Countdown to Camp: Which Rookie Linebacker Will Make the Biggest Impact?

The Giants finally recognized and addressed a decade-long talent deficiency at the linebacker position.

They signed Blake Martinez to a three-year, $30.75 million front-loaded contract, providing flexibility to the back-end of the deal. But still, many Giants fans felt like the team would still upgrade the position in the draft, with a unicorn type of defender out of Clemson named Isaiah Simmons.

General manager Dave Gettleman opted to upgrade the offensive line and address the position in quantity with their late picks, which creates an interesting scenario as to who among the Day 3 draft picks might have the best opportunity to see playing time this year.

In the sixth round, the Giants drafted Cam Brown, a long, rangy, and versatile defender out of Penn State. They then added Minnesota’s Carter Coughlin, South Carolina’s T.J. Brunson, and Georgia’s Tae Crowder in the seventh round. Coughlin is more of an EDGE defender than a linebacker, but he does have experience as an off-ball linebacker.

The Giants also signed undrafted free agent Dominique Ross out of North Carolina, a big, athletic, yet raw prospect.

The starting linebackers appear set for New York; free-agent acquisition Blake Martinez is projected to start alongside Ryan Connelly, providing that the latter is recovered from his torn ACL.

Behind Martinez and Connelly is David Mayo, who was re-signed to a three-year deal in the off-season.

Injuries are an unfortunate reality in the NFL, so some of these rookies may be looking at defensive snaps in 2020; however, some should see snaps in sub-packages even if injuries don’t plague the position group.

So who should we keep an eye on? The difference-making linebacker out of the five drafted is Brown. He’s incredibly different from a typical linebacker: he’s 6’5, 233 pounds, and 34” arms.

His length ranks in the 97th percentile for the position group. He’s also a two-time captain who racked up 135 tackles, 12 for a loss, 30 pressures, four sacks, and ten passes defended in his two seasons.

He’s very versatile too; according to Pro Football Focus, Brown lined up 273 times at slot corner, 259 times in the box, 89 times on the defensive line, eight times at free safety, and six times at wide corner in 2019.

This versatility can be used in a very creative manner by defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. Brown can rush the passer, use his length to close intermediate throwing windows, and he can play “traditional” linebacker.

Graham loves to use second-level defenders in a variety of situations while advantageously employing their skill-sets. In passing situations, Brown can be fluid pre-snap, continually moving to throw off his scent, which confuses protections by disguising the pressure. Brown is a perfect piece to that puzzle, due to his length, burst, and athletic ability.

If Martinez, Connelly, or Mayo suffer injuries, another player will step up for the early-down role. Both Brunson and Crowder are good with their processing in the box. Brunson can be a bit wild at the tackle point, and neither is an excellent sideline-to-sideline athlete, but I feel one of those two would be the one to step up if two of the three “starters” happen to come down with an injury.

Ross is the wildcard; in a typical off-season, I think he would be the one to step up, given his size and traits, but he’s still raw, so he may be relegated to special teams.

As for Coughlin, he should also see snaps, towards the middle of the season, when Lorenzo Carter, Oshane Ximines, or Kyler Fackrell need to be spelled. Brown is the one that should be in sub-packages the most no matter what, though.

This current Giants’ coaching staff will not try to fit square pegs into round holes, so I don’t envision them miscasting Brown and trying to make him something that he is not.

They’re going to teach the young player, harness the positive things they saw at the Senior Bowl, and then implement him in a manner that benefits the most important thing on the field - the unit. Length and burst are staples that can’t be taught, and Brown has both, now it’s time for the Giants coaching staff to find a way to use these traits to benefit the defense.

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