Tag: Devante Downs

Report: Giants’ David Sills, Dante Pettis ‘have been raised in trade talks’

New York Giants WR David Sills, WR Dante Pettis and LB Devante Downs are names that have reportedly been raised in recent trade talks.

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On Monday, the New York Giants traded defensive lineman B.J. Hill to the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for offensive lineman Billy Price.

But don’t assume trader Dave Gettleman is done just yet.

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Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated’s Monday Morning Quarterback reports that wide receivers Dante Pettis and David Sills, and linebacker Devante Downs have also been names raised in trade discussions.

New York was kicking tires on interior linemen the last few days and wound up dealing off B.J. Hill to land Price. And the Giants might not be done—bubble guys Dante Pettis, David Sills and Devante Downs have been raised in trade talks.

Sills has seen his stock rise throughout the spring and summer. He spent much of the offseason working with quarterback Daniel Jones and that has translated to success on the field during training camp and the preseason.

Pettis has also played well this summer and brings added versatility on special teams as a potential return man. That may endear him to head coach Joe Judge, but there are only so many roster spots available.

Finally, the inclusion of Downs in this report may come as a surprise to most. He played poorly for the Giants last season and hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire this preseason.

The Giants have until 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday to trim their roster down to 53 men.

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Giants fall to Browns: Winners, losers and those in between

Here are the winners, losers and those in between from the New York Giants’ preseason Week 2 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

The New York Giants and Cleveland Browns concluded Week 2 of the preseason in rather dull fashion.

After an eventful week of joint practices, Sunday’s game was relatively quiet and slow-paced with both team’s starters out. In the end, the Browns walked away with a 17-13 victory.

Here are the winners and losers (and those in between) from Sunday’s game.

Giants re-sign LB Devante Downs

The New York Giants have re-signed linebacker and special teamer Devante Downs, continuing their wild free agency.

The New York Giants continued their free agency flurry on Wednesday by re-signing one of their own.

Mere hours after tight end Kyle Rudolph officially signed his Giants contract, the team kept their momentum going by re-signing linebacker Devante Downs.

Originally slated to become a restricted free agent, the Giants did not tender Downs ahead of the new league year, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent. But with a limited market and the Giants looking to fill out their roster, the two sides decided to reconnect.

Downs, a seventh-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in the 2018 NFL draft, joined the Giants in October of 2019 when he was signed to their practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster a few weeks later and remained there through the 2020 season.

In 23 games (eight starts) for the Giants, Downs recorded 33 tackles, one QB hit and one pass defensed. He earned just a 46.2 Pro Football Focus grade last year, which accurately represented his defensive production on the field.

However, Downs did perform better on special teams, earning a 2020 PFF grade of 58.7, which was still the lowest of his career.

Contractual details for Downs have not yet been released.

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Dexter Lawrence, Sterling Shepard were highest-graded Giants in Week 17

New York Giants DL Dexter Lawrence and WR Sterling Shepard earned the team’s highest PFF grades in Week 17.

The New York Giants defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 23-19, to close out the regular season on Sunday, but it wasn’t enough to steal the NFC East crown.

Because if Doug Pederson’s embarrassing tank job on Sunday night, the Washington Football Team ultimately walked away victorious and won the division title with a record of 7-9.

But back to the Giants, it was a career day for wide receiver Sterling Shepard, who led the offense with a Pro Football Focus grade of 81.1.

Trailing Shepard (20+ snaps) was fellow wide receiver Dante Pettis (78.1), quarterback Daniel Jones (77.8) and center Nick Gates (76.3). And if we’re being honest, Gates deserves a higher grade simply because he’s an animal who wants all the smoke.

Other notable offensive grades include left tackle Andrew Thomas (75.8) and running back Wayne Gallman (61.2).

On the other side of the ball, defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence earned the team’s highest overall grade (20+) snaps with an 82.8. In just two snaps, linebacker Devante Downs logged a 90.2.

Just behind that duo were defensive end Jabaal Sheard (78.4), rookie safety Xavier McKinney (74.6) and linebacker Kyler Fackrell (73.5).

Defensive lineman Leonard Williams, who had a monster game, earned a 70.4.

The lowest-graded Giants on the day were linebacker Cam Brown (44.9) and tight end Evan Engram (40.8).

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Giants-Browns Week 15: Offense, defense and special teams snap counts

The New York Giants lost their Week 15 game against the Cleveland Browns. Here are the snap counts on offense, defense and special teams.

The New York Giants entered Sunday night’s game with an opportunity to regain their lead in the NFC East and significantly boost their playoff changes. Instead, they took an ugly loss against the Cleveland Browns and fell to third in the division.

The loss guaranteed the Giants their fourth straight losing season and their eighth losing season over the last nine. It’s an ugly time.

Here’s a look at the snap counts that attributed to the Giants’ ninth loss of the season:

Offensive snaps: 54
Defensive snaps: 63
Special teams snaps: 18

Something that immediately leaps out when looking at the snap counts is that the offensive line rotation seems to have subsided. In fact, Matt Peart did not receive a single snap, while only Will Hernandez and Shane Lemieux were rotated.

Also worth noting is that Alfred Morris had the team’s most offensive success despite being on the field for just 13 snaps. Fullback Eli Penny also made an impact on his lowly eight snaps.

Meanwhile, linebacker Devante Downs made his presence felt — and not in a good way — despite being on the field for just 11 plays.

Quarterback Joe Webb took just four snaps on special teams. That fell well below expectations for his use.

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Kevin Zeitler, Dalvin Tomlinson were highest-graded Giants in Week 14

OL Kevin Zeitler and DL Dalvin Tomlinson were the New York Giants’ highest-graded players of Week 14.

The New York Giants were stomped out by the Arizona Cardinals, 26-7, on Sunday and at first glance, it was hard to pinpoint a single player who performed at a high level.

Luckily, Pro Football Focus is here to reassure Big Blue fans that not everyone was a disaster in Week 14. In fact, a handful of players did quite well based on PFF’s analytical system.

Case in point: Offensive lineman Kevin Zeitler, who recorded a team-high grade of 89.2 (min. 45 snaps).

Right behind Zeitler on the offensive side of the ball were tight end Kaden Smith (75.5), running back Wayne Gallman (72.3) and wide receiver Darius Slayton (66.2).

Other noteworthy grades on offense came by way of center Nick Gates (55.5), quarterback Daniel Jones (49.8) and offensive tackle Matt Peart (41.8).

On the defensive side of the ball, it was defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson who led the charge with an overall grade of 81.6 (min. 45 snaps). He was followed up by cornerbacks Isaac Yiadom (76.5) and James Bradberry (75.8).

Although they were under the snap count threshold, linebacker David Mayo and defensive tackle B.J. Hill graded out quite well, finishing the game with grades of 95.1 and 84.2, respectively.

In his NFL starting debut, rookie safety Xavier McKinney finished with a 57.3.

The lowest-graded Giants of the week were linebacker Devante Downs (40.6), offensive lineman Andrew Thomas (38.0) and linebacker Carter Coughlin (30.4).

Coughlin’s low grade is a product of his poor coverage, which netted a 25.4.

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Giants-Washington Week 9: Offense, defense and special teams snap counts

The New York Giants won their Week 9 game against Washington. Here are the snap counts on offense, defense and special teams.

The New York Giants picked up their second win of the season on Sunday, defeating the Washington Football Team, 23-20, at FedEx Field.

The Giants jumped out to a 17-point halftime lead but as we know, they only play close games. Accordingly, this is another one that came down to the wire but one New York was finally able to put away.

Here’s a look at the snap counts that attributed to the Giants’ second W.

Offensive snaps: 77
Defensive snaps: 54
Special teams snaps: 26

The offensive line rotation is one of the strangest things we’ve ever seen in professional football. Various teams use rotations at running back, wide receiver, defensive line, linebacker and so on, but offensive line? This is a first.

Wide receiver Austin Mack and tight end Kaden Smith also saw increased roles. Mack due to Golden Tate’s absence and Smith as part of frequent multi-tight end looks.

Defensively, the players got a bit of a break after weeks of snap counts in the high 60s and 70s. Curiously, linebacker David Mayo continues to see limited action while fellow linebacker Devante Downs sees way too much.

And please — please, please — can this team start using Eli Penny more? The positive play percentage for the fullback has got to be off the charts.

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Giants injury report: Devonta Freeman out vs. Washington

New York Giants RB Devonta Freeman (ankle) is out in Week 9 against the Washington Football Team.

New York Giants running back Devonta Freeman (ankle) did limited work on both Thursday and Friday, but couldn’t make enough progress to play in Week 9 against the Washington Football Team. He has officially been ruled out.

In addition to Freeman, the Giants will also be without defensive back Ryan Lewis on Sunday, who was placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.

Outside of Freeman and Lewis however, the Giants are relatively healthy heading into the second half of the season and did not offer a designation on any other player.

Linebackers Devante Downs (shoulder) and Blake Martinez (hamstring), defensive back Logan Ryan (hip) and wide receiver Sterling Shepard (shoulder/toe) all fully participated on Friday and are expected to be a go this weekend in D.C.

Additionally, wide receiver Golden Tate, who was excused from practice on Wednesday, has been a full participant in each of the previous two days and also avoided a designation.

However, that doesn’t necessarily mean Tate will play on Sunday.

Head coach Joe Judge admitted that decisions must be made on Tate after his outburst on Monday night and his wife’s social media rants on Tuesday.

“We still have an entire day of practice to go through today. We’ll evaluate everything and make decisions on the back end of today of what we’re going to do going through the weekend,” Judge told reporters on Friday. “I’m going to discuss a lot of possibilities today after practice.”

Tate appeared in a red No. 17 jersey on Friday and appeared to be simulating Washington wide receiver Terry McLaurin on the scout team. Judge dismissed that as a regular rotation.

“All of our players play with the scout team at some point or another. We have limited numbers, so everyone rotates on through. In addition to that, we have practice squad players that work in with our ones as well. With limited numbers out there, we roll guys as much as possible. Especially on a day like Thursday, which is a heavy passing day for us. It’s third down, it’s some red area, it’s two-minute. We roll all of our skill players equally on both sides,” Judge said.

It’s possible the Giants sit Tate on Sunday, but no official decision has been made as of this writing.

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Giants injury report: Devonta Freeman, Blake Martinez limited

New York Giants RB Devonta Freeman (ankle) and LB Blake Martinez (hamstring) were limited in practice on Thursday.

The New York Giants were back on the practice field in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Thursday as they prepare for a Week 9 battle against the Washington Football Team.

It was the first full practice of the week, which comes on the heels of a Wednesday walkthrough and as anticipated, wide receiver Golden Tate re-joined his teammates.

However, Tate’s participation was heavily limited and it’s clear he’s found himself in Joe Judge’s doghouse. His workload did not reflect his designation in the portion of practice open to the media.

Meanwhile, running back Devonta Freeman went through individual drills for the first time since injuring his ankle against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7.

Defensive back Ryan Lewis was not spotted at practice.

Below is the official injury report:

Did not participate: DB Ryan Lewis (hamstring)

Limited participant: RB Devonta Freeman (ankle), LB Devante Downs (shoulder), LB Blake Martinez (hamstring), DB Logan Ryan (hip), WR Sterling Shepard (shoulder/toe)

Full participant: WR Golden Tate (not injury related)

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Giants-Eagles Week 7: Offense, defense and special teams snap counts

The New York Giants lost their Week 7 game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Here are the snap counts on offense, defense and special teams.

The New York Giants lost in crushing and heartbreaking fashion on Thursday night, falling to the Philadelphia Eagles, 22-21. at Lincoln Financial Field.

For a team that hast lost so frequently in recent years, you would think the organization and fan base would be numb. But this one is going to sting and it’s going to sting for quite some time.

Here’s a look at the snap counts that attributed to the Giants’ sixth loss of the season.

Offensive snaps: 60
Defensive snaps: 81
Special teams snaps: 26

Sterling Shepard saw an impressive 46 snaps in his return, which dwarfed all other receivers not named Darius Slayton, while rookie offensive tackle Matt Peart took just six snaps after registering 25-plus in Week 6.

On the defensive side of the ball, injuries forced linebacker Devante Downs and safety Nate Ebner into increased roles. Cornerback Corey Ballentine and defensive back Madre Harper also saw between 21-30% of the defensive snaps, which did not play out well.

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