Jason Pinnock, Micah McFadden Earn Highest Rankings from PFF in Giants Preseason Opener
Pro Football Focus is out with its complete statistical breakdown of the New York Giants 21-16 preseason loss to the Detroit Lions last Friday. Unsurprisingly, safety Jason Pinnock finished as the highest-graded player on both sides of the ball with a 92.3 mark.
Pinnock, who has nailed down the starting strong safety role on defense, only took part in five snaps Friday night, three of those in coverage, one in run defense, and one pass rush. But of those five snaps, he had a hand in three notable plays.
His game-opening interception of Nate Sudefeld's pass set up the Giant's first scoring drive, ending in a 48-yard field goal by Graham Gano. He followed that up with an edge blitz, resulting in a 3-yard loss on first down on the Lions second drive of the game, and then later in that same drive, he knocked away a pass intended for Sam LaPorta on a fourth-down conversion attempt, capping his short, but very productive evening.
Inside linebacker Micah McFadden, who is in competition with Darrian Beavers to start alongside Bobby Okereke, was the only other Giants player on either side of the ball to earn a grade in the 90s (90.5).
McFadden, who should be a lock for this roster based on his special teams play alone, didn't quite have the flashy plays as Pinnock. Still, on his lone assisted tackle of the evening, McFadden, who logged 14 snaps on defense, helped to stop a run play by the Lions on their first snap of the second quarter, McFadden teaming with fellow inside linebacker Carter Coughlin to create the stop.
Here are a few other takeaways from PFF, combined with our assessments.
Offensive Line: A Tale of Two Groups
No surprise here, but offensive linemen Korey Cunningham and Wyatt Davis posted the worst grades on offense (37.0 and 28.6, respectively). The two men combined for 14 of the team's 23 pressures allowed and four of the five sacks.
Cunningham's biggest issue throughout was that he bends at the waist, which caused him to lose leverage. He also doesn't appear to have the athleticism or agility needed to hold up at tackle.
Davis, on the other hand, was asked to play tackle. Davis is a much better fit at guard, so one could argue that he was playing out of position. That said, when competing for a roster spot on a unit that values diverse athletes capable of playing multiple positions at a decent enough level, Davis, like Cunningham, likely didn't do himself any favors to reinforce any slim hold they had on a roster spot before the game.
What about Matt Peart, who got the start at left tackle? His pass protection was the best of the bunch that played, which isn't saying much, considering how poorly Cunningham and Davis played the position. But Peart's run blocking left something to be desired.
With Tyre Phillips, who remains the top candidate to be the swing tackle, sidelined with a leg injury, the Giants offensive tackle position is one of concern right now as there isn't much behind projected starters Andrew Thomas and Evan Neal other than for Phillips.
The good news is that the interior offensive line depth fared a lot better. In his role as the starting center, rookie John Michael Schmitz was as solid as they came, pitching a total pass-blocking shutout in 21 pass-blocking snaps.
Schmitz was one of three offensive linemen, the other two being fellow interior offensive linemen Shane Lemieux and Jack Anderson, each of whom got 27 pass-blocking snaps, to pitch a shutout for the Giants in the preseason opener.
Outside Linebacker Depth Still a Concern
The coaches gave starting outside linebackers Azeez Ojulari and Kayvon Thibodeaux the night off in favor of Tomon Fox and Oshane Ximines. (Jihad Ward is dealing with an ailment, so he didn't play either).
Of the two, Fox, who made the team as an undrafted free agent last year, fared much better, logging a 7.1 pass-rush win rate, second at the position behind promising-looking rookie Habakkuk Baldonado's 11.5 PRP win rate.
Ximines finished last in the group managing just one pressure for a 2.9 PRP in 17 pass rush snaps. Ximines, who re-signed after the draft this past spring, remains a liability in space and at the point of attack, and his run defense remains a concern.
If he is, as we suspect, in a battle for the last roster spot at this position, it's not farfetched to think that Baldonado, who was far more productive in run defense in addition to the pass rush, has taken the lead in the competition.
The Receivers
In Friday's preseason opener, nine different receivers were targeted, two of whom (Collin Johnson and Bryce Ford-Wheaton) posted goose eggs in the reception department.
To be fair, Johnson suffered a knee injury early in the game, which cut short his night. Hopefully, it isn't anything that will keep him out long-term. Johnson has been having a quiet but solid training camp thus far in his quest to return from an Achilles injury suffered last year.
Ford-Wheaton, who came to the Giants as an undrafted free agent with much ballyhoo, had three targets go his way, two of which were contested balls (one on third down!), and he did nothing with them.
Ford-Wheaton was also flagged for a blatant push-off. On that one incompletion in which he fell, he had space to navigate; however, he failed to adjust his stride to gain position and ended up clumsily falling to the turf.
Ford-Wheaton has the size and tools teams want in a receiver, but based on that showing alone, it was crystal clear he still has a long way to go.
Meanwhile, the graybeards of the group--Cole Beasley and Jamison Crowder--won the night at the position. They finished as two of the three receivers (Isaiah Hodgins being the other) to post an NFL target rating over 100.
Beasley, working primarily from the slot, caught all four of his pass targets, averaging 8.3 yards per reception and recording two first downs. Crowder caught both of his pass targets for first downs. He averaged 16 yards per reception.
David Sills V, who has been playing well enough to hang around on the practice squad, was the only other of the Giants receivers to be put in a position to catch a contested ball, and he did not do so. The good news is that Sills, who caught two of his four pass targets, led the receivers with an 18-yards-per-catch average.
Cornerbacks
The Giants put three guys in the slot Friday (Deonte Banks, Darnay Holmes, and Cor'Dale Flott). None of the three gave up a completion, but then again, the three were targeted just four times all evening. All three players also held up well against the run.
Banks, who projects as one of the starting outside cornerbacks, played tight one-on-one coverage and turned in some impressive showings, such as his sticking with Jameson Williams on a deep crossing route and his coverage on a deep fade that drew an OPI flag.
Banks's tight coverage was also responsible for safety Dane Belton's interception, his tight coverage of another deep crosser forced an overthrow. The rookie, who started slowly this summer, has certainly picked up his game.
With Flott being forced to leave the game early due to an abdominal injury, Holmes still has a decent hold on the slot cornerback job.
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