Patrick Graham: Giants Pass Rush is A Work in Progress

Despite having some familiar faces, there's still a long way to go before the Giants pass rush takes shape.

By now, Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham knows who he has on the defense as far as the names and positions the players play.

But that’s about all he knows as he looks to put together multiple schemes that will encompass different looks designed to make life harder for opposing quarterbacks.

“It's a process,” he said on a video conference call with reporters. “We're right in the beginning of the process right now. We tried to tackle some of it on film during the spring, but right now we're in the process of combining film, drills on the field and just kind of getting acclimated and figuring out what everybody does well and see how what's the best plan that we can put together that utilizes the talent that we have.”

While much will be made of the guys upfront—and we’ll get to that in a moment—the back end of the defense is just as important. And in the back end of the defense, Graham has himself a lot of young players who last year had their share of hiccups in doing their part to rush the passer.

While guys like Corey Ballentine and Julian Love picked up some experience on which they can build, others like rookies Chris Williamson, Darnay Holmes, and Xavier McKinney are looking to make that leap from college.

“In terms of the pass rush, when you're dealing with young players coming into the league, you know just like any other position here in NFL, it's different from college,” Graham said. “What I mean by that is the guys start to understand and learn some of the intricacies of how to rush the passer in this league.”

Former Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora recently spoke to Giants Country about pass rushing and the importance of having a plan. He mentioned the importance of intense film study of opponents and making every pass rush look the same were two keys in giving the pass rush a chance at working.

Meanwhile, head coach Joe Judge recently noted that while sacks are the ultimate goal, it’s not feasible to turn every pass rush into a sack. If the pass rush can move a quarterback off his mark and force an errant throw resulting in either an interception or an incompletion, that’s just as good.

Graham agreed, noting that NFL quarterbacks can get the ball out of their hands faster to beat the pass rush. So the goal is to get everyone on the same page regarding how they plan to attack the quarterback, noting that if players simply run up the field without a plan, the quarterback is likely to win the battle by connecting on an inside throw.

So among the things Graham and his staff will be emphasizing to the younger players is how to fill the pass rush lanes and work in concert with one another when they seek to attack the quarterback in the pocket.

As for the guys up front, the Giants would appear to be loaded with edge rushers and, in particular, weak-side linebacker, which includes Markus Golden, Kyler Fackrell, and Oshane Ximines. 

But Graham cautioned not to be quick to attach labels to those guys upfront because the coaches are about to find out what they have.

“I think during this development stage, where we're trying to find out what we have,” Graham said. 

“They all have unique skillsets, and so we have to figure out, ‘Is this guy better rusher on the inside? Do we stand him up on the inside? Is he a better rushing from the left or from the right?’”

Graham reiterated that the defense would look to feature different players each week, depending on the opponent, making it a true “by committee” effort rather than focusing on one specific guy to carry the load. But it’s going to take some time before he knows what those different options might look like.

“I think there's going to be some trial and error getting everybody on the same page and with trying different packages, different schemes and see how that plays out,” Graham said. 

“Everybody's going to get an equal opportunity and whoever ends up being out there is going to be based on they earned it during camp. So it's going to be interesting.” 

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