season) he recorded some sort of pressure in three of those four games.

Realistically, it’s unlikely that defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is going to leave his base front-four in for most every snap. But it still bears watching if the Giants try to get their money’s worth out of Harrison by exploring whether he can be a functional part of a pass-rushing package. 

Who will be the fourth defensive tackle?

Barring injury, the first three will be Hankins, Harrison and Bromley. Unless the Giants add someone else to the mix, they’ll have to choose from a field that includes Montori Hughes (who was sidelined with an undisclosed injury during the team’s first OTA), Louis Nix and undrafted free agents Melvin Lewis and Greg Milhouse.

Nix and Hughes both showed flashes of promise last year, but both will no doubt have to show much more this summer.

Nikita Whitlock, the Giants’ first three-way player (offense, defense and special teams) has bulked up to the “low 260s” according to NJ Advance Media, but he still probably isn’t heavy enough for anything more than a limited role as a pass rusher, where his quickness can sometimes be too much for offensive linemen to handle.

The Giants could also go with three defensive tackles and add another defensive end to the mix. As always, the injury situation when the final roster moves must be made will play a large factor in the numbers. 

Can Hankins be effective if Pierre-Paul isn’t beside him?

This is perhaps one of the biggest questions the Giants are going to need answered. Both Hankins and Pierre-Paul are in contract years, and the odds of both of them being re-signed are not great.

Pierre-Paul has proven that he can be effective next to anyone, so if he has a solid season, the odds would favor him being re-signed.

If the same can’t be said of Hankins, then don’t be surprised if the Giants let him walk and move on to Jay Bromley, assuming he shows that he’s taken a step forward this year.

Key Newcomer

Damon Harrison, 6’4”, 250 pounds, (acquired via free agency from the Jets) 

The addition of the man known as “Snacks” to what Over the Cap reports was a five-year, $46.25 million contract might seem like a lot for a player that, as of right now, doesn’t appear to be a three-down player for this defense.

But when you peel back the layers of what Harrison has accomplished in his young career and weigh that against the success, or lack thereof, the Giants have had against the run, suddenly that contract doesn’t seem that bad. 

Mel Evans/Associated Press

The 2015 Pro Football Focus Ted Washington Award winner, Harrison made a defensive stop on 18.1 percent of all running plays he participated in, which, according to PFF’s write-up, “is the best rate PFF has ever seen among defensive tackles, and over 150 percent of the best mark” seen heading into the 2015 season.

PFF further points out that of Harrison’s 54 tackles, 49 were run-game stops, which led all defensive tackles in 2015.  

If you remember the days of Norman Hand, Fred Robbins (who was on Spagnuolo's 2007 championship defense), and more recently Shaun Rogers, you no doubt remember what it was like when the Giants had a big-bodied plugger in the lineup who actually drew double and triple team blocks.

Based on his past production, Harrison has the potential to be that guy in 2016. They are hoping that he sets new career highs on a defensive front that desperately needs a shot in the arm.

Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Advanced stats courtesy of Pro Football Focus.

Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.