The New York Giants have a long way until the 2020 season is underway, with training camp under a month away and several legal proceedings still being ironed out.
Nobody knows if DeAndre Baker or Aldrick Rosas will see the field again, but we must push forward nonetheless.
When general manager Dave Gettleman sent a third-round pick to the New York Jets in return for Leonard Williams, the fanbase was up in arms. Prior to joining the Giants, Williams had posted 0 sacks, 20 combine tackles, and five quarterback hits with the Jets through seven games. In the second half of the year, he posted 0.5 sacks, 26 combine tackles, 11 quarterback hits, and miss just 3.7% of his tackles, amounting to just one.
The thing about Williams is that he makes everybody around him better, Dalvin Tomlinson and Dexter Lawrence both saw increases in production and efficiency due to the arrival of the former Jet. Leonard’s ability to draw double-teams and put pressure in the trenches and collapse the pocket is precisely why Gettleman hit him with the franchise tag, which will pay him about $16 million in 2020.
Paying him that much money comes with expectations, as the once great uncle Ben from Spiderman said, “with great power comes great responsibility.“
Williams has a lot of expectations on his shoulders, but I believe he will live up to the hype this upcoming season. With half a season of experience and an off-season worth of virtual chemistry building with his teammates, I believe he will replicate the production he saw earlier on in his career when he posted 7.0 sacks and 19 quarterback hits in 2016. We know he’s capable of much more, it’s just a matter of putting him in the right scheme and situation to succeed. I believe defensive coordinator Patrick Graham can unearth his hidden production.
When looking at Daniel Jones on paper, you see a quarterback who threw 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in his rookie season. Don’t forget about the 18 fumbles in which he lost 11. However, Jones was plagued by poor offensive line play, especially on his blindside, which resulted in several fumbles and consistent pressure. It’s also important to note that most of his playmakers were injured for the majority of the season or were dealing with lingering pains throughout the year.
Saquon Barkley‘s high ankle sprain, Golden Tate’s suspension, Sterling Shepard’s concussion, Evan Engram’s foot injury, the list goes on and on. If all of these players can remain healthy moving forward, Jones has the potential to be a top 10 quarterback.
An increase in his yardage, TD:INT ratio, QB rating, and a decrease in fumbles would be significant. The Giants drafted Andrew Thomas with the fourth overall pick, giving him a new tackle and hopefully building a more cohesive unit to support him in the future. There’s a lot to like about Jones, including his running ability and movement in the pocket. He also added 9 pounds of extra muscle mass this off-season to improve his ball security and throwing velocity. Overall, he has the potential to have a fantastic 2020 campaign.
Baker struggled significantly in his rookie year, allowing six touchdowns and a 61.4 completion rate against. While he did OK in coverage, he was often burned on long balls and allowed far too many touchdowns. A lot of this can be blamed on James Bettcher, who utilized him in a zone scheme that didn’t allow him to play press coverage, his strength coming out of Georgia.
The experience in zone was good for Baker, but it didn’t allow him to maximize his talents.
New coordinator Patrick Graham utilizes man coverage 50% of the time, so we can expect Baker to trail number two receivers and man-mark them. The second-year player is still facing discipline for an alleged armed robbery case he found himself caught in several weeks ago. His lawyer continues to claim he is innocent, and he has written statements attesting to the fact, but nothing is set in stone yet we are waiting on his arraignment.
Based on the public information available to us, Baker seems to be innocent and will walk free. If that is the case, he’ll return hungrier than ever and looking to leave his mark with the Giants in 2020.
This post was published on 2020-07-02 07:30
