While rookies can make a big impact in their first year, we usually do not really see what we have until year 2 or 3. In addition we have players who will be in their second year in Judges system. While we are hoping for a few great free agent signings and draft picks. Success next year will also be largely determined by the current players on the roster.
So what rookies, practice squad, last season injured, last season role players or players that having broken out yet make the biggest jumps. Who are your surprise candidates that will be impact players or major contributors. Who is your number 1 breakout player?
Some potential players to get the conversation started.
Dante Pettis--I like what I saw in a small amount
Matt Peart--Year 2, weight room for a year, no covid, looks the part.
Kyle Murphy--no idea what we have in him but interested if he pushes for a starting spot.
B.J. Hill--had some great snaps last season and looked promising rookie year. Sometime DL take a few years to shine. If Tomlinson is gone, do we see BJ Hill make a jump.
Niko Lalos--nose for the ball. A few lucky bounces last season? Career role player, nice one year story or more?
The linebackers as a whole have a lot of potential breakout players or they may stay as solid role players
Darnay Holmes--cb is hard as a rookie, do we have our CB2, or a nice slot corner.
Xavier McKinney--we just got a taste.
There are many more to consider.
If I had to choose 1 breakout player for next season, my pick is Sandro Platzgummer. Just kidding. My pick goes to Oshane Ximines. I think he will have 10 sacks this season. I think he is a good match for this coaching staff.
They have also done a good job of building some depth. So even if some of these young players don’t totally pan out, they have other options too.
You mentioned many of the intriguing players, but for the sake of the exercise:
Peart/Lemieux-will either of these guys win starting jobs?
Coughlin/Brown-can these guys take the next step and find playing time in the base D?
Crowder-can he win the ILB spot next to Martinez?
Ximines/Carter-can either of these guys provide consistent pressure?
Anthony Thomas and Peart excel
Will Hernandez comes back in favor with new O line coach
Would hope Dante Petis plays well. Would not be unhappy if Giants take Kyle Pitts and keep Shepard Petis and Slayton
one of the outside linebackers drafted last year ( Brown, Coughlin, Lalos) steps up
A corner must come through free agency or an #1 or # 2 pick
I hope but Carter coming off an achilles...concerns the heck out of me. You lose any explosion....people just do not respond quickly to achilles injuries. I expected more from X-Men last year....he was a dud.
Peart taking the RT spot would be hugh
He would be my pick if it wasn't for the type of injury he had. I thought he was really coming around last season. Underrated run defender and the speed to make some noise in the pass rush game.
Shane Lemieux - Up and down his rookie year but think he makes a leap this year and becomes an above average starting guard next year.
Good call.
My dark horse candidate is Lalos as well, but I think that is more if a wish/hope. I have been excited too many times by players like him with it going no where, but I will keep hoping.
Plus I’ve got more confidence that Judge, Graham and the rest of the staff will have him ready to play and use him well than I have about a Giants staff is several years
I don’t know if he would count as a surprise jump, as a lot is expected
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Crowder showed well as a rookie. If he can become a quality starter next to Martinez that would be big. I think Cam Brown could become a really good role player. Of course, hoping Lemieux and Peart can be solid starters. It was too bad we lost both Ximines and Carter. Thought we’d have a good bead on their potential by now. I keep telling my son Lalos if the 2nd coming of LT but he’s not buying it. Very excited to see these guys next year.
My dark horse candidate is Lalos as well, but I think that is more if a wish/hope. I have been excited too many times by players like him with it going no where, but I will keep hoping.
Put him in more games and have him play more often, we could have a better analysis. He only played half a dozen this year, contrast with Carter who played a whole season as a starter in 2019 and hasn't been up to snuff.
Having said that, I believe Wayne Gallman will make another big leap next year. He will continue to grow in pass protection, has always been a good 3rd down outlet back since his Clemson days, where he also excelled in short yardage as well as yards after contact. He is just not capable of the "home runs" like Barkley.
If he can continue, or even improve this year's yards per carry he can give Barkley a needed spell between carries.
Having said that, I believe Wayne Gallman will make another big leap next year. He will continue to grow in pass protection, has always been a good 3rd down outlet back since his Clemson days, where he also excelled in short yardage as well as yards after contact. He is just not capable of the "home runs" like Barkley.
If he can continue, or even improve this year's yards per carry he can give Barkley a needed spell between carries.
Maybe acquire a power back, or put our fullback on the field more often. Coming from New England would have thought Judge would have Penny on the field more often than he was?
Speaking of which, what power-type running backs (think Jim Brown, Brandon Jacobs, Jim Taylor) are doing well in the league right now? Saquon's more like Barry Sanders, agile, great with cutback.
"Barry! Barry! Barry! I can't get no love, Barry?"
John Randle
I don’t think they are counting on Pettis, so big improvements will be a big surprise with him.
Everyone else just needs to get more playing time to evaluate. I will say that I am hoping that Peart shows that his early season performance was no fluke and he was just very affected by Covid late in the season. I wish the same could be said about Hernandez’s prospects but he didn’t show anything last year so surprise improvement will be just that.
The two who I expect absolutely nothing out of are Carter and Ximines.
A couple of X factors for me are Peart and Lemieux. Both have to be legit starters next year for us to have a chance. Then one of Hernandez or Zeitler has to return to their earlier form. I think our best long term bet is for Lemieux and Hernandez to be solid OGs at their respective ages and the idea of trying to keep this OL together for a while. But, there are a lot of big IFs for this to happen.
The next area is for the young LBs to have one or two improve and emerge as a legit player. That's Coughlin, Brown, Crowder, Downs, Lalos. Realistically, most will not end up better than what we saw glimpses of last year. It is asking a lot for even one, let alone all 5, to vastly improve. For example, Lalos made a few big plays, but they were also very opportunistic in terms of right place, right time. Did he really show enough of any particular skill to expect that kind of production on a full season scale?
Shane Lemieux is my runner up because guard play always seem jump pretty quick in year 2 in this league
I am not sure there are 5 other centers I would take over him right now. Gates though is a perfect example of having that jump into last season. His jump helped transform an entire unit.
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Lorenzo Carter will get a big second contract. He’s got the tools and looked the part early on in 2020. If he plays 12 + games in 2021 he’s going to have a good year. So I’ll say Carter.
He would be my pick if it wasn't for the type of injury he had. I thought he was really coming around last season. Underrated run defender and the speed to make some noise in the pass rush game.
I know... I’ve been guilty of assuming Carter recovers from the Achilles but that’s anything but a lock. Hopefully...
Can someone explain the fascination with David Sills from some here? I honestly dont get it...he certainly didnt impress with Buffalo with his one catch in a preseason game before being released. Havent seen him do anything in a Giants uniform either...are we actually saying that we expect him to make the team and actually play and contribute? If so...why?