New York Giants Camp Preview: Defensive Line

A new NFL season is right around the corner as training camp is quickly approaching.  Leading up to the start of training camp, we will have a run down position-by-position for the defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants. 

The first position we will take a look at is the defensive line.

The projected starters along the defensive line are Justin Tuck, Jason Pierre-Paul, Chris Canty and Linval Joseph.  Projected reserves expected to make an impact are ends Osi Umenyiora, Justin Trattou and Adrian Tracy and at tackle Rocky Bernard, Marvin Austin, and Shaun Rogers. 

The new additions to the line are Rogers and Markus Kuhn, as the Giants saw defensive end Dave Tollefson and defensive tackle Jimmy Kennedy leave.

The player to watch out of this group is Pierre-Paul.  Pierre-Paul had a breakout season in 2011-2012, racking up 16.5 sacks.  He joined Michael Strahan and Lawrence Taylor as the only Giants to ever get 16 or more sacks in a season.  Pierre-Paul will have all eyes on him as teammates and opponents will be looking out to see if he can have another successful season piggybacking off his first Pro Bowl appearance.

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Duplicating his previous season will be no small task for Pierre-Paul, who made big plays on more than just defense.  Giant fans have fond memories of Pierre-Paul blocking the Dallas Cowboys field goal attempt to seal a win.  

It is scary to think that Pierre-Paul is still coming into his own and growing as an NFL player.  He is just still scratching the surface of his potential and it will be interesting to see how he grows and develops this season against teams that will surely be game-planning against him this season.

The Giants have arguably the best pass rush in the NFL and there is no reason to believe this strength will change this coming season.  Umenyiora for the first time in what seems forever will actually be in camp not complaining about his contract after agreeing to a restructuring earlier in the off-season.  Tuck has fixed his shoulder which gave him problems last season and is highly motivated to reach the level of play he is accustomed to playing at before injuries ravaged him.  JPP is an emerging star and factor in Mathias Kiwanuka being a situational pass rusher, the pass rush of the Giants remains their biggest strength nest to Eli Manning.

With every great thing, there is almost always a negative to follow and the same goes for the Giants defensive line.  Stopping the run is potentially a problem for this unit; opponents topped the 100 yard mark in 11 of 16 regular season games.  Canty and Joseph are solid tackles and with Bernard back and Austin returning after missing his whole rookie season should help shore up the run defense.  Rogers is a veteran and can handle himself.  The use of more linebackers on the field should also help in stopping the run game, as the Giants should look like a more traditional defense this season using three linebackers instead of three safeties.

The wild card of this group is Marvin Austin.  Austin has not played in a football game in two seasons, having to sit out his last year at North Carolina University and suffering an injury his rookie season in camp.  The Giants are eager to see what they have in Austin, as they used a second round pick on him last year with the thinking that he was a first round talent had it not been for the NCAA violations.  Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell is excited to add Austin into the mix, saying he adds a dimension to the team with quickness that could proof troublesome for offensive lineman from the defensive tackle position.  

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New York Giants Draft Preview: Defensive Line

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This is the 7^th installment in the series of posts breaking down the Giants position by position for the upcoming NFL Draft.  The next position up is the defensive line.

Currently on the depth chart for the Giants at defensive end are Justin Tuck, Jason Pierre-Paul, Osi Umenyiora, Justin Trattou and Craig Marshall.  At defensive tackle the Giants have Linval Joseph, Marvin Austin, Chris Canty, Dwayne Hendricks and Martin Parker.  The Giants also have combo man Mathias Kiwanuka who switches between the d-line and linebacker positions.

Defensive line is the strength of the Giants, and again one of its top players has a lot of uncertainty around him.  Umenyiora is still looking for the same contract extension he wanted last season, and is entering the last year of his deal.  Another problem is that he wants to be a starter, but the defensive end spots are currently filled by Tuck and Pierre-Paul.  The Giants have to weigh all their options regarding Umenyiora, deciding either to make him play out his contract or if it is easier to trade him this time around. 

Tuck was a warrior last season, and is hoping to get through this season in much better health, as he was injured all the way from preseason through the Super Bowl.  Pierre-Paul will look to build on his break out campaign in which he registered a career high 16.5 sacks.  Joseph and Canty were very disruptive in the middle, combining for 96 tackles.  Joseph was seeing playing time for the first time in his career last year, meaning he should only get better this year with a full season under his belt and a full training camp to go through this season.  With the addition of linebacker Keith Rivers from the Cincinnati Bengals and Dave Tollefson leaving in free agency, look for Kiwanuka to potentially see more action on the defensive line this season. 

Austin is the wildcard of the group.  He missed all of his rookie season because of a torn pectoral muscle.  He has missed the last two seasons of football, after having to sit out his last year at the University of North Carolina after being ruled ineligible.  With Rocky Bernard currently remaining un-signed, there is a hole left in the rotation that Austin could easily fill backing up Canty and Joseph. 

The last time the Giants drafted a defensive lineman was last season with Marvin Austin.  It is normal for the Giants to draft defensive lineman early because they draft based on talent, not need.  The Giants have actually taken a defensive lineman in either round one or two in the last two drafts and it would surprise no one if they did it again this year. 

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If one of the top defensive ends such as Chandler Jones of Syracuse or Illinois’ Whitney Mercilus were to drop to the Giants at 32 it would be hard to pass them up.  Disruptive defensive tackle Jerel Worthy of Michigan State could also be available at 32.  Even though Worthy was inconsistent at times, there is no denying that he as ability. 

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It is not exactly a necessity for the Giants to add defensive lineman, but they do have to look at the future.  There is no knowing for sure what will happen with Umenyiora, and it will be extremely tough for the Giants to keep both Kiwanuka and Tuck when their respective contracts expire after this season and next season.  Having depth is never a bad thing, so I will give the necessity rating a 5 on a scale of 1-10.