Quick Hits: Giants Round 7 Draft Pick DT Jordon Riley

Coach Gene Clemons gives us some insight on the first of the New York Giants' two seventh-round draft picks.

The New York Giants were not bluffing about improving the run defense this offseason. They added quality run stuffers in Rakeem Nunez-Roches and A'shawn Robinson.

But that might not have been enough, as with their first seventh-round pick, the Giants traveled west to land the big nose guard Jordan Riley from the Oregon Ducks. At 6-foot-5 and 325 pounds, Riley is an absolute space-eater in the middle.

Unlike Nunez-Roches, who plays inside mostly as a 3-technique, or Robinson, who plays more of a 4-technique or 5-technique, Riley Is a pure nose guard who plays a 0-technique (head up on the center) or a shade (offset the center).

Riley was a collegiate nomad. He suited up for four different universities. In 2017 the New Bern, North Carolina native was a three-star prospect and signed with the University of North Carolina.

He appeared in five games as a true freshman, and in his second year at Chapel Hill, he took a redshirt season and transferred to Garden City Community College, where he played one season and tallied 26 tackles, two sacks, and 3.5 tackles for loss.

That performance earned him a scholarship to Nebraska, where he would spend the next two seasons. During his time at Nebraska, he only saw limited action before transferring to Oregon this past season. In his final collegiate season, he started all 13 games for the Ducks and tallied 21 tackles with seven solo tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. He was a space-eater in the middle of the defense.

Riley will be a two-down player in the NFL. He is not a pass rusher at all. In five seasons of college football, he has only totaled 2.5 sacks. If Riley sticks in the NFL, it will be because he has established himself as a player who can't be handled one-on-one in the run game. Riley must be dominant up front and force the guard and center to double-team him.

He might be a player destined for the practice squad, where he can try to develop more facets of his game or simply strengthen what he already does well. Many thought Riley would go undrafted, but the advantage of drafting Riley is that they did not have to compete with other teams who may have wanted to look at Riley in their rookie minicamp.

Emory Hunt of Football Gameplan wrote of Riley, "Well put together nose tackle that has some interior flexibility. Doesn’t particularly have to play Nose Tackle; he can serve as a 1-Tech or 5-Tech for certain teams. I think he can play either at the same level. Does have some functional strength to easily walk OL back into the pocket. When he gets good contact & movement, he can collapse the pocket. Shows that he can lock out, extend, diagnose, and then head toward the play."

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