When the New York Giants drafted seventh-rounder Carter Coughlin out of Minnesota, nobody knew much about him. The outside linebacker contains solid physical traits, grading out exceptionally in the explosion and broad jump categories. Overall, he landed a 9.8 RAS score, a formula created by Kent Lee Platte that compares player measurements during the pre-draft process.
His tangible trades didn’t stop in those two categories, though, as he posted a 4.57 40-yard dash and 8.16 10-yard split, both ranking in the 80th percentile for linebackers this year. At 6-foot-3 and 236 pounds, Coughlin isn’t the strongest and biggest pass rusher, but he has the agility to beat blockers in the trenches. Dating back to 2018, Coughlin started 13 games and was a Second Team All Big-10 player and was also an Academic Big-10 winner.
Not only is Coughlin a talented football player, but he is incredibly intelligent. He posted 48 tackle, 15 tackles for a loss, four forced fumbles, 9.5 sacks, 16 quarterback hits, and 29 quarterback hurries on 342 pass rush attempts during his junior year. While his numbers fell off in 2019 due to injuries and a level of inconsistency that forced him to drop in the draft, he has the ability to play at a high-level.
During his 2018 campaign, he ranked third among Big-10 players with a 92.2 overall pass-rush grade. He ranked above Joey Bosa and behind Chase Young and Nick Bosa (2014-2019).
Giants 7th round pick Carter Coughlin had a monster season at Minnesota in 2018. pic.twitter.com/poiLjGrr8K
— PFF NY Giants (@PFF_Giants) June 16, 2020
The New York Giants could see some production-value from Coughlin in 2020:
Overall, I believe Coughlin can be an incredibly influential player for the Giants and the pass rush rotation. The current unit consists of Oshane Ximines, Lorenzo Carter, Kyler Fackrell, and possibly Markus Golden, who was hit with a free agent tender. If the Giants lose out on Golden to another team, Coughlin could be forced into a more impactful role. While I do think it will take him some time to adapt to the NFL level, especially the size and speed of offensive tackles, he has the fundamentals and ability to have some success.
Again, it is fair to mention that he is a seventh-round pick, and there’s a reason he dropped that far. He will still have to fight for a roster spot among the three other seventh rounders selected by the Giants in 2020 NFL draft.