Tag: Niko Lalos

XFL at the midway point: How are ex-Giants faring?

A look at how several former members of the New York Giants are faring in the XFL as the league hits the midway point of its season.

The XFL returned for its third iteration this year and is now being run by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

The season is officially through five weeks — their midway point — and there has been some solid action and interesting moments, many of which have a distinct New York Giants flavor.

Nearly 25 former Giants are playing in the league (several others coaching) and they have made their presence felt. In fact, several of the current league leaders are ex-Giants.

Here’s a look at how some of those players are faring.

Giants claim Warren G’s son, Olaijah Griffin, off waivers from Bills

The New York Giants have claimed the son of Warren G and step-nephew of Dr. Dre, Olaijah Griffin, off waivers from the Buffalo Bills.

The New York Giants claimed defensive back Olaijah Griffin off of waivers from the Buffalo Bills on Monday, bringing their roster to 88 men. That will need to be trimmed to 85 on Tuesday.

Griffin was signed by the Bills as an undrafted free agent out of USC in 2021. He spent his entire rookie season on their practice squad and has not yet appeared in an NFL game.

To the likely delight of wide receiver Kadarius Toney, who goes by the rap name “Yung Joka,” Griffin is the son of rapper Warren G and the step-nephew of rapper/producer Dr. Dre. The locker room rap battles are sure to be off the hook.

Meanwhile, two former Giants have also found new homes.

Defensive tackle Danny Shelton, who spent the 2021 season with the Giants, was officially signed by the Kansas City Chiefs. And linebacker Niko Lalos, who spent two seasons in East Rutherford and has a fan base that includes LeBron James, signed with the New Orleans Saints.

Lalos had been released by the Giants last week.

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Giants sign OT Will Holden, waive DE Niko Lalos

The New York Giants have signed OT Will Holden and waived DE Niko Lalos.

With significant depth concerns at the offensive tackle position, the New York Giants were forced to make a move on Friday.

The team officially announced that offensive tackle Will Holden has been signed. He arrived in East Rutherford for a tryout earlier this week.

The 28-year-old Holden was originally a fifth-round pick of the Cardinals in 2017. After one year in Arizona, he became a bit of a journeyman making stops with the Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions.

Holden made two stops with both the Cardinals and Colts.

Over the course of his five-year career, Holden has appeared in 27 games with nine starts. He earned a 60.8 Pro Football Focus grade with Detroit last year.

In order to clear room for Holden on the 90-man roster, the Giants waived defensive end Niko Lalos, who had become somewhat of a fan favorite.

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2022 Giants training camp preview: Linebackers

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.

New York Giants: 2022 reserve/futures contract scorecard

The New York Giants have begun signing players to reserve/futures contracts, so use the Giants Wire tracker to stay up to date.

The New York Giants are now officially in offseason mode and that means it’s time to begin signing players to reserve/futures contracts.

Even without the presence of general manager Dave Gettleman, who announced his retirement on Monday, the team will press forward with personnel moves. Assistant general manager Kevin Abrams is likely handling the heavy lifting.

The Giants announced their first eight signings on Monday afternoon.

  • LB Omari Cobb
  • OT Devery Hamilton
  • LB Trent Harris
  • TE Jake Hausmann
  • DE Niko Lalos
  • QB Brian Lewerke
  • DT David Moa
  • WR Travis Toivonen

Additional signings in the coming days are likely and we’ll update this scorecard as moves are made.

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Damion Willis, Blake Martinez were highest-graded Giants vs. Patriots

WR Damion Willis and LB Blake Martinez earned the New York Giants’ highest offensive and defensive grades in a loss to the Patriots.

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The New York Giants dropped their preseason finale to the New England Patriots, 22-20, and there were plenty of reasons to come away concerned. We’ll get to those.

Before we do however, there were also several reasons to feel optimistic. Case in point: linebacker Blake Martinez demonstrating a significant improvement in coverage — if even just for a day.

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Martinez led the Giants defense with a Pro Football Focus grade of 91.7. He was followed by defensive back Julian Love (89.5), and defensive linemen Elijah Qualls (80.7) and Austin Johnson (76.2).

Other notable defensive grades include linebacker Lorenzo Carter (74.3), cornerback Sam Beal (69.7) and cornerback Rodarius Williams (59.8).

The lowest-graded Giants defenders on Sunday were linebackers Trent Harris (29.9) and Niko Lalos (24.3).

On the offensive side of the ball, wide receiver Damion Willis led the way with a PFF grade of 92.5. He was followed by guard Will Hernandez (92.2), offensive tackle Jackson Barton (78.7) and tight end Nakia Griffin-Stewart (74.7).

Fullback Eli Penny earned a 73.7, while quarterback Daniel Jones graded out at 53.8.

The Giants’ lowest-graded offensive players were running back Devontae Booker (42.1) and wide receiver Darius Slayton (41.4).

Offensive tackles Andrew Thomas and Matt Peart earned grades of 53.4 and 48.5, respectively.

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

Here are the winners, losers and those in between from the New York Giants’ preseason Week 1 loss to the New York Jets.

The New York Giants opened the 2021 preseason on Saturday night with an embarrassing 12-7 loss to the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

It was an ugly game for both teams from the jump, but the Giants appeared lightyears behind where they should be. The saving grace is that the vast majority of their starters didn’t play or played very little.

Here’s a quick look at our immediate winners and losers (and those in between) from Week 1 of the preseason.

Giants’ 2020 draft class earns one of NFC East’s lowest grades

The New York Giants’ 2020 draft class received one of the lowest NFC East grades courtesy of NFL.com’s Nick Shook.

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The 2021 NFL draft is nearing and teams are beginning to maneuver to make room for the incoming class. The New York Giants have six selections in this year’s draft, one in each of the first four rounds (11th, 42nd, 76th and 107th overall) and two sixth rounders (Nos. 172 and 177). They do not have their fifth-round and seventh-round selections having surrendered them in trades for defensive lineman Leonard Williams and defensive back Isaac Yiadom.

But before we jump into speculating on this year’s group, let’s review how well did the Giants did at the draft table last year.

Nick Shook of NFL.com gave the Giants’ 2020 draft class a C+ grade in a recent article.

The lukewarm grade is largely based on the poor start to first round pick Andrew Thomas’ NFL career. Thomas played all 16 games, starting 15 and led the NFL in sacks and pressures allowed. The Giants’ second rounder, Alabama safety Xavier McKinney, broke his foot in training camp and missed the first 10 games of the regular season.

Thomas got off to a slow start in his rookie season, which carried extra pressure seeing as he was selected (a bit surprisingly) at No. 4 overall. But the first-year tackle started to put things together down the stretch (save for New York’s nightmare against Arizona in Week 14), finishing with a grade near that of PFWA All-Rookie Team member Jedrick Wills. Thomas would have started all 16 games had he not been benched for the first quarter in Week 6 for what coach Joe Judge called disciplinary reasons. McKinney’s evaluation is largely incomplete due to a foot injury that prevented him from playing until Week 12, but he also finished strong, recording his first career interception in Week 17.

The rest of the 10-player draft class all contributed on different levels. Third-round pick Matt Peart served as a swing tackle most of the year. Fourth rounder Darnay Holmes excelled as a slot corner and Tae Crowder, Mr. Irrelvant as the final pick in the draft, ended up starting six games at linebacker due to injuries. Fifth rounder Shane Lemieux started nine games at guard.

Peart didn’t see a ton of time as a rookie, but he showed flashes of promise as a possible developmental tackle for an offensive line that has question marks at one, if not both, of the tackle positions. Holmes saw considerable defensive snaps and recorded an interception, but struggled in pass coverage not unlike other rookies selected in the same range. His athleticism and instincts make him a potential candidate for Year 2 improvement. Lemieux replaced Will Hernandez at the end of October after the Giants placed the veteran on the COVID-19 list. The rookie played so well, he held onto the job for the remainder of the season, giving New York a potential steal in the fifth round.

Seventh-round selection, DB Chris Williamson, was waived during the season and the other picks — linebackers Cam Brown, Carter Coughlin and T.J. Brunson — all saw their snaps increase as the season drew to a close.

Brown primarily played special teams, with just 87 of his 397 snaps coming on defense. Coughlin played special teams for most of the first half of the season before seeing his reps increase in the final five weeks, recording 15 tackles between Weeks 12 and 15. Brunson played almost entirely on special teams in a reserve role. Williamson was waived in early September and spent most of the season on the practice squad before the Giants released him in early December. He landed with the Falcons and signed a futures deal with Atlanta in January. Crowder was one of the NFL’s more productive Mr. Irrelevants, finishing with 57 tackles (three for loss), one sack, one pass defensed and a fumble recovery for a touchdown.

Shook also included two UDFAs in his grading — defensive end Niko Lalos and wide receiver Austin Mack.

Lalos was elevated from the practice squad late in the season and made a key play in his first NFL game, recording an interception in a narrow win over Cincinnati. Mack caught seven of his 11 targets for 91 yards and played more than 200 special-teams snaps.

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Giants upset Seahawks: Winners, losers and those in between

Here are the winners, losers and those in between from the New York Giants’ Week 13 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. 

Upset alert! The New York Giants pulled off an incomparable upset on the road over the Seattle Seahawks to improve to 5-7 and squeeze a tighter hold on their division.

What’s even more impressive? They were without quarterback Daniel Jones (hamstring), which meant veteran Colt McCoy got the start and won his first game since October 27th, 2014.

After being shutout in the first half, the running game came alive and Patrick Graham’s defense pitched a near perfect performance yet again as the Giants became the first team in the NFC East to beat an opponent with a winning record this year.

With today’s win, the Giants have now won four games in a row for the first time since 2016.

Here are the winners, losers and those in between from the Giants Week 13 upset over the Seahawks.

Giants defeat Seahawks, 17-12: Instant analysis

Instant analysis of the New York Giants’ 17-12 Week 13 victory over the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field.

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The New York Giants headed into their Week 13 matchup with the Seattle Seahawks 10.5-point underdogs and given very little chance after it was announced that Daniel Jones (hamstring) would be inactive.

That put veteran backup Colt McCoy under center as a starter for just the eighth time since 2012, and the Giants’ defense on the spot. McCoy did what he could and the defense absolutely balled out. The special teams, unfortunately, let the Giants down again in what suddenly became a very winnable game, as most Giants games have been this season.

This one was more than winnable. The Giants looked like a first-place team as they stepped up and bit the NFC West leaders on the road with a 17-12 victory, their fourth in a row. The win ensures they will remain in first place in the NFC East for at least one more week as Philadelphia lost to Green Bay and Washington, who plays Pittsburgh on Monday, cannot pass them with a win.

One thing was never in jeopardy and that was the point spread. The Seahawks never had more than a five-point lead in the game. That is when they did have the lead.

The Seahawks opened the game with a nine-play drive that stalled inside the 20 after back-to-back defended passes by cornerback Isaac Yiadom and safety Jabrill Peppers. Seattle took an early 3-0 lead on a 31-yard field goal by Jason Myers.  The Giants responded with an unimpressive three-and-out then rookie linebacker Tae Crowder sacked Russell Wilson on third down to force a punt.

The Giants’ offense picked up the pace on their second possession driving down to the Seattle 16 on 11 plays but ended abruptly when McCoy’s pass to tight end Evan Engram slipped through Engram’s fingers as he was hit and into the hands of Seahawks cornerback Quandre Diggs, who returned it 32 yards to the Seattle 36.

After two teams traded punts, Giants rookie defensive end Niko Lalos recovered a Wilson fumble on third down on the Giants’ 48 with a little over six minutes remaining in the first half. The Giants could do nothing, went three and out and punted again.

Seattle scored before the half when Riley Dixon had a punt blocked in the end zone for a safety to give the Seahawks a 5-0 halftime lead.

In the second half, the Giants finally found their legs on offense so to speak. On their second possession in the third quarter, they drove 80 yards on four plays, buoyed by Wayne Gallman’s 60-yard scamper down the right sideline. to the Seahawks’ 17. Two plays later Alfred Morris scored his first NFL touchdown since 2018 to give the Giants a 6-5 lead. McCoy then lobbed a pass to Sterling Shepard for the two-point conversion and an 8-5 lead for Big Blue.

After the Giants stopped Wilson and the Seahawks on fourth down near midfield, the running game got rolling again. This time Gallman and Morris led the Giants on another scoring drive ending with McCoy hitting Morris for a six-yard touchdown to give the Giants a 14-5 lead. Graham Gano missed the PAT, his first miss of the season.

With 11:21 remaining in the fourth quarter, Wilson threw the football into traffic and the ricochet landed in the arms of Giants rookie cornerback Darnay Holmes at the Seahawks’ 39. Four plays later, Gano’s 48-yard field goal extended the Giants’ lead to 17-5 with just under ten minutes to play.

Seattle bounced back with 6:09 remaining when Wilson hit running back Chris Carson for a 28-yard scoring strike to narrow the score to 17-12. The Seahawks would get one last shot to win the game when the Giants punted with 1:48 remaining. The defense once again made stand to preserve the lead and the win. From front to back they played lights out in this game.

Notes

  • Seattle was 5-0 this season at home and had been averaging 31.0 points per game through the first 12 weeks, which was third in the NFL. They were fifth in yards per game (391). Seattle fell short all of those averages, scoring only 12 points and gaining just 327 total yards in this game
  • The Giants entered the game averaging 142 yards per game on the ground over their last eight games. They racked up a season-high 190 yards against the Seahawks’ third-ranked rush defense.
  • Wilson started the day as the second-most sacked quarterback in the league  (35) and the Giants added to that total to 40 with five sacks, 2.5 by Leonard Williams.