Though the team has its superstars, these key role players will make or break the New York Giants 2016 season.
As the New York Giants begin their midseason push for a shot at the playoffs, how far they will, can go will hinge on this team’s depth.Every squad in the NFL has its mega-stars. What determines a team’s full potential is the strength of the guys who are second and third on the depth chart.
As the playoff push gets underway, we bring to you those subtle depth players the Giants will need if they have any designs of heating up down the stretch full steam ahead towards the tournament.
Brett Jones, Offensive Lineman
The second-year offensive lineman’s time may have come sooner than expected. With starting left guard Justin Pugh expected to miss time with an MCL sprain (suffered during a November 6 matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles), it’ll be Jones who gets his number called.
Jones filled in well for Pugh once he went down midway through the game against the Eagles. Once he was inserted into the lineup, he went on to record an 82.2 Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade, the highest registered by any Giants offensive player in that game.
A natural center, the former CFL All-Star has needed time to adjust to the speed of the NFL. However, this season Jones seems to have found his stride. He began receiving first team reps during the preseason and has been the team’s top interior lineman off the bench all year.
“When you get in against the ones, the speed definitely picks up a little bit,” Jones told Michael Eisen of Giants.com. “They show some different things that maybe the twos and threes don’t do. It was cool to get to play against that and see those looks.”
In Pugh’s absence, Jones will play a crucial role in a New York offensive line that has generally failed to live up to expectations, namely in the running game. The Giants will need the sophomore player to develop quickly to hopefully help jump-start the team’s rushing attack, as well as keep quarterback Eli Manning upright.
Andrew Adams, Safety
Another young player thrust into action due to injuries, Andrew Adams has been relatively solid all season. With fellow safeties Nat Berhe and Darian Thompson both out for large chunks of the season, the starting free safety job has been Adams to handle.
Like Jones, Adams notched his best game of the season against the Eagles. The rookie undrafted free agent recorded his first career interception while adding nine tackles and two passes defended to his stat line. His strong showing resulted in a team-high PFF grade of 91.8, a mark that was also good enough to land him among the top 10 highest graded players around the league in week nine.
Despite Berhe’s return to the active lineup against Philadelphia, Adams took the bulk of the workload at safety with Berhe recording only three defensive snaps.
This season, Adams has registered 29 total tackles with four passes defended. He continues to improve with each week and looks to be one of the true diamonds in the rough of the 2016 Draft class.
Roger Lewis Jr., Wide Receiver
Another rookie undrafted free agent, Roger Lewis Jr. surprised many this season by becoming New York’s default fourth wide reciever over veterans Dwayne Harris and Tavares King.
Though his three total catches this year don’t seem like much, they’ve largely come when the Giants’ needed them most. Two of those three grabs went for long touchdowns, the first a 24-yard snag against the Baltimore Ravens, and the second a wide open 30-yard catch versus the Eagles.
To see more playing time Lewis will need to improve his consistency as a pass catcher. Despite his big score in the game, Lewis dropped two easy third-down passes against the Eagles that both would have given the Giants’ a first down. On the first drop, a third and ten from the Giants’ 21-yard line, Lewis got behind his defender and had space to run had he not allowed the football to bounce off his fingertips.
It’s not a new issue for Lewis, whose CBSSport.com Draft profile described him as being afflicted by “too many ‘concentration’ drops.”
The Giants are desperate for Lewis to step up and become the team’s undisputed fourth wideout. Harris and King have to catch a football all season and having Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepard, and Victor Cruz as the only true threats at the position is not going to cut it.
In New York’s two most recent Super Bowl runs, their offense succeeded in large part due to a trio of talented receivers. During the 2007 campaign, it was Amani Toomer, Plaxico Burress, and Steve Smith, while 2011’s run was lead by Hakeem Knicks, Victor Cruz, and Mario Manningham.
However, in both instances, the team had a stable of contributing pass catchers behind the starting three. 2007 saw Sinorice Moss, David Tyree, and Anthony Mix all chip in, while 2011 had Ramses Barden, Domenik Hixon, and Devin Thomas haul in a few passes. None of these six players put up gaudy stat lines by any means, but they at least produced something. With Harris and King both catch less through the season’s first nine weeks, Lewis has a prime opportunity to be a contributor for a squad with serious playoff aspirations.
Jay Bromley, Defensive Tackle
With Damon Harrison and Johnathan Hankins playing as well as they have, New York has been left with few opportunities to hand to third-year veteran Jay Bromley.
Yet, that hasn’t prevented the Syracuse Orange product from putting forth a quietly productive season to date. Bromley has registered 10 tackles with one sack through the year’s first nine weeks and seems to pick off right where the starters left off whenever he checks in.
He’s just a rotational guy but he’s doing his job when called upon. That is all the Giants need from him going forward.
Paul Perkins, Running Back
Paul Perkins is a big play waiting to happen. A speedy and elusive back cut from the same cloth as Darren Sproles, the rookie is dangerous every time he gets the ball in his hands. The Giants simply need to put the ball in his hands more often.
Head coach Ben McAdoo has allotted surprisingly limited carries to Perkins throughout the season, even though his running game sits at dead last in the league in yards per contest. Perkins had the most rushing attempts of his career against the Eagles, taking 11 carries for 32 yards, including one long 14-yard scamper. Over the season he has rushed 21 times for 71 yards on a 3.4 yards per carry average while making a mark in the passing game by adding 9 receptions for 120 yards.
For Perkins, although his numbers may be pedestrian, his lighting in the bottle nature is what should grant him more touches as the season progresses. The Giants need to get something going on the ground to keep opposing defenses honest. Perkins may not be a star yet, but he’s a constant home run threat that needs to see more time on the field.