
With the New York Giants coming off three straight losing seasons, they will need a handful of players to step up and exceed expectations in order to turn things around.
The Giants are in the middle of a rebuilding process, with five out of the last six seasons featuring six wins or less. The team currently has a lot of young talent, and with a new coaching staff, they will try to right the ship. However, for this to happen, New York will need the defense to make a big jump from its poor performance last year.Â
Big Blue’s defense finished 25th in yards per game allowed with 377.3 yards allowed per game. The defense also finished third to last in points per game allowed as they allowed more than 28 points per game. Things get worse when you look at the team’s pass defense as they allowed 264.1 yards per game through the air, 28th in the league. And the Giants finished in the bottom half of the league in both sacks and interceptions with only 36 and 10, respectively.Â
The pass defense and pass rush has clearly been one of the worst parts of New York’s game, and it is something they are looking to improve going forward. For it to improve, a few players in the pass rush and secondary will have to exceed expectations and step up to the challenge.
Leonard Williams:
The Giants traded for the former Jets defensive lineman last season, giving up a 2020 third and 2021 fifth-round pick. This trade sparked lots of criticism as Williams was featuring career lows with zero sacks and only five QB hits through seven games. Leonard Williams attempted to turn things around with the Giants, but his efforts, for the most part, were in vain. The USC product recorded only 0.5 sacks in 8 appearances with the Giants. While his QB hits 11, improved with the Giants, his inability to reach home Created many questions on if Big Blue should resign him.
Ignoring the disapproval from critics, Gettleman ended up using the franchise tag on Williams, which was valued at $16 million fully guaranteed. This gave Williams one last chance in East Rutherford to prove why he was a former first-round pick and why he was traded for. The Giants are betting on this talent and potential from the 26-year-old as they hope to re-sign him long term if he shows out this season.
While Williams has never been able to get home consistently in his career, 17.5 sacks in 75 starts, he has pressured the quarterback like few else since his arrival in the league. Since 2015, Williams only trails Aaron Donald in QB hits from an interior defensive lineman.
QB Hits among interior DL since 2015:
Aaron Donald – 93
Leonard Williams – 82
Fletcher Cox – 64 pic.twitter.com/AdymbPPwks— PFF NY Giants (@PFF_Giants) August 24, 2020
This puts Williams in elite company when it comes to pressuring the quarterback, but when it comes to sacks, Donald and Williams are far apart. Donald has 72 sacks in this time period, while Williams only has 17.5. This is something that Leonard Williams and the Giants have been working on this offseason, and the Giants believe that he will see a jump in these numbers.Â
Sean Spencer, Giants’ defensive line coach, stated, “Clearly, as you guys know, he’s an unbelievable athlete. I think he’s starting to put it all together. He’s always had the tools. He’s working on refining his craft right now. He looks strong, powerful like you said. I’m just happy with his progress right now.â€Â
Williams has been working on his upper body strength and pass rush technique this offseason. The combination of his self-improvement and new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and defensive line coach Sean Spencer should help Williams prove his critics wrong and potentially get career-high sack numbers.