New York Giants Training Camp Preview - DT Danny Shelton

Can defensive lineman Danny Shelton pick up where Dalvin Tomlinson left off?

At the start of the 2021 free agency period, there was a very slight chance the New York Giants might be able to keep both Dalvin Tomlinson and Leonard Williams, two key players on their defensive line.

Unfortunately, with the Giants needing to use the franchise tag on Williams, the pass rusher, Tomlinson was able to get himself a two-year, $21 million contract from the Minnesota Vikings.

The Giants, needing to fill the hole left by Tomlinson's departure, re-signed Austin Johnson, giving him virtually double what he received last year. They also added defensive lineman Danny Shelton, originally a first-round draft pick by the Cleveland Browns in 2015 who went on to have his most productive seasons with the New England Patriots, for whom he played two years.

Last year, he had a stint with the Lions and then signed with the Giants this off-season.

Can Shelton give the Giants what Tomlinson gave them?

What He Brings

Shelton is a big man--a very big man, as in 6'2" and 345 pounds. Inside linebacker Blake Martinez joked this off-season that with Shelton in the lineup eating up blockers, he was confident that the opponent wouldn't see past Shelton to the linebacker level.

But let's talk about Shelton's production. As previously mentioned, Shelton had his best years with the Patriots, for whom he recorded 82 total tackles, three sacks, and seven quarterback hits. 

Although only in New England for two seasons after being traded by the Browns, Shelton's best year was in 2019, when he logged career-highs in tackles (61), sacks (3.0), and quarterback hits (6) in 16 games played (14 starts).

That production is comparable with Tomlinson's career-highs in tackles (59 in 2018) and sacks (3.5 in 2019 and 2020). So perhaps the Giants believe that Shelton's potential to produce compatible umbers as Tomlinson might be just enough to ease the sting of losing him in free agency.

Skill-wise, Shelton, besides being a load for offensive linemen to handle, offers some intriguing traits. For one, he's a solid tackler--throughout his career, he's missed just 8.4% of his tackle attempts while wrapping up offensive ball carriers for 140 career stops (zero or negative yardage).

He is scheme-friendly in that he can line up as the nose tackle or at defensive tackle, his career snap counts being nearly equally split between the two positions. Shelton is at his most productive when allowed to attack gaps instead of being lineup across from an offensive tackle, for example, and he's quick enough off the snap to push the pocket and muck things up in the middle.

His Contract

Shelton signed a one-year VEteran Salary Benefit deal worth $1,127,500 total but which counts for just $987,500 against the 2021 cap. He does have $850,000 of his $990,000 base salary fully guaranteed.

Roster Projection/Expectations

Shelton projects as the starting nose tackle, but as is always the case with the defensive linemen, there will be a rotation to keep everyone fresh.

Again, going back to Shelton's most productive years in New England, he never played more than 49% of the defensive snaps, so it's reasonable to conclude that his snap count this year will fall somewhere in the 40-49% range. 

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Find all our training camp player previews in one spot. New profiles are added daily until we get to the end of the roster.

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