New York Giants: What Should We Expect From Ryan Connelly In 2020?

New York Giants, Ryan Connelly
New York Giants, Ryan Connelly

The New York Giants‘ defense suffered a devastating blow early in the 2019 NFL season. Rookie linebacker Ryan Connelly was outperforming his draft stock by a mile in the first four weeks of the season. Then, Connelly unfortunately suffered a gruesome knee injury. In the middle of an impressive Week 4 performance, Connelly suffered a torn ACL that would sideline him for the rest of the season.

This was a huge blow to the Giants’ defense. Ryan was demonstrating a lot of potential and talent in his rookie season. Since then, the Giants have made numerous changes to their linebacker corps. New York cut Alec Ogletree, signed Blake Martinez in free agency, and drafted four linebackers in the 2020 NFL Draft. So now, with an improved and crowded linebacker room, where does Ryan Connelly fit in?

Ryan Connelly Injury Update

The most important thing for Ryan Connelly is that he gets healthy. Fortunately, Ryan is on the right track in that regard. According to the NY Post, Ryan Connelly has stated that “there haven’t been any setbacks” in his recovery and that he will “be ready to go for training camp.” This is exciting, knowing the kind of talent Ryan can bring to the Giants’ defense.

Ryan Connelly’s Potential Role On The Defense

The Giants paid Blake Martinez big money, so he is locked in as their number one linebacker. But who will start alongside him? At the moment, it is safe to assume that David Mayo will have that job. The team gave Mayo a contract extension after a decent 2019 season. But there is a problem with a linebacker corps that features Martinez and Mayo on the inside: there is little pass coverage.

Martinez and Mayo are both excellent defenders against the run. However, both of them struggle in pass coverage. This is where Ryan Connelly could come into play. Admittedly, Connelly’s strength is also in run defense. But he certainly played better in pass coverage (in an albeit small sample size) than Mayo or Martinez did in 2019.

Ryan Connelly held opposing quarterbacks to a 22.6 passer rating in 2019. He allowed only 19 yards on a 57.1% completion percentage. On top of that, Connelly had a knack for finding the football, totaling 2 interceptions. Martinez did play a lot more coverage snaps in 2019 but he allowed an 83.8% completion percentage. Mayo allowed a 65.5% completion percentage.

The key to examining Connelly’s 2019 performance is remembering that he only played in 4 games. While he was highly impressive in those games, it is a super small sample size and not enough to bank on in 2020. Connelly, once healthy, is going to have to earn his spot back. It will not be given to him. But if Ryan can play at a similar level to which he played in 2019 and sustain it over a longer span of games, then the Giants’ linebacker corps will be in good shape next season. Ryan Connelly could provide the Giants’ defense with the pass coverage they need from the linebacker position, allowing Martinez and Mayo to thrive as run-stuffers.