Bleacher Report Names This New York Giant as Having the Hottest Seat of All
At the NFL level, the pressure is always on to deliver a top-flight performance. But when it comes to certain players, it's probably fair to say that some have a little more pressure to deliver the goods than others.
Such is the opinion of Bleacher Report's Brent Sobleski, who in his article "The Hottest Hot Seat for Every NFL Team in 2021," nominated a New York Giants player --and no, it's not third-year quarterback Daniel Jones--for his choice as the Giant whose seat is the hottest.
Sobleski's Giants pick is tight end Evan Engram, of whom he writes in part:
Evan Engram remains an enigma for the New York Giants. Engram is a hard worker and one of Joe Judge's favorite practice players. When the athletic tight end is playing well, he's a difficult mismatch and arguably the best receiving threat on the Giants roster.
Inconsistency is an issue, though. Drops and overall ball security are problematic. Engram knows he must be better despite finishing second on the team last season with 63 receptions.
A make-or-break season emerges from the ashes of the previous campaign. Engram is entering the last year of his rookie deal, not to mention the team now has a steady veteran option in Kyle Rudolph.
While there's no doubt that Engram, a first-round draft pick who, despite his drop-filled season last year still made the Pro Bowl--Engram's eight drops tied him with the 49ers' George Kittle for most drops among tight ends last season--there is a better choice for the Giants' hottest seat among players.
That choice is guard Will Hernandez, the team's second-round pick in 2018, who hasn't quite been able to build on that start after a promising rookie campaign.
To be fair to Hernandez, who came from a smaller school program (UTEP), the revolving door he had with a position coach likely didn't help, nor did his bout with COVID-19, which may or may not have affected him physically.
Where Hernandez can take accountability is in the mental aspect of the game, specifically in recognizing and reacting to stunts, something that at times appeared to flummox him last year.
This year, Hernandez is penciled in as the starting right guard, a position transition he's looking to make after spending his entire career dating back to high school at left guard.
He's been hard at work with noted offensive line trainer Duke Manyweather. Based on the video clips and photos Manyweather and Hernandez have posted, the fourth-year offensive lineman looks like he's slimmed down (which will help him with his mobility when asked to work outside a phone booth).
The Giants need for Hernandez's game to more closely resemble his rookie campaign more than ever. Behind Hernandez on the preliminary depth chart is former Texans guard Zach Fulton, who per Pro Football Focus allowed 39 total pressures, second-most among 92 guards who logged at least 20% of their team's offensive snaps last year.
(Hernandez was charged with allowing 25 pressures, tying him with teammate Shane Lemieux, who replaced him as the starting left guard and two others for 24th most pressures allowed in the same sample size.)
The Giants also need their offensive line to deliver the goods because if Jones is forced to run for his life on every other passing play, the temperature of Engram's seat really won't matter if his quarterback doesn't have time to find him.
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