New York Giants: 5 Young Players Who Still Need to Take the Next Step

The New York Giants have lost four straight games and have been fighting through injury problems since training camp.

Left tackle Will Beatty became the ninth Giant to wind up on season-ending injured reserve last week after undergoing surgery for a detached retina. Veteran tackle Stacy Andrews will end up on IR as well after he was hospitalized Saturday night with pulmonary embolisms in both lungs.

Even with the recent losing streak—one that has taken a luster off a 6-2 start that included a win in Foxborough that ended the New England Patriots’ 20-game home-field winning streak in the regular season—the Giants are still very much in the thick of the NFC playoff race.

At 6-6, Big Blue trails the Dallas Cowboys by a game in the NFC East race. In the hunt for the NFC wild-card spots are Atlanta, Chicago and Detroit, all 7-5, and two of those clubs—Chicago and Detroit—have been struggling of late.

With four games remaining, the Giants could use some contributions from their younger players. There are five of those young guys who could play key roles during the stretch run if they were able to take their level of play up a notch.

Only players who are in their first or second year in the league and who are currently on the active roster were considered for this list. Most notably, that eliminates defensive tackle Marvin Austin, who tore a pectoral muscle in training camp after falling to the Giants in the second round of the 2011 draft. 

DT Linval Joseph

The second-year interior lineman from East Carolina has had a quietly effective season for the Giants, including a team-high nine tackles in the 38-35 loss in Week 13 to the Green Bay Packers.

For the season, Joseph has 28 solo stops and 10 assists to go with two sacks and three deflected passes.

The next step for Joseph will be when he does more than merely hold the line of scrimmage at the opponents’ point of attack and begins to re-establish that line in the backfield. While the Giant defense is predicated on quarterback pressure coming from the edge, Joseph could help the injury-depleted linebacking corps and secondary by providing more of that valuable pressure up the middle.

Joseph was a player who fell into the second round in the 2010 draft after opting to skip his senior year at East Carolina. He is still a very inexperienced player who is very raw as a pass rusher.

He’s finding that he can’t rely on pure strength at the NFL level and still needs to get better at using his hands to get off blocks. At 6'4", he is also still learning to get his pads low enough to create the necessary leverage to attack and defeat blockers.

T James Brewer

Brewer, a fourth-round pick this spring from Indiana, has the size necessary to be an effective offensive lineman in the NFL. Despite his 6'6", 330-pound frame, Brewer has yet to see any action this season.

With the losses of Beatty and Andrews from the offensive line, now would be a good time for Brewer to at least get to the point where he is trusted enough to get on the field.

The problem with Brewer is that despite his imposing size, he is still extremely raw. He’s still struggling with footwork and he can be pulled out of position, particularly when matched up with speed rushers on the edge.

When Brewer was drafted, it was with the understanding he would be a project who would only be able to contribute down the road. However, with the personnel losses on the offensive front, it would be a huge lift if “down the road” could arrive sooner rather than later.

WR Jerrel Jernigan

The speedy little receiver who was taken in the third round of the 2011 draft out of Troy has been a non-factor as a rookie. To date, he has touched the ball once—a 19-yard kickoff return against the Patriots in Week 9.

Jernigan has only been on the field with the offense a few times and has yet to be targeted by Eli Manning. With Mario Manningham battling a knee injury, now would be a good time for Jernigan to increase his productivity.

However, he booked himself into Tom Coughlin’s doghouse during the preseason, when he had a case of fumblitis while returning kickoffs. He also had some difficulties learning the playbook and found himself buried on the depth chart behind Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz, Manningham and Ramses Barden.

Physically, he is similar to former Giant Steve Smith. Now if he can only begin to approach Smith’s productivity.

LB Jacquian Williams

Williams has been a pleasant surprise as a sixth-round pick from South Florida with 57 tackles, 43 solos and three passes defended while he has been forced to take on a bigger role with the injuries that have wracked the linebacking corps.

The most athletic of the Giant linebackers, Williams needs to turn that athleticism into production. He has size and speed but has struggled at times with assignment discipline and getting himself out of position on running plays.

While he has been the most productive of the Giants' 2011 draftees, the next step for Williams is consistency. He has the physical tools to be an impact player for the Giants defense, but he must do a better job of positioning.

If he can get the mental aspect of the game to catch up to his physical skills, Williams has the potential to be a Pro Bowl-caliber player.

CB Prince Amukamara

A first-round pick out of Nebraska, Amukamara broke his foot in training camp and missed the first 10 games of the season, returning to play in some nickel situations against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 12 and recording his first career interception.

He’s struggling with his conditioning as much as anything after missing so much time. When Aaron Rodgers hit Jordy Nelson for a key reception on the Packers’ game-winning drive in the fourth quarter on Sunday, it was Will Blackmon who was beaten on the play, not Amukamara.

Blackmon was pulled off the street to return to the Giants on Nov. 23 after Michael Coe was placed on injured reserve, but there he was on the field during crunch time instead of Amukamara.

Paul Schwartz of the New York Post quoted Coughlin as saying Amukamara was “fatigued” late in the game. In the same piece, Amukamara said his foot began to get sore.

If the Giants are going to make a playoff push, they will need Amukamara to play like the first-round pick he is. It is difficult to get into game shape when returning from an injury so late in the season, but Amukamara has the potential to be a big-time playmaker.

Some of that potential needs to turn into results.