Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Wink Martindale will rely heavily on his New York Giants linebackers in 2022.
The New York Giants are entering a new era on defense with incoming coordinator Wink Martindale. The objective is to creatively find ways to get to the quarterback via pressure packages and blitzes.
All three levels of the defense will participate but it will the linebackers that the lead the way this year behind two new unit coaches — John Egorugwu (outside) and Drew Wilkins (inside).
Here’s a quick roundup of the linebackers heading into camp.
At least one NFL analyst believes rookie LB Micah McFadden could earn a “significant role” for the New York Giants in 2022.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbx61yex5whq8aq player_id=none image=https://giantswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
Micah McFadden, a fifth-round selection in the 2022 NFL draft, could come in and be an instant game-changer for the New York Giants this season.
The Giants’ depth chart is very thin when it comes to the inside linebacker position with practically no experience beyond Blake Martinez. This opens up the opportunity for rookie linebackers like McFadden and Darrian Beavers to come in and play significant snaps in Year 1.
Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports believes that the Indiana alum will have an early crack at things from the center of the defense due to his elite downhill ability.
McFadden’s film was a joy to study. He moves quickly and effortlessly in any direction, thereby making him a stud in coverage, particularly underneath. He reads and reacts to the offense’s collective movements as fast as any linebacker in the class, and while not blessed with freaky athleticism, McFadden rarely looks slow.
The Giants have needed quality linebacker play for some time now, and McFadden has “outplay his draft position” written all over him.
In Big Blue’s new defense under Wink Martindale, they will ask their linebackers to fly around the field and be in the backfield constantly. This is exactly what McFadden did in college as he earned Second-team All-Big Ten last season posting 15.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks.
This aggressiveness should give McFadden many opportunities as a third-down blitzer for Martindale and the Giants. It does not stop there as McFadden is an underrated coverage linebacker and the Giants are optimistic about his ability to cover from the linebacker position.
While McFadden may not get the Day 1 start at inside linebacker, expect him to play an essential role this season and eventually push for the starting job.
[lawrence-related id=693121,693105,693113]
The New York Giants have signed their sixth-round pick, LB Darrian Beavers, to his rookie contract.
The New York Giants have signed sixth-round draft pick, linebacker Darrian Beavers, to a four-year deal.
Beavers, a linebacker from the College Football Playoffs Cincinnati team, signed a four-year deal worth $3.866 million including a $206,536 signing bonus.
New York Giants signed sixth-round draft pick Darrian Beavers to $3.866 million deal that includes $206,536 signing bonus, salaries of $705,000, $870,000, $985,000, $1.1 million
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) May 13, 2022
The Giants believe that they got an absolute steal in Beavers in the sixth round. For many, Beavers was a top-10 linebacker in the draft and a top-120 prospect but the Giants were able to get him with the 186th overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft.
Beavers had a phenomenal collegiate career totaling 230 tackles (27.5 for a loss), 13.5 sacks, and three interceptions over five seasons. Most recently, in 2021, he recorded 98 tackles (11 for a loss), 4.0 sacks, and one interception while helping to lead Cincinnati to a top-10 defense in college football and to a College Football Playoff matchup with Alabama.
More than his elite college production, Beavers poises as a perfect scheme fit for the Giants. With new defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale, New York will be wanting to blitz their linebackers often and will need big strong guys to man the center of their defense. Beavers stands at 6-foot-4, 237 pounds, and is a nightmare blitzing the quarterback as can be seen from his 13.5 career sacks.
Overall, the Giants were in desperate need of some linebacker depth outside of Blake Martinez, and now with the signing of Beavers and drafting Micah McFadden, they should be able to have a nice rotation of guys at that position.
[listicle id=692065]
Linebacker Micah McFadden, who the New York Giants selected in Round 5 of the 2022 NFL draft, says he looks up to and admires Blake Martinez.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbx61yex5whq8aq player_id=none image=https://giantswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
When Brian Daboll hired Don “Wink” Martindale as the New York Giants’ defensive coordinator everyone knew of the reputation that followed him.
Martindale’s Baltimore Ravens defenses were near the top of the league in three of the four years he served under John Harbaugh, so the excitement level from the Giants’ fan base was high.
Part of that success can be attributed to bringing in explosive and tough players. That’s a blueprint the Giants followed throughout the 2022 NFL draft.
The selection of Kayvon Thibodeaux certainly represents a notch in the belt. Taking Indiana linebacker Micah McFadden in the fifth-round was definitely another.
McFadden said his game is playing physical and dropping back into coverage to get a helmet on a player. The 6-foot-1, 240-pound linebacker also said he looks up to current Giants middle linebacker Blake Martinez.
“Yeah, somebody I definitely look up to and admire his game and the way he plays and just what he’s done over the past few years,” McFadden told reporters on Saturday. “Really excited to learn from him and just getting in the locker room and the linebacker room with him and I think we’re tied up with the same agency. So that’s pretty cool as well. I’m just really excited to learn from a player like him.”
Martinez took a pay cut to stay with the Giants after missing most of the 2021 season after going down in Week 3 with a season-ending torn ACL against the Atlanta Falcons. Now he’ll work alongside and mentor McFadden.
[listicle id=691453]
With the No. 146 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft, the New York Giants select Indiana linebacker Micah McFadden.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbx61yex5whq8aq player_id=none image=https://giantswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
With the No. 146 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft, the New York Giants select Indiana linebacker Micah McFadden.
Linebacker depth — especially inside — was another key need for the Giants entering the draft. Many expected them to address the position earlier in the draft and to a degree, they did. Kayvon Thibodeaux will play outside at times, but will be moved all over.
McFadden is unlikely to earn a starting spot out of college, but can be developed into functional piece over time. In all likelihood, his early contributions will come on special teams.
Here is what NFL Network draft guru Lance Zierlein had to say about McFadden:
Undersized inside linebacker with adequate diagnose quickness and downhill trigger. His passivity and indecisiveness against Iowa and Ohio State, in particular, seemed out of place relative to the rest of his tape. He’s very average in the athleticism and speed departments but is well-prepared and exploits soft spots in blocking schemes to make impact tackles behind the line of scrimmage. He’s unable to challenge blocks and constrict gaps as a thumper, but he’s tough. McFadden has Day 3 value as a backup inside linebacker with core special teams potential.
It may not be the splash the Giants had hoped for at the position, but depth and competition is always a positive.
McFadden joins an inside group that consists of Blake Martinez, Tae Crowder and others.
[lawrence-related id=691352,691348,691345]
We look at a post-Super Bowl seven-round mock draft for the Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens will look to bolster their roster in many areas during the 2022 NFL draft. The team is currently slated to have 10 draft picks, with nine of them coming in the first four rounds.
Baltimore has some very big needs as they continue to navigate through the offseason. They will have many swings through the draft to fill the holes on their roster, and a very talented 2022 draft helps matters tremendously.
Below we put together a post-Super Bowl seven-round mock draft for the Ravens.
In the latest 7-round mock draft from Giants Wire, Big Blue addresses their OL problem and land a new QB to compete with Daniel Jones.
The New York Giants still do not have a general manager or head coach (as of this writing), but mock draft season waits for no one.
In our second mock of the year, which was conducted using the current draft order (post-wild card games), we employed the mock draft simulator from The Draft Network.
The settings were default: TDN’s predictive board, seven rounds and fast speed. We chose only for the Giants during a single run (no practice runs). There were no trades used in this simulation.
Here are the results:
It seems like every football season a strong point of the Big Ten is its tough defenses. This year was no different, as teams like Ohio S…
In a league traditionally known for defense, this year was no different. The Big Ten conference had a number of top defenses as well as dominant pass rushers in 2020.ย Related: PHOTOS: Wisconsin football’s ninth spring practice of the year
Despite Wisconsin playing fewer games than most of the Big Ten last season, their defense was ranked as one of the best defenses in the country led by linebackers Jack Sanborn and Leo Chenal. In fact, Chenal was the only Badger to crack the top 15 of this list. Luckily, this phenomenal pair of linebackers will be returning to lead the Badger defense this upcoming season.
Below is the ranking of the top 15 players in sacks per game from the Big Ten Conference 2020 season. Players from Wisconsin, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana, Illinois and Minnesota have all made the rankings.
The All-Big Ten Football Team was announced for the defensive side by the media and two Spartans have made it on the second team.
[jwplayer 7AxrkSS6-PROpJzTY]
The All-Big Ten Football Team was announced for the defensive side by the media and two Spartans have made it on. Linebacker Antjuan Simmons and cornerback Shakur Brown both made the second team as announced by the Big Ten today.
Simmons has had 75 tackles, one sack and two fumble recoveries so far this season. He has more tackles this season than Micah McFadden and Paddy Fisher, both of whom made the first team. Simmons has truly been the leader of this defense for the Spartans, and I see a lot of Luke Kuechly in him. A linebacker who can read the play, make any tackle and pump up the team when needed. Simmons will have at least one more game to show why NFL teams should draft him in April.
Brown has 25 tackles and five interceptions this season, which is tied for most in the nation! Brown’s stellar season is why he has already declared for the 2021 NFL Draft.ย Brown in a tremendous man-to-man player, which is why he has five interceptions this year. Brown’s play this year has shown NFL scouts why he deserves to play on Sunday’s next year.
Did Antjuan Simmons or Shakur Brown get snubbed from making first team All-Big Ten defense or were they rightfully put on second team?
๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ-๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐ ๐จ๐จ๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐ฆ (๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ๐) ๐๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ข๐. pic.twitter.com/qfAXtjwq3i
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) December 16, 2020
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
Before the showdown on Saturday between Michigan football and Indiana, what are the Hoosiers saying about the Wolverines?
[jwplayer 1gDGILN8-XNcErKyb]
An unexpected loss against Michigan State last week has made the road for the Michigan football team bumpier. This week, instead of coming into this game 2-0 with back-to-back rivalry wins, Michigan comes in 1-1, and now must try to upset Indiana, which is ranked 13th, the best since 1987. What happened in 1987 when Michigan played Indiana? Indiana beat the Wolverines.
Since that loss in 1987, Michigan has won 24 straight games against the Hoosiers. Not all of those 24 have been blowouts. In the last 10 games, Michigan has won by more than 10 in just five. Indiana has given Michigan closer battles the past few years. This time, Indiana will look to hold off underdog Michigan instead of the other way around.
Heading into this game, the biggest talking point from the Indiana side is about Michigan starting quarterback Joe Milton and how he can dictate this game. Indiana defensive coordinator Kane Wommack spoke about how Milton uses his legs like the other quarterbacks they have seen so far.
“Looking on at Joe Milton, I think you’re talking a big body that does have the dual-threat ability,” Wommack said. “He can make all the throws on the field. I think he’s getting better as a decision-maker. I think Joe Milton is a player that can extend plays with his feet and gets the first down when he needs to and all those things.”
Wommack wasn’t alone talking about the Wolverines as a few defensive players spoke out and praised the Michigan offense.
“Joe Milton, he’s a big guy,” safety Devon Matthews said. “They got a great group of receivers, but I think we got a great group of DB’s, and I think we match up in a man-on-man game. They step on the field with us; we’re going to come out victorious.”
“They have a good running game,” linebacker Micah McFadden said. “A lot of guard pulls and stuff like that, get the perimeter game going. So we gotta have good edges to our defense. Gotta be good on the back end, just knowing where our fits are, where the safety rotation is. And also just protecting inside seam throws, he likes the middle of the field, that’s where he’s pretty comfortable throwing so we gotta protect that.”
When discussing the defense, Indiana offensive coordinator and former Michigan quarterback Nick Sheridan discussed the matchup this weekend.
“It’s hard to say that you know a ton about Michigan’s defense after two games other than what you would expect from a Don Brown and Jim Harbaugh defense would be extremely fast and physical, extremely well-coached,” Sheridan said. “And just being transparent, in the game this past week, Michigan State was able to hit some big plays down the field. That was really the gist of what happened. There was a lot of very competitive and great plays by Michigan’s defense; there’s no doubt about it. Both their defensive ends are as quality as they are in this league, their linebackers can run, their DB’s have length, and Don Brown is a fantastic defensive coordinator, so it’ll be a great challenge, we know that.”
“There’s been times, since my time here at Indiana, that Michigan’s defense has been suffocating, and I’m certain that they feel like that’s what they’re building toward,” Sheridan said. “We certainly expect Michigan’s defense to be stout-like they always are and always will be, and it’ll be a great challenge.”
Michigan takes on Indiana at noon EST on FS1 as the Wolverines go on the road to Bloomington, Indiana, to fix its mistakes last week.
[lawrence-related id=28202,28167,28165]
