Giants Player Profile: David Mayo, LB

David Mayo earned himself another contract with the Giants, but how will he see the field in 2020? Will it be contingent on an injury or can Patrick Graham really utilize Mayo's skill-set in his defense?

2019 Rewind

David Mayo, cut loose by the 49ers early in the season, turned out to be a nice pickup.

A fifth-round selection by Dave Gettleman when he was with Carolina, Mayo was mainly a special teams player behind stud linebackers Luke Kuechly, Thomas Davis, and Shaq Thompson. Mayo ended up playing a significant role for the Giants after rookie Ryan Connelly went down with a knee injury.

Mayo attended Texas State University and showed his prowess in the smaller levels of collegiate Division I competition. Texas State is in the Sun Belt Conference, and Mayo had 284 career tackles, 10 for a loss, 2.5 sacks, and four interceptions for the Bobcat program.

In his final season with Texas State, Mayo recorded an eye-popping 154 total tackles, 4.5 for a loss, and 1.5 sacks. He had 20 tackles or more in two contests that season (against UL-Monroe and Tulsa).

Mayo was all over the place in college and showed an effective nature in both the run and pass phases of the defense. He was only a two-star recruit and started his collegiate career as a defensive back, but grew into his body a bit more and was moved to linebacker because of his physical nature.

He only played three seasons in college, but it was enough to catch Gettleman’s eye. The general manager liked what he saw in the kid to draft him with the Panthers and then bring him over to the Giants off the waiver wire and then after the season, signing him to a new contract.

Mayo filled in admirably, testing positively among the ranks of Pro Football Focus, who ranked him fourth in run defense and 25th in overall defense according to their scale. (Mayo was also ranked 99th in tackling and 125 among linebackers in coverage.)

Mayo displayed a quick trigger downhill, instinctive decisiveness in reading his run/pass keys (most of the time), and enough athletic ability to function as a starting linebacker in the league. Ideally, a more rangy linebacker would be on the field in passing situations, but Mayo did hold his own in that category.

The thing I love most about Mayo is how hard he shoots interior gaps to fit the run. He also did a solid job stacking/shedding blockers in space with strong hands.

I thought the 3-year, $8.4 million contract was very fair for what Mayo showed last season, and for what the 26-year-old can provide to the Giants in the future.

Looking Ahead

So, what is Mayo’s future with the team? The Giants valued his skillset and rewarded him with a contract, but what’s next?

The Giants were not shy in adding linebacker depth throughout the draft, which included Cam Brown from Penn State, T.J. Brunson from South Carolina, and Tae Crowder from Georgia. They also signed Dominique Ross from North Carolina as an undrafted free agent. (Carter Coughlin was also drafted in the seventh round, but he’s more of an edge.)

Unlike last year, there is a lot of competition at the linebacker position, including Devonte Downs and Josiah Tauaefa. Not all of these guys are going to make the squad, but Mayo would seem to be among the favorites to stick, albeit as the third linebacker assuming Connelly gets the green light to return with no restrictions.

Mayo will be a big part of what the Giants want to do on special teams. He’ll give the team a really solid backup if anything happens to Connelly or Martinez, while Brown, Brunson, Crowder, and Ross adjust to the speed and power of professional football.

Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is looking for smart physical second-level defenders that aren’t limited to doing just one thing. While Mayo isn’t known for blitzing, his quick ability to accelerate downhill can be utilized in certain packages by the new defensive coordinator.