Identifying the Biggest Missing Element in Giants' Pass Rush
For the last several years, the Giants coaches, players, and even general manager Dave Gettleman have tried to calm frustrated Giants fans by telling them that the scheme will fix all that ails the pass rush.
Except it hasn't. According to league stats, the last time the Giants ranked in the top-10 in sacks per pass attempts was in 2014. That year, they recorded 47.0 sacks despite only managing 284 total pressures.
Since then, the highest the Giants' pass rush climbed is to 11th place, which they did in 2016 when they recorded 35 sacks.
While some might say that it's the total number of pressures that counts, those pressures mean nothing if they aren't resulting in an incomplete pass, a sack, or an interception.
According to Pro Football Focus, since 2011, their last Super Bowl championship season, the Giants have recorded at least 300 total pressures twice: in 2011 (336) and 2016 (302), their last two playoff appearances.
Former Giants edge rusher Osi Umenyiora, who was part of a long line of Giants pass rushers that dates back to 1981 when Lawrence Taylor first donned the Giants helmet, believes the Giants' most significant problem when it comes to the pass rush is that they failed to continue the homegrown line of succession beyond Jason Pierre-Paul.
Former Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride with former defensive end Osi Umenyiora (72) during a practice.
Corey Sipken/NorthJersey.com
“Once that line of succession ended and (Pierre-Paul) was out of there, there was no transition period where you had homegrown talent who understood what the Giants pass-rushing really meant,” Umenyiora told Giants Country by phone last week.
The Giants instead tried to take a shortcut, bringing in free agents developed by other teams such as Robert Ayers and Olivier Vernon and, more recently, Markus Golden.
While these players had modest success during their respective Giants tenures and tried to serve as mentors, Umenyiora said it's not the same thing as having someone who "grew up" in the franchise.
“It’s an environment that has to be created,” Umenyiora said of pass rushers on a team. “(Lorenzo) Carter, (Oshane) Ximines—these guys can be very good pass rushers, but somebody has to be there to explain to them and teach them the actual art of pass rushing.”
Umenyiora noted that most everything he learned about pass rushing came from his peers, particularly Strahan, who took him under his wing when Umenyiora arrived on the scene in 2003.
As Umenyiora learned the finer points of his craft, he would exchange tips and tricks with future generations of Giants pass rushers such as Tuck and Tollefson, Kiwanuka and Pierre-Paul.
Umenyiora didn't hesitate when asked if the Giants' public mantra of the scheme being the solution to the pass rush woes was a realistic expectation.
“No, it's not," he said. "Those things are being said because that's what they have, and you have to go to war with the soldiers that you have.
“Would they love to have some true blue-chip pass rushers? Absolutely. The fact that maybe they don't have them is making them say some of the things that they're saying.”
With that said, Umenyiora thinks the Giants finally have some young talent that can start a new line of homegrown Giants pass rushers. He mentioned second-year man Oshane Ximines as one, a player some have compared to Umenyiora when he first tried to find his sea legs in the NFL.
He also mentioned third-year man Lorenzo Carter as another promising talent.
But with both Ximines and Carter, Umenyiora believes that they need someone to show them the way, just as Taylor showed Michael Strahan, who showed Umenyiora, who showed Justin Tuck and Dave Tollefson, who then showed Mathias Kiwanuka and Pierre-Paul.
“Look, coaches have so many things to do," Umenyiora said when asked what role coaching could play in showing the young pass rushers what they need to know.
"Coaches have all these other players, and they have to go into meetings to help develop a game plan.
“It can take literally thousands of reps before somebody can become a true elite pass rusher, and a coach who has all these other players and responsibilities can’t necessarily focus on individuals," he continued.
"But if other guys were in there already, then I think you would have that environment you need because these are the guys in the locker room with you, at the lunchroom with you, in the huddle with you. These are the guys who can share a tip that a player can take and modify to fit his game.”
Umenyiora, who credits Strahan and former linebacker Carl Banks, another homegrown pass rusher with whom he never played, but who, as part of the Giants broadcast team, is a frequent presence, for his development, is trying to be that mentor.
He's already begun to help Ximines after a fan on Twitter suggested that the youngster reach out to Umenyiora, and Ximines embraced the idea.
Although there has only been so much Umenyiora, who is based in London, can do to help Ximines, the two have already begun a productive dialogue.
"These guys are capable of being really good players," he said. "I really do believe that," Umenyiora said of the Giants pass-rushing talent.
"(The pass rush) just has to be emphasized."
This is what he intends to do with Ximines, and whoever else from the pass rush group seeks his help.
