Giants draft preview: Defensive line options on each day of the draft

Can the Giants add some help for Dexter Lawrence?

The New York Giants have recently sported an effective and deep defensive line. Ironically, the line lacked depth in their lone successful recent season (2022). Still, Joe Schoen rectified the situation last season with several free-agent signings and the late draft selection of Jordon Riley.

Schoen shrewdly capitalized on Seattle’s desperate playoff aspirations before the trade deadline last year. He sent Leonard Williams’s expiring contract to Seattle for their second-round pick, which gave Schoen the flexibility to trade his own second-round pick for Brian Burns in March.

Once the season ended, A’Shawn Robinson took his 515 snaps to another city, leaving the defensive line room with superstar Dexter Lawrence, Rakeem Nunez-Roches, DJ Davidson, and Riley. Former Buffalo Bill Jordan Phillips was just signed to the Giants, and Ryder Anderson and Timmy Horne are depth pieces.

The defensive line room isn’t terrible. Defensive line coach Andre Patterson is known for maximizing talent, but it’s fair to surmise that another asset is necessary. Perhaps an explosive one-gap penetrator, rather than the big stack-and-read ODD front type of defensive linemen the Giants have utilized in recent memory.

I already opined on Florida State’s Braden Fiske and Oregon’s Brandon Dorlus a couple of weeks ago. I believe Fiske is an option for the Giants if he is available at pick 47. You can read that ‘make the case’ here. Both Texas’ Byron Murphy II and Illinois’ Johnny Newton aren’t on this list, but would easily be in consideration if – for whatever reason – they fell in the draft.

Here are two Day 2 options and three Day 3 options that make sense for the Giants on the defensive line:

Day 2

Ruke Orhorhoro, Clemson

Orhorhoro finished his five-year college career with 88 tackles, 25.5 tackles for a loss, and 12 sacks. He knocked down nine passes and recovered two fumbles. He also had 53 pressures in his final two seasons at Clemson.

Orhorhoro tore his MCL in 2020 and missed eight games after surgery. He also had off-season shoulder surgery before the 2023 college season. He earned Third-Team All-ACC honors in 2023. Clemson had a historically good defensive line room over the last half-decade. He played 1,399 defensive snaps since the start of the 2021 season, with 73 pressures in his entire collegiate career.

Strengths

• Long limbs – strong punch with strength in separating
• Good thickness throughout his body
• Explosive closing burst
• Can bend well for an interior defensive lineman
• Exceptional ability to keep his hips low when stacking & reading
• Gets push into contact – heavy hands to shock
• Rough house pass rusher – controls chest with force
• Strong outside hands as pass rusher – aiming points to break contact
• Creates space from LOS with swim move to provide angle into pocket
• Good club + lateral agility to win 1v1
• Flashed prompt and precise hand usage
• Displayed ability to effectively counter
• Active hands when exchanging gaps
• Very good and disruptive on stunts/twists
• Stays square to the LOS – good feet through trash
• Very good run defender – locks out with low hips and long arms
• Can dip around – stay low – and avoid punches
• Good positioning when using LAG technique
• Sets edge well as 5T
• Serious combination of balance & upper-body strength
• Can play a gap-and-a-half as run defender – helps win the math advantage
• Showed exceptional leverage at the line of scrimmage vs. the run
• Eyes on the ballcarrier at LOS
• A lot of flashes and tools – a lot to work with for a coach
• Can align across the line of scrimmage
• Reported vocal leader

Weaknesses

• Pad level can rise when he’s mobile
• Pad level can rise when using finesse moves as a pass rusher
• A lot of flashes but needs consistency
• Can counter but doesn’t always employ it
• Had knee (2020) and shoulder (2023) surgeries in college.

Ruke Orhorhoro flashes brilliant hand usage and technique to counter and separate from blockers. These flashes, combined with his lack of football experience, make him a moldable and coachable defensive line asset with incredible length and denseness throughout his body. He has a remarkable ability to engage as a run defender while keeping his hips low and locking out offensive linemen at the point of attack.

The idea of Orhorhoro under the tutelage of Andre Patterson, next to former Clemson Tiger Dexter Lawrence, is enticing for both parties involved. Clemson used a lot of twists and gap exchanges to disrupt rushing lanes and create four-man pressure. Orhorhoro operated well in that scheme, similar to the scheme employed by current Giants’ defensive coordinator Shane Bowen. Overall, Orhorhoro has a solid floor and immense upside, and he could be a valuable selection for a team somewhere on Day 2.

Kris Jenkins, Michigan

The nephew of former New York Giant Cullen Jenkins. He finished his college career with 113 tackles, 8.5 for a loss, with just 4.5 sacks.

Jenkins arrived on campus at Michigan weighing just 257 pounds, and he played the 2022 season at just 285. He had 44 career pressures at Michigan. He was a captain in Michigan’s 2023 National Championship season, where he appeared in 15 games. Heading into the 2023 season, Jenkins was ranked sixth on Bruce Feldman’s Freaks List. Former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh told The Athletic that Jenkins was a “mutant of all mutants.”

He was known as a workout freak at Michigan, and Feldman’s placement in the top 10 substantiates that claim. Jenkins did very well at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine with an 87th percentile 40-yard dash, a 75th percentile 10-yard split, and a 94th percentile broad jump. He’s also versatile and can align all over the defensive front, as he did at Michigan.

Strengths

• Good size and reach – uses reach well at the POA
• Very good overall athlete with excellent immediate explosiveness
• Excellent lateral movement from a stagnant stance
• Good overall bend to avoid contact/bend through contact
• Solid upfield burst – stays low upon exploding out of stance
• Good quickness + strong/heavy hands
• Smart player with excellent read & react ability
• Quick ability to engage and shed – reactive quickness in the trenches
• Sits and anchors well in 1v1 situations
• Can anchor down well when he anticipates double teams
• Excellent overall play strength and force at the point of contact
• Exceptionally strong core with good lower body strength
• Active hands/low COG help to establish advantage vs. reach blocks – flows to the play side to close rushing lanes
• Reduced surface area for blockers to attain
• Gets narrow through tight crevices vs. stretch zone – hands + instincts/feel locate avenues of approach into the backfield
• Solid overall pass rusher
• Smooth arm over w/ lateral agility to quickly separate vs. run/pass
• Works down LOS quickly – low chest/COG
• Excellent pursuit with elite competitive toughness – never stops!
• Energy is through the roof
• Solid overall ability to bull rush
• Has pass rushing plan and counters
• Flashed nasty inside spin Ohio State Q1 1:11; Washington Q2 11:24; Penn State Q4 2:31; Minnesota Q3 1:51
• Low hips + long arm technique and lower leg drive create good push into the pocket
• Solid ability/timing when twisting or gap-exchanging
• Two excellent games to help secure National Championship – Alabama/Washington 2023

Weaknesses

• Lacks ideal girth for a defensive tackle
• He only has adequate foot speed through plays once he is out of his stance
• Struggled vs. JC Latham of Alabama
• Q1 9:49 TD run
• Also struggled vs. Iowa
• Can get tunnel vision and not anticipate second blocker when aligned 4i and outward
• Caught off guard a few times, leading to him losing his responsibility
• Can get uprooted when he does not anticipate double teams
• Wasn’t very productive in college – only 8.5 tackles for a loss
• Failed to finish sacks often – only 4.5 in his career

Jenkins is a solid overall defensive tackle who is sound as a run defender. His ability to maintain a low center of gravity while keeping his chest small allows him to maximize his explosiveness and ability to be disruptive into the pocket as a pass rusher.

Jenkins’ ability to explode out of a stagnant stance with a low and controlled profile – and heavy hands – allows him to gain an advantage in the half-man relationship while providing little to no surface area for the blocker to contact. He may not be the most sudden pass rusher when he’s out of his stance, but his ability to stay low, use bend, and string moves together allows him to create advantageous angles into the pocket, which does pressure the quarterback; plus, he has a plan when he pass rushes and will take advantage of over-aggressive blockers with a variety of pass rushing moves.

Jenkins is an elite competitor who doesn’t stop until the whistle is blown. He does a good job working through the line of scrimmage to penetrate zone rushing concepts, does well to read, react, and quickly shed blocks at the point of attack, and he was able to raise his level of play in the most important moments of a memorable season for Michigan. He will be an impactful defensive lineman who can play across the line of scrimmage in the NFL.

I wouldn’t consider Jenkins in the second round, but a possible option in Round 3, albeit I believe I’ll like other prospects a bit more.

Day 3

Mekhi Wingo, LSU

Wingo recorded 98 tackles, 13 for a loss, and 8.5 sacks in college. He had 58 pressures in 873 career pass-rushing reps. He had 19 pressures in 2023, 25 in 2022, and 14 at Missouri in 2021. Wingo was revered at LSU, earning the prized No. 18 jersey prior to the 2023 season. He was a permanent team captain, was on the AFCA Good Works Team/SEC Community Service Team, and was an AP Third Team All-American in 2022.

Wingo was also an SEC freshman all-American at Missouri. One of his career highlights was his freshman season, when he returned an interception for 48 yards and a touchdown. He attended the 2024 Scouting Combine and ran the second-fastest 40-yard dash of the position group, ranking just behind Braden Fiske of Florida State; both players fit Shane Bowen’s system.

Strengths

• Compact and stout player with natural leverage
• Great stance at the LOS allows him to maximize burst into contact
• Fires off the LOS, quick and explosive
• Light feet – coordinated athlete
• Very balanced and controlled into contact
• Gets low and can bend through contact
• Stays low when leveraging his agility on stunts
• Excellent lateral agility, light feet, and COD
• Excellent burst into contact – a powerful player
• Good eyes and ability to sift through traffic when penetrating to locate ball carrier
• Excellent overall use of hands as a pass rusher – technically sound
• Active hands – has several moves
• Hands are efficient – excellent aiming points to win at the POA
• Push-pull and sheds quickly – good swim move
• Solid lower-leg drive with bull rush
• Showed ability to threaten the edge and corner at EDGE
• Strong and authoritative punch
• Stacks, and flashes his eyes – very low center of gravity
• Adaptive rusher who has a plan
• Defense executed a lot of gap exchanges
• Elite leverage (due to stature)
• Can convert speed to power
• Competitor – Energizer bunny mentality
• Was supposed to be out for the season after a lower-body injury and surgery but returned for the bowl game against Wisconsin, where he had two sacks and five pressures

Weaknesses

• Lack of height can work against him
• Very light – can lack sand in his pants
• Can get gobbled up by IOL due to size
• Double teams are tough – adequate anchor vs. two blockers
• Has to improve as a run defender to earn a full compliment of snaps early on at the next level
• Can get washed by angle blocks that disallow him to use his lateral movement skills to avoid the contact
• Missed six games in 2023 with a lower-body injury that required surgery

Quick, adaptive, and flexible – Wingo is great in a phone booth with a slippery nature and an authoritative punch that can stun OL. He has an array of moves and understands how/when to strike to maximize separation while staying low into contact. Wingo flashed the ability to also win on the edge, which can give defenses a versatile option who isn’t a liability across the line of scrimmage.

Wingo’s ability to get upfield to disrupt wasn’t necessarily maximized in LSU’s ODD defense where he played 4i-shade and 4-technique in non-passing situations; that fact, combined with the gap-exchange element of laterally moving at the snap limited his penetration ability through the gap he was aligned over pre-snap. Still, his excellent lateral agility and low center of gravity while moving allowed him to successfully attack the half-man of blockers, but it’s plausible that his burst could be successfully employed as a 3-technique in an even front, while also being an asset in a defense that frequently twists to create four-man pressure, like the one Giants’ defensive coordinator Shane Bowen uses.

Wingo is an elite competitor. He’s versatile, plays with excellent leverage, and is a different task to frame due to his lateral movement skills and low nature. However, that low nature can get him in trouble against bigger guards who quickly set him and control his chest. Despite that, he’s a good and disruptive football player with efficient hands, a plan, and the short-area-quickness to win as a pass rusher at the next level. He will have to primarily rely on speed/quickness and penetration to be consistently successful at the next level.

Maason Smith, LSU

Another LSU Tiger, but an incredibly different player. Smith was one of the top recruits in the 2021 class. A consensus five-star and the number one recruit from the state of Louisiana. After selecting Jordon Riley last season, Giants’ GM Joe Schoen discussed the importance of large humans with “knock-back” on the defensive line. Smith possesses that trait in a long, massive frame.

He plays with good balance and a stable anchor against the run. Due to his knock-back, he has power rush moves and has flashed the ability to use combinations as a pass rusher, although it’s not very consistent. He finished his college career with 47 tackles, 9.5 for a loss, and 6.5 sacks. He has started 17 of 22 games in his career.

Smith gets high out of his stance, and he’s not a very fluid athlete. He also doesn’t have much of a plan once he lands his hands; he certainly needs refinement and experience, but his ceiling is high due to the foundation that he possesses. Smith was suspended for one game by the NCAA for “improper benefit.” He tore his left ACL at the beginning of the 2022 season.

Smith’s overall profile may land him on Day 3, although his production and injury history are problematic. Bowen has expressed that quickness and violence are traits he wants; Smith has the latter part, but he’s not exactly sudden. Still, he could be a developmental option with upside.

Khristian Boyd, Northern Iowa

Boyd is 24 years old and he didn’t receive a ton of interest from FBS programs. He redshirted his first year at UNI and started 32 of 49 games, playing alongside Elerson Smith in the 2019 season. He recorded 149 total tackles, 22.5 for a loss, 10.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and five passes defended.

Boyd was a Combine snub and did not do his 40-yard dash due to a left groin strain. However, he did his explosive and agility testing. He measured in at 6-foot-2⅝, 325 pounds, with 9½-inch hands and 31⅝-inch arms (short). He jumped 28½-inches in the vertical jump and 8-feet, 2-inches in the broad jump, with a 4.91 short shuttle and an 8.10 three-cone. He did bench 38 reps of 225 pounds, which would have ranked second at the Combine.

Boyd is very different from Jordon Riley but could be a versatile developmental piece for Andre Patterson. He’s stout against the run and short-armed but has some pass-rush moves, with all the reported necessary intangibles off the field. The Giants had Boyd in for a top-30 visit.