The New York Giants added significant value to their team this off-season, but they still remain one of the worst rosters in the NFL. Without a single Pro Bowl player in 2019, they will be looking to change that narrative and at the very least, compete at the NFL level. In 2019, the team struggled to even stay in games, blowing leads in the fourth quarter, and giving up consistent touchdowns on first possessions.
The team’s lack of depth was a glaring deficiency, especially when injuries began to affect the team, and the coaching staff had to fill positions of weakness. The linebacker corps was shredded like a fresh burrito out of Chipotle, and the secondary was abysmal in every sense of the word, the pass rushers were weak, behind star running back Saquon Barkley was a void of nothingness, and the offensive line represented Swiss cheese better than the cheese itself.
However, the Giants made it a priority to bolster the back-end of the team, adding a bevy of undrafted free agents and signing depth pieces to help build out the roster.
1.) Cameron Fleming
Fleming was one of the best signings by the Giants this off-season, given his experience at both left and right tackle. He has played with the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots, so he has a connection with head coach Joe judge and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. Don’t forget about Marc Colombo, who will be his offensive line coach in 2020.
At 27 years old, Fleming has played in 75 regular-season games with 26 starts and 11 postseason appearances with two starts. When the Patriots faced off against the Philadelphia Eagles a few years ago in the Super Bowl, Fleming was their starting right tackle. Evidently, Solder was also starting at left tackle for the Patriots at the time. They will reunite as teammates once more.
The amount of time he has spent on successful teams gives him plenty of intangible quality, but he also has the ability to fill in at both tackle positions if need be, and given the poor luck at the position for the Giants in recent years, he could be called upon.
2.) Binjimen Victor
Victor is an exciting young player that the Giants landed as an undrafted free agent following the 2020 NFL draft.
Victor is a long and lanky pass catcher that reminds me a lot of AJ green when he first entered the NFL. Victor started for the first time in his senior year with the Buckeyes in 2019, posting 573 yards and six touchdowns over 12 games.
The Ohio State wide receiver stands at 6-foot-4 and 198 pounds, a similar frame to green, who weighs about 12 pounds more. Victor can be a solid red-zone threat and contest balls in the air. He also has an incredibly large wingspan, which could give Daniel Jones a security blanket on intermediate throws. While he’s a bit weak and slow off his break, Victor has plenty of potential, and the Giants will be looking to extract as much of it as possible moving forward.
3.) Derrick Dillon
One unit the Giants have struggled to find a consistent threat at is kick returner. Utilizing Jabrill peppers or Saquon Barkley in that role is inadvisable, considering Peppers suffered a season-ending surgery on a punt return last year. However, the Giants landed Derrick Dillon out of LSU as a UDFA. Last year, he caught 15 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns. The small receiver has elite speed, clocking in at 4.29 in the 40-yard dash.
Dillon’s skills are quite limited to short-area quickness and pure straightaway speed, which could indicate him developing into a solid kick returner. With plenty of competition ahead of him at wide receiver, Dillon’s best bet will be to leave his mark on special teams, and I believe his speed and lateral ability give him the skill-set to do so.
This post was published on 2020-06-27 08:00
