Is the New York Giants’ pass rush where it needs to be in 2020?

On Wednesday evening, the New York Giants gained exclusive rights for pass rusher Markus Golden, who posted 10.0 sacks in 2019. Golden failed to reach a long-term extension with another team, settling for 110% of his 2019 salary. The Giants will owe him just $4.125 million in 2020, gaining his services for yet another season.

His sacks weren’t the only impressive part of this game, he also racked up 27 quarterback hits, 13 tackles for loss, and 72 combine tackles. He was a factor for the Giants, amid a unit that had predominantly youth players available.

His retention is a bit more valuable than you might think, as the Giants were prepared to rely on Lorenzo Carter, Oshane Ximines, and Kyler Fackrell in 2020. However, Golden’s pass-rush win rate ranked 91st among eligible contributors, so he’s not the cream of the crop.

Here’s a look at the pass rusher on the New York Giants and what they offer:

Lorenzo Carter:

Carter entered the NFL as a lanky defensive end out of Georgia. In his rookie season, he played in 15 games and started in two. His 4.0 sacks, 43 combined tackles, and 10 quarterback hits gave us the optimism we needed to justify more reps in 2019.

He enjoyed about 280 more reps in his sophomore campaign, spending a lot less time on the special teams unit and more time featuring on defense. With his added time, he only contributed 0.5 sacks, two tackles, and three quarterback hits more than his rookie campaign.

While his unfortunate performance could’ve been a scheme related issue, he simply wasn’t able to tap into the potential the Giants saw in him coming out of Georgia. Hopefully, he can utilize some of his tangible traits and become a more useful rotational pass rusher.

Kyler Fackrell:

Fackrell is an interesting player. Being left behind in 2019 due to the emergence of the Smith brothers, his last successful season was in 2018. He played in 16 games, starting in seven. He logged 10.5 sacks, 42 combined tackles, and 12 quarterback hits.

The Giants signed him on a one year, $4.6 million deal this off-season. The hope is that he can replicate his 2018 performance when new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham was his linebackers coach. Fackrell actually reminds me a lot of Golden, a player with a high motor and who is vastly undervalued. The Giants are essentially trying to buy sacks at the outside linebacker position, without investing big money in a premium pass rusher.

Oshane Ximines:

Ximines is one of my favorite young players on the Giants. I would be remiss not to mention I connected him and Osi Umenyiora, and they will work together to hopefully pass on some of the former Giants’ vintage moves.

The Old Dominion product has very similar stats compared to Lorenzo Carter in his rookie season, but they are two vastly different players. Ximines posted 4.5 sacks, 25 combine tackles, and nine quarterback hits on just 45% of defense of snaps. He missed zero tackles and looked the part has an outside linebacker in the NFL. He came out of college with more pass rash moves then you might imagine for a small school player.

He undoubtedly has the strength and potential to develop into a great player for the Giants, he just lacks the elite burst off the line of scrimmage. That is what I hope Osi can help him with. I predict he will see increased snaps in 2020, giving him the sample size he needs to finally show his true colors.