If you are a New York Giants fan, you remember Osi Umenyiora and his tantalizing speed off the edge. Umenyiora played with the Giants during both their Super Bowls in 2007 and 2011. Over nine years with Big Blue, he posted 75 sacks, 32 forced fumbles, 87 quarterback hits, and 70 tackles for a loss.
His size is somewhat comparable to Oshane Ximines, who the Giants drafted in the third round last year out of Old Dominion. Going into his second season, the potential is there for Ximines to explode onto the scene and become one of the Giants’ top pass rushers.
Seeing the similarities between Ximines and Umemyiora, notably their frame and similar style of play, I took to Twitter to try and connect them.
Luckily, the impossible happened. Oshane re-tweeted my plea, and Umenyiora answered the call, stating that the two would work together and hopefully transfer some of his vintage pass rush moves over to the young player.
Sending you a DM now. Let’s get it
— OSI (@OsiUmenyiora) July 15, 2020
Ximines finished his rookie season in 2019 with 4.5 sacks, 25 combined tackles, five tackles for the loss, and nine quarterback hits over 45% of defensive snaps.
The Old Dominion product has an impressive number of pass rush moves to display for the Giants. His arm chops, bull rush, and solid speed are all influential factors in his game. If he can learn how to explode off the edge as Osi did in his glory days, the Giants might be looking at their next big pass rusher.
However, he will have competition to unseat. The Giants still have Kyler Fackrell, who signed a one-year deal this off-season and potentially Markus Golden. Golden has a few more days to find a multi-year deal elsewhere, or he will likely sign a one-year contract with the Giants on the free-agent tender. This will pay him $4.125 million for the 2020 season.
With two experienced pass rushers on the roster, Ximines will have to perform during preseason and training camp to earn starting reps. Ideally, he will have over 60% of defensive snaps this upcoming season, giving us a good sample size going into 2021.