Giants-Washington Matchup to Watch: RB Saquon Barkley and TE Evan Engram vs. LB Jamin Davis
New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman revealed on NFL Network that the Giants had an interest in Kentucky linebacker Jamin Davis.
Fortunately for Kadarius Toney, the Washington Football Team selected Davis at No. 19, right before the Giants plucked Toney at No. 20 after they swapped first-round picks with Chicago.
But now, of course, the Giants will have to face Davis, the newest addition to a very athletic and a very underrated (and good) Washington Football Team defense that is getting better and better.
Davis has rare athletic traits, length, movement skills, and his upside is through the roof as a do-it-all linebacker.
An 11' broad jump and 42” vertical show the incredible explosive ability Davis has. Adding this rangy, athletic, and physical second-level defender to a defense that also boasts a top-three defensive line featuring Chase Young, Montez Sweat, Daron Payne, and Jonathan Allen and this is a very scary defense for teams to face.
But let's get back to Davis. He only played one full season as a starter for the University of Kentucky. In his college career, he has 837 defensive snaps, with only 11 career starts. He recorded 144 total tackles, 5 for a loss, 2.5 sacks, five interceptions, a forced fumble, and 15 total pressures. According to Pro Football Focus, he had 36 stops (a statistic that measures an offensive failure).
In coverage, Davis played a lot of zone coverage at Kentucky; he allowed 27 catches on 36 targets for 228 yards while intercepting two passes and knocking two away.
He played only 27 man coverage reps in his last collegiate year, but his skill-set suggests that, athletically, man coverage should be no problem.
However, guarding Saquon Barkley, assuming Barkley makes a full recovery and regains his pre-ACL injury form, out of the backfield is no easy assignment.
Saquon Barkley
In Davis, Washington looks to have found its defensive "quarterback" to man the center of the defense, which, theoretically, should help the defense halt the rushing attacks of their opponents.
This directly involves Saquon Barkley, the star runner who is returning from a torn ACL he suffered in Chicago back in Week 2.
Barkley missed almost all of last season, and he was dinged up for much of 2019 with a high ankle sprain, but his rookie season was phenomenal. He earned Offensive Rookie of the Year by rushing the ball 261 times for 1,307 yards and 11 touchdowns while seeing 121 targets, catching 91 of them for 721 yards and three touchdowns.
He was utilized throughout Pat Shurmur’s offense, yet still not enough on routes that targeted the middle of the field in choice situations. Many of his catches came in the fourth quarter when the team trailed and was in catch-up mode.
When Jason Garrett replaced Shurmur as the offensive play-caller, the hope was that Barkley would be used with more arrow routes to manipulate the man covering defenders. Still, we didn’t get an opportunity to see that in 2020.
If Barkley returns to his healthy self, he should be able to win matchups in coverage against players like Davis, who will compete from an athletic standpoint. It will still be contingent upon the play-caller to put Davis into conflict with high-low routes, replacement routes, etc.
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Deploying Barkley in the middle of the field as a receiver would occupy the attention of Davis and allow inside breaking routes to possibly find quick voids so Davis can’t use his length to close those throwing windows. It’s not something the Giants should deploy on every passing play, but it should be used in the game plan, especially against Washington.
As a runner, Barkley is no longer in the Shurmur inside-zone scheme, prioritizing decisive decision-making. Instead, he’s in a power/gap scheme where there is one defined hole, and running behind blockers while using patience, some tempo, and explosiveness to the second level is paramount.
Barkley may face off against the alley defender in this system--typically a safety--and his agility and natural athleticism will give Barkley the advantage to force missed tackles.
Barkley can be in for a big year if he can stay healthy. I think this rushing system, along with the development of this offensive line, will suit him more than the system he ran with Shurmur. If Garrett can get him involved in the passing game, then the Giants can create mismatches at all levels of the field.
As for Davis, he’s a rookie who was a bit raw coming out of Kentucky. Barkley should be able to win the cat-and-mouse game when in DUO situations.
Athletically, Davis can match against Barkley, but the young linebacker may have to still adjust to the speed and quickness of the NFL. If Barkley returns as the same player he was pre-injury, there aren’t many backs as quick or as powerful.
Evan Engram
Admittedly, I am not sure what Engram’s role will be in 2021. The role Garrett had assigned him in 2020 was a miscalculation and one that Engram just doesn’t have the traits to fulfill.
Garrett helped make Jason Witten a Hall of Famer with the Y-Stick option play, and Witten displayed great concentration after a pivot, soft hands, feel for coverage, and spatial awareness on these plays. But Engram is no Witten, and he is marginal in many of these categories in which Witten excelled.
That doesn’t mean Engram isn't useful. Engram would be best utilized in space or to clear out. Getting the athletic linebacker running vertically up the seam to occupy safeties and open up the middle of the field for dig routes is just something we haven’t seen enough of quite yet, and we're not sure why this has been the case.
Engram is also great in simple mesh concepts or horizontal drag routes where the quarterback can get the football quickly into his hands, and Engram can use his athletic ability to make players miss.
Having Engram run six yards up the field and turn around is not how to utilize his talents. The Giants, we think, realized that and added Kyle Rudolph to the roster as the Y-stick concepts are a better fit for what he does well.
However, Engram can still create a mismatch against a middle linebacker, but Davis is a tough player to take advantage of athletically.
If the Giants employ Engram up the seam, they might be able to bait Davis to drop to a deeper depth, opening up underneath routes and quick hitters to other players. Engram’s speed is enough to challenge Davis and threaten him.
Garrett can also show the young linebacker a few routes and then run similar ones with double moves built into the play. The hope would be that Davis could get comfortable and bite, leading to a broken play in coverage.
Engram has been a disappointment here in New York--not all his doing. But if the Giants adjust and deploy him more to his strengths, he can help the team win games.
Davis will be a tough linebacker to exploit athletically, but taking advantage of his lack of overall experience (even at the college level) may be a way to get the linebacker off his game while also help optimize Engram's functionality in this offense.
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