New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck is just happy he doesn’t have to decide who gets cut from the defensive line.
“I see a lot of guys who will make our defensive coaches and coaching staffs’ job very difficult,” Tuck said last Thursday. “The competition is very heated in this group. I really don’t see anyone from that group that won’t have a job somewhere.”
A rarity according to the nine-year veteran.
After losing defensive line mainstays like tackle Chris Canty and long-time fan favorite, end Osi Umenyiora, the Giants re-tooled by adding versatile tackle Cullen Jenkins and a run stopper in Mike Patterson. Add in veteran linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka returning to his natural position at defensive end and the arrival of rookies Jonathan Hankins and Damontre Moore leave the Giants glutinous on the defensive line.
One of the few good problems an NFL team can have.
“Out of all the guys we have out there, I don’t see one that doesn’t have the talent to play somewhere this year,” Tuck said.
Their talent was on display Saturday night against the Steelers in the Giants 18-13 preseason opening victory. Perhaps no talent was on display more than third-round pick Damontre Moore.
Moore blocked a punt and had four tackles — one for a loss — one quarterback hit and couple of pressures.
“Moore obviously was a problem for Pittsburgh,” coach Tom Coughlin said, with Tuck adding his potential is “through-the roof”.
Expected to make an early impact on special teams, Moore is now vying for the fourth rotation with third year William & Mary product Adrian Tracy.
Kiwanuka expects to fill the big shoes of Umenyiora and his 75 career sacks — and will be expected to do so solely playing defensive end, the position that made him a first round pick out of Boston College.
After splitting his 61 career starts between linebacker and end (31 at end, 30 at linebacker) Kiwanuka said the switch will ‘have a huge effect’ and ‘definitely’ make his job easier. The switch paid dividends early on as he continually pressured Steelers’ quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Bruce Gradkowski on Saturday.
The newly-acquired Jenkins has proven over his ten-year career that no matter where you put him, he can get to the quarterback. His versatility — playing in the two-gap, five-technique and end — was on display Saturday registering a sack for a loss of eight yards on Roethlisberger.
“I just had a feeling I was going to be one-on-one, and I pushed [the offensive lineman] up the field a little bit,” Jenkins said of his first quarter sack.
The rookie Hankins will be expected to share the run-stopping role with the mountain of a man, the 6-4 350 pound Shaun Rogers, and Patterson. Tuck called the former Buckeye quiet, but polished.
There are 16 defensive linemen currently at the Giants training camp — with potentially ten spots open for a unit that defensive coordinator Perry Fewell loves to keep on a rotation.
Coughlin has until August 27th to trim his roster down to 75 and, historically, the third preseason game often features the team’s expected starters for the majority of the game. For those fighting to make an impression, Sunday night against the Indianapolis Colts might be their last shot.
