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Setting Goals for Year 2 of the Giants' 2019 Draft Class
The spotlight might be on the Giants 2020 draft class but let's not forget last year's draft class, which is getting ready to enter a very critical stage in their development.
Here is a look at ways the Giants' Class of 2019 needs to step up in Year 2.
Round 1, Pick No. 6 | QB Daniel Jones, Duke
the Giants might have felt that Jones was ready for his closeup in Week 3 of last season, but despite an impressive win, Jones still had something of an up and down season.
The biggest smear on Jones' rookie campaign was the turnovers, particularly those when he took off as a runner. Eighteen fumbles, with 11 of those balls lost is just not acceptable, and Jones knows it.
But that's not the only goal Jones should be aspiring to reach in his second season. A big problem in his film was his inability to sense pressure to help his offensive line out.
All too often, jones locked in on looking down the field for a receiver and became oblivious to the pressure closing in around him.
If he's to enjoy a lengthy NFL career, he needs to do a better job sensing the pressure and using his legs to roll around in the pocket as necessary to avoid being crushed from behind.
Round 1, Pick No. 17 | DL Dexter Lawrence II, Clemson
The future is very bright for the second of the Giants' three first-round draft picks last year.
The 6'4", 345-pound Lawrence began contributing right out of the gate, using his power and get-off to muck up opposing run games.
So imagine how much more of a game-changer he can become once he learns the intricacies of the game that will allow him to anticipate things better and use his power, quick-twitch ability, and quickness to become a thorn in the side of opposing offenses.
In studying Lawrence, he seemed to give the Giants an advantage when he was lined up directly over center, a clear size and power mismatch in most instances that worked to the Giants' advantage.
Again, it's not known what this new coaching staff has in mind for its players, but certainly putting Lawrence in a position to bull rush can help with generating a pass rush.
Round 1, Pick No. 30 | CB DeAndre Baker, Georgia
Baker was a player who last year worried me after giving off the impression that he was one of those players who seemed to think he had it made in having achieved first-round draft status.
But to his credit, the light switch went on and Baker, who also remember missed most of last year's training camp with a knee injury, which also contributed to his slow start,
Once that light switch went on, the results were mixed, albeit bordering to the positive. Per Pro Football Focus Baker allowed five of his eight touchdowns surrendered in his first eight games played.
But one of the many goals Baker will need to address this year is getting back to being more of a shutdown cornerback like he was at Georgia.
Last year in 10 of his 16 games played, Baker allowed opponents to convert 62% or higher of their pass targets. He also recorded no interceptions and had seven passes defended among the 80 pass targets thrown his way.
The result was a 130.9 NFL rating, second-highest on the team behind fellow rookie Corey Ballentine.
That kind of stat doesn't exactly scream first-round draft pick. Still, we'll give Baker the benefit of the doubt not only because the knee injury slowed his development, but there were enough times when former defensive coordinator James Bettcher didn't always put Baker in ideal situations to optimize what he does well.
Round 3, No. 95 | Edge Oshane Ximines, Old Dominion
That the Giants added pass-rushing help should in no way be construed as them giving up on Ximines, who in leaping a small program (ODU), had a bit more of a learning curve as a rookie.
Ximines' biggest weakness was in run defense, where he struggled to handle the contain game and seemed to have issues keeping up with the speed of the game.
In fairness, the coaches put a lot on his plate early due to injuries, which might have overwhelmed him. When his workload was thinned out, Ximines began playing with more confidence.
With that said, one of Ximines' goals for this off-season, which we hope he recognized was to get stronger and add bulk to avoid being stonewalled.
Meanwhile, his pass-rushing game showed promise. Ximines has an explosive and quick first step and just enough speed around the edge. Once he learns to better time his pass rushes, that will make him a nuisance for opposing offenses to handle.
At 6’3" and 250 pounds, Ximines also can bend low beneath taller offensive tackles' wingspan where he can be the biggest threat.
With a year under his belt, this young man, who already plays with a relentlessness and hustle, could be on the verge of taking the next big step in his development as a pro.
Round 4, No. 108 | DB Julian Love, Notre Dame
One of the biggest head-scratchers last year was the coaching staff's refusal to play Love on defense until Week 12, the week the team lost starter Jabrill Peppers to what eventually became a season-ending back injury.
All Love did once he was inserted into the lineup consistently was to stop some of the bleeding in coverage.
Love finished up his rookie campaign allowing just 9.7 yards per reception and recorded one interception and two passes defensed in the 26 pass targets against him--not bad for a player who was trying to learn a new position (safety) on the fly.
The Giants drafted Xavier McKinney to pair with a healthy Peppers in the base defense, but that doesn't mean that Love should be cast aside.
That experience he gained at safety will no doubt come in handy if defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is planning to run a three-high safety set.
It also wouldn't be a surprise if Love is right in the thick of the competition to contribute at slot cornerback, a position that his skill set appears to be an ideal fit.
Ryan Connelly
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Round 5, No. 143 | Linebacker Ryan Connelly, Wisconsin
Connelly seemed well on his way to being one of the surprise performers of last year's draft class, particularly in coverage where he showed surprising sideline-to-sideline range.
In a limited sample size, Connelly allowed five out of six pass targets against him to be completed but only for 13 yards with one interception. That's good production in coverage at a position (inside linebacker), which has mostly struggled in that aspect of the game for this team.
Perhaps most impressive about Connelly was his ability to diagnose plays quickly. That ability led to the defense's being able to blow up running plays before they had a chance to gain momentum.
Connelly, in particular, seems to demonstrate ideal instincts in anticipating where the ball was going and used his quickness to get himself into that vicinity.
Unfortunately, a torn ACL cruelly cut short Connelly's rookie campaign. While Connelly should be ready to roll in 2020, sometimes it can take a player as many as two seasons to fully recover from a torn ACL.
So it will be interesting to see if, given the Giants' quest to add speed to the second level of the defense, Connelly pairs up with free-agent signee and projected starter Blake Martinez on passing downs.
Round 5, No, 171 | WR Darius Slayton, Auburn
After a slow start, which saw him miss the first two weeks of the 2019 season because of a hamstring strain, Slayton's stock quickly soared as he developed into a big-play threat on the outside.
The Giants' touchdown leader (8), all that pre-draft talk about Slayton being a poor route runner and having questionable hands dissipated when he went to work on improving his game.
In addition to being a reliable receiver, Slayton wasn't afraid to roll up his sleeves and block, nor was he afraid to get physical with defenders who tried to stop him in one-on-one matchups.
Slayton finished with the highest NFL Rating (103.1) among Giants receivers with at least 30 pass targets and was third on the team in broken tackles (five).
That seems like a lot to top, but there are areas where he can improve.
The first is to eliminate the dropped passes (three, which matched the number recorded by Sterling Shepard and Golden Tate). One of Slayton's drops came on a deep pass attempt.
With new offensive coordinator Jason Garrett believed to be planning to implement more of a vertical passing attack, the Giants can't be having dropped passes, especially on deep routes.
The other area Slayton can improve is in his reads. He finished last season tied for second with Shepard with fur balls intended for him being picked off, but most of those "errant throws" were more of a result of bad reads.
With all that said, the fact that Slayton takes to coaching like a duck to water, his second-year forecast is promising. It is also likely one of the biggest reasons why the Giants didn't stress over grabbing a receiver in this year's historically deep draft class.
Round 6, No. 180 | CB Corey Ballentine, Washburn
Ballentine is another player whom the former coaching staff didn't necessarily use to his strengths. Desperate for better play in the slot, the coaching staff turned to Ballentine, but the position, one of the hardest for a young defender to learn on the fly, wasn't a fit.
Ballentine played 171 slot coverage snaps, allowing 28 out of 40 pass targets to be completed for 374 yards and four touchdowns for a 132.7 rating, a worse rating than what Grant Haley, whom Ballentine replaced at the position, produced.
The Giants added several prospective slot cornerback candidates via the draft and free agency this year. Hence, the assumption is that Ballentine, who has an impressive size/speed combination that allowed him to stay with speedy wideouts down the field, won't be called upon to play in the slot very often.
Instead, look for Ballentine to compete with third-year man Sam Beal to be the first cornerback off the bench should there be an injury to the outside guys. Ballentine, who also returned kickoffs, finishing with a respectable 25.6 average, could also find himself in the mix for that role in 2020.
Round 7, No. 245 | DL Chris Slayton, Syracuse
Slayton's biggest goal this year will be making the 53-man roster out of camp and getting some snaps.
Slayton was signed to the Giants 53-man roster toward the end of last year, a move made to keep him from being poached by another team.
There is much to like about the 6-4" Slayton. He has ideal 3-4 defensive end at 310 pounds and has shown himself to have a quick first step and some intriguing upfield ability.
Slayton's biggest challenge, and a likely reason why he was practice squad material, was finding the ball and keeping his head on a swivel.
This isn't something unique to Slayton, as most young defensive linemen, particularly those Day 3 picks, have this challenge to overcome thanks to the uptick in the speed of the game.
That the Giants made sure they retained Slayton was a smart move as he showed some intriguing talent as a run defender and pass rusher last preseason.
(The Giants' other seventh-round draft pick, OT George Asafo-Adjei out of Kentucky (Pick No. 232), was waived by the team earlier this year. Asafo-Adjei missed his rookie season with a concussion suffered during last year's training camp.)
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