Ten Players Who Could Interest the New York Giants

NFL Rosters will continue to churn over the next several days, but following Tuesday's big roster cutdown date where teams went from 80 to 53 men, Nick Falato put this list of 10 players together who might be fits for the Giants.

Author:
Nick Falato
Publish date:
Sep 1, 2021 8:00 AM EDT

Final cuts pose a busy day around the NFL as teams look to waivers to patch up any uneasy feelings about their roster's depth. Every team has to make very tough decisions, and many of the players released will ultimately land on their respective team's practice squad - that is, of course, if another team doesn't claim them to their active roster.

After a player is cut, every team has 24-hours to claim them to their active roster. If no one claims them and they pass through waivers, then the team that released them can assign the player to their practice squad. The practice squad consists of 16 players.

The squad used to only consist of young players, but since COVID-19, the practice squad is eligible to carry veteran players. The Jets hold the first pick on the waiver wire; they can choose to use it or retain first pick status if no one they value falls on the waiver wire.

The Giants had to release several solid players. Here's a list of most of the cuts:

Add OT Jackson Barton, OG Ted Larsen, TE Jake Hausmann, and DB Jordyn Peters to this list. Some of these players may be claimed; others will be with the Giants' practice squad. Some players who make the "53-man roster" may inevitably get cut to make room for some of the following players. Here's a list of ten players released from around the league that may interest the Giants.

Kenny Yeboah, TE

The Giants are in the tight end market at the moment. They released Hausmann and Griffin-Stewart, leaving just a newly healthy Kyle Rudolph, a dinged-up Evan Engram, and superman himself Kaden Smith as the only active tight ends.

Elijhaa Penny and Cullen Gillaspia could fill specific tight-end roles, specifically the H-Back role, but neither has much capability or experience lining up inline. The Giants run a lot of tight-end heavy packages (12 and 13 personnel) so expect a tight end to be added.

The undrafted rookie played his senior season at Ole Miss, where he had 27 catches on 33 targets for 233 yards and five touchdowns. It was his lone season for the Rebels; he played five seasons at Temple, where Matt Rhule recruited him, so I wouldn't be shocked if Carolina comes in and attempts to add Yeboah if there's room on that roster. He had 11 touchdowns in his final two college seasons on two separate offenses.

Yeboah was just the hero of the Jets come from behind tie in the third preseason game against the Eagles. He caught a Hail Mary as time expired. He ended the game with four catches for 100 yards and that contested-catch touchdown.

Yeboah is an interesting 6'4, 240-pound tight end--he's slightly undersized and more of a receiver than blocker. The Giants could be more interested in a player known for blocking, but the 22-year-old has upside.

Jacob Hollister, TE

Yes, his last name has been related to puns for quite some time now, but he's more than just a preppy guy on the football field. Hollister does the dirty work and maybe the top tight end target for the Giants.

He is 6'4" and 245 pounds, and he brings solid receiving production. Hollister has caught 74 passes on 111 targets for six touchdowns. In the preseason, he was just a reliable target for Mitchell Trubisky, but the Bills went in another direction.

Hollister won a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots and has worked with Joe Judge on special teams from their time together from 2017-2018. He's been a tight end for the Seahawks since, replacing Will Dissly, Greg Olsen, and Luke Willson when they were injured.

He could be one of the top targets for the Giants due to his dual-threat ability. According to Pro Football Focus grades, he was the 28th run ranked blocker at the tight end position.

Ryan Izzo, TE

Similar to Hollister, Izzo has experience with Joe Judge from their time in New England as well. Izzo is even more of a blocker than Hollister and could certainly interest the Giants.

The Jersey native and Pope John High School attendee is 6'5" and 255 pounds. He was recently traded to the Texans for a seventh-round pick during the 2021 NFL Draft. Izzo has 19 catches on 27 targets for 313 yards and a touchdown in his career. He is only 25-years-old.

Jahlani Tavai, LB

The 2019 second-round pick by the Lions was released at final cuts. The 24-year-old had a tough preseason and was beat out by other players on the Lions roster, despite playing in 1,221 defensive snaps over his two seasons with Detriot. He has 78 total solo tackles and 19 pressures in those two seasons.

Tavai had insane production at the University of Hawaii. He had 280 solo tackles, 171 STOPS (a stat used to constitute a negative offensive play), five passes defended, and two interceptions.

His coverage ability was exposed a bit in the NFL. He surrendered three touchdowns last season and gave up an 87% catch rate on 32 targets. However, his pedigree and youth are interesting for a position group that the Giants aren't necessarily strong at, albeit Carter Coughlin's development is encouraging.

Zach Davidson, TE

This move was surprising by the Vikings. Kyle Rudolph is a Giant, and both Irv Smith Jr. and Tyler Conklin are dealing with injuries, but Davidson finds his way to waivers. The 6'7, 245 pound Davidson was an absolute beast at the small school of Central Missouri. As a quarterback, he initially attended Kansas State, so he's raw with room to grow as a tight end.

The Vikings selected him in the fifth round of the draft. The team decided to keep Brandon Dillon over Davidson; I'm sure they're hoping the fifth-rounder lands on the practice squad. Davidson led Division II in touchdown receptions with 15 and yards per catch with 22.35.

Davidson also has punting experience; he averaged 42 yards a punt with a 56% pinned within the 20-yard-line. Davidson is a developing tight end with a lot of upside. He has the size, athletic ability, dual-position experience.

Still, he needs more development as a blocker from such a small program, with limited experience at the tight end position. He also opted out of the 2020 season, so he hasn't played extensive football in a little while.

Jimmy Moreland, CB

I was pretty surprised to learn that the Washington Football Team released Moreland at final cuts. He played over 600 snaps for Jack Del Rio's defense last season.

He's undersized at 5'10, 179 pounds, but he was a tenacious nickel cornerback. He didn't allow a touchdown in 2020, but he also came down with an interception against the Eagles. I saw Moreland play at the Reese's Senior Bowl. His hair seemed to be on fire, and he was all over the field donning JMU Dukes' helmet.

The Giants have Darnay Holmes as a slot cornerback, but Aaron Robinson remains on the PUP and will remain on the PUP for the first six games of the season. The Giants would be better suited looking for a more traditional outside cornerback, but Moreland's a high upside player that many didn't expect to land on waivers.

However, according to Pro Football Focus, Moreland did play 110 of his 141 total snaps at outside cornerback in college. He was injured through most of his senior year. So, he has some experience on the outside but is much more of a nickel back.

Rashaan Melvin, CB

Melvin is getting a bit long in the tooth - he's 31-years-old - and he opted out of the 2020 NFL Season due to COVID-19. He's a journeyman with some quality tape under his belt.

The last time we saw him, he was an adequate cornerback for the Lions, a team that was a hot mess under Matt Patricia. Melvin has been an extreme journeyman of late; he's been released by several teams, so it's plausible that he has nothing left.

Aaron Robinson will be on the PUP, and versatile secondary pieces are necessary. Melvin has played outside and is more of a boundary corner.

He has experience playing the nickel spot as well. There could be better options than a 31-year-old who hasn't played since 2019, but he is a player worth noting due to his production (29 career PBUs) and his versatility. Desmond Trufant's name came out after the releases as a cut, and he's definitely in consideration as well.

Josh Jones, DB

Jones was recently released by the Jacksonville Jaguars, which isn't a ringing endorsement for his skills, but he's still a 26-year-old athletic secondary piece.

The Giants aren't in the market for a defensive back, per se. They're much more in the market for true cornerbacks, but I believe Jones is a player to invest in if something happens to any of these four safeties or even Darnay Holmes. Jones is a tweener, but he's an aggressive run-stuffer with coverage upside.

According to PFF, he lined up everywhere at North Carolina State, where he had eight interceptions in three seasons.

Jones was a first-round pick by the Packers in 2017. In his second season, he worked with Patrick Graham, the linebackers, and run game coordinator for the Packers.

In that season, Jones played 502 snaps in Graham's defense, in a role similar to Jabrill Peppers. There's probably not room for Jones as of right now, but I do believe he is someone to contemplate if the unfortunate happens to certain Giants' players.

Thaddeus Moss, TE

The former LSU Tiger and son of Hall of Fame receiver Randy Moss was always a physical blocker. He doesn't have his father's athletic ability, but he's a gritty blocker that's slightly undersized.

Moss is still 23-years-old. He played over 100 snaps in the preseason for the Cincinnati Bengals. He was targeted 13 times, catching eight balls for 64 yards in the preseason.

Moss had a productive final year at LSU. He caught 47 balls from Joe Burrow for 570 yards and four touchdowns. He was on that impressive 2019 LSU college football championship team.

According to Pro Football Focus, Moss didn't drop any passes in that magical 2019 season. He caught 5 of 11 contested-catch opportunities as well. With the Giants' tight end position lacking depth, Moss could be a target to pursue.

Jordan Simmons, OG

The Seattle Seahawks released the 6'4, 339-pound burly offensive guard and reportedly hoped to stash Simmons on their practice squad. Simmons is a strong, tough, run blocker who is adequate as a pass protector; he's more power than finesse. Simmons has given up 18 pressures and three sacks in 499 pass-blocking reps - he has 788 total snaps in two seasons.

Simmons is a 27-year-old who was a four-star recruit that attended USC. He was a UDFA in 2017 that latched onto the Raiders. The Giants may be done looking into their interior offensive line after trading for Billy Price (Bengals) and Ben Bredeson (Ravens). Still, not many will complain if they continued to poke around the position group.