Tag: Tomon Fox

Giants-Titans Week 1: Offense, defense and special teams snap counts

The New York Giants won their Week 1 game against the Tennessee Titans. Here are the snap counts on offense, defense and special teams.

The New York Giants kicked off the Brian Daboll era with an electrifying comeback victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday afternoon.

Big Blue rallied from 13 down in the third quarter to take a 21-20 lead on a gutsy two-point conversion late. The game was sealed when Titans kicker Randy Bullock sailed a potential game-winning field goal wide, giving the Giants their first opening weekend victory since 2016.

There’s a lot to break down and a lot to go over but before we look ahead, let’s look back. Here are the snap counts that contributed to the Giants’ victory.

Offensive snaps: 60
Defensive snaps: 65
Special teams snaps: 28

The Giants may have won the game but they’ll need more than 60 offensive snaps from here on out.

Kadarius Toney taking just seven snaps is curious and something head coach Brian Daboll will need to answer for. He’s stated that Toney is healthy and the second-year wideout certainly appeared to be in his fleeting moments on Sunday.

Undrafted rookie Tomon Fox securing 42 percent of the defensive snaps is certainly worth noting. He’s climbed the ladder quickly. Meanwhile, rookie cornerback Cor’Dale Flott logged just two special teams snaps.

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Baldy Breakdown: Giants’ Wink Martindale a ‘situational football’ expert

Brian Baldinger breaks down Wink Martindale’s approach in the final moments of a New York Giants victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

When New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll chose their coaching staff, a new era of Giants football began.

One of the bigger names on staff was Wink Martindale — Big Blue’s newest defensive coordinator who came over from the Baltimore Ravens.

Martindale’s play calling has already been highlighted through two preseason games and it seems to be frustrating opponents.

One thing we have seen so far during the preseason is that schematically, the Giants look better on both sides of the ball. And for the defense, there may be no greater example than the play that sealed the game on Sunday night against the Cincinnati Bengals.

With nine seconds left and the Giants up by three, the Bengals tried to gain a few more yards while getting out of bounce to set up for a game-tying field goal. The play was perfectly played by the Giants defense, securing the victory.

Brian Baldinger broke the play down:

Baldinger highlighted the prevent defense and situational football as the Giants had the sideline clearly covered. Despite being in a prevent coverage, they were still able to be aggressive when the play developed as Tomon Fox quickly closed on the ball carrier, causing a fumble and essentially ending the game.

With the young talent on defense, there is a lot for the Giants’ new defensive coordinator to utilize going forward. Clearly, Martindale and the Giants defense played that final play perfectly and hopefully this is something that continues into the regular season.

As we know, Martindale is known for his aggressive, blitz-happy defensive play calling and it seems as though he’s already showing signs of having his defense prepared.

The Giants have lost plenty of close games over the last few years, so this should give the team and fans some hope that those days are now behind them.

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Tomon Fox seals game two of the preseason for New York Giants

Undrafted rookie Tomon Fox made waves Sunday night after sealing a week two preseason victory for the New York Giants on a monstrous hit.

[autotag]Tomon Fox[/autotag] delivered a moment in the second preseason game for the New York Giants, sealing the victory Sunday night with a hit that echoed throughout MetLife.

The undrafted rookie out of UNC was the late game hero, delivering a monstrous hit to force Bengals wide receiver Trenton Irwin to cough up the ball, and ending the Bengals’ late attempt at a comeback drive. The Giants were up 25-22 with the Bengals at the 50-yard-line with nine seconds left in the game when quarterback Jake Browning tossed it to Irwin, looking to go up the sideline when Fox came in like a wrecking ball to cause the fumble.

Fox brought many hard hits to the UNC football program after spending six seasons there due to being awarded an extra year of eligibility from the Covid-19 pandemic.

In those years suiting for UNC, Fox finished with 179 total tackles, 44.5 tackles for loss, 30.5 sacks, one interception, and five forced fumbles.

Fox made the unofficial depth chart for the New York Giants, getting listed at the rush position behind Kayvon Thibodeaux, Oshane Ximines, and Quincy Roche.

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Highlights of former Tar Heels in action Week 2 of the NFL preseason

Take a look at what some of your favorite Tar Heels did in the NFL this past weekend with the NFL preseason officially underway.

The NFL regular season is near as week two of preseason football is behind us and one again some former North Carolina players made an impact.

This season should be fruitful for Carolina fans, as many former players are not only gearing up in the NFL but are written on a few depth charts as starters.

Mitch Trubisky is in the driver seat to lead the huddle this season in Pittsburgh, while Javonte Williams is set as the lead back in a split workload for the Denver Broncos.  Running back Ty Chandler looks to be making a case for a spot in Minnesota with 10 carries for a 6.9-yard average, and Antonio Williams looks to secure a spot with the New York Giants.

As the season continues, we will highlight some Tar Heels for break-out performances. Here are highlight plays from your favorite UNC players.

Giants defeat Bengals: Winners, losers and those in between

Here are the winners, losers and those in between from the New York Giants’ preseason Week 2 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

After a solid showing against the New England Patriots in Week 1 of the preseason, the New York Giants were back at it on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

Already down 18 players due to injury, the Giants quickly inflated that total. There were several notable injuries throughout the game, including to rookie edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux.

Back on the field, New York’s reserves struggled against the Cincinnati Bengals initially, but rebounded strong and closed things out on another Davis Webb comeback.

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.

Giants legend Lawrence Taylor a fan of undrafted rookie Tomon Fox

Retired New York Giants star Lawrence Taylor exudes praise for undrafted rookie linebacker Tomon Fox.

The 2022 NFL draft has come and gone and the New York Giants selected 11 rookies to bolster their depth chart, but that’s not the only place they’re finding players.

Tomon Fox was an undrafted free agent until the Giants signed the linebacker last week.

Fox completed six years of collegiate play at the University of North Carolina, the extra thanks the NCAA allowing athletes an added year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During his time at UNC, Fox  recorded179 tackles (44.5 for a loss), 30 sacks and five forced fumbles across 47 games played. His sack total ranks third in Tar Heel history behind Greg Ellis (32.5) and Julius Peppers (30.5).

Former Giant Lawrence Taylor, also a product of UNC, is apparently a big fan of Fox.

“I know he’s hardcore and not being drafted will make him work harder. He is a solid player from what I’ve seen,” Taylor told the New York Post.

The praise is not lost on Fox.

“That means a lot coming from him. He’s a well-respected guy. He has respect for me, I got respect for him, so that just means a lot,” Fox siaid.

Fox had nine sacks in his senior season at UNC, which got him to 30 on his career and pushed him past Taylor (21) for third-most behind the aforementioned Ellis and Peppers. Although he ranks higher, LT likes to remind Fox that he did it in two years and therefore remains the superior player.

It’s all in jest, of course, but no one should take lightly LT’s praise of Fox. Taylor was a beast in his time and is still considered the best defensive player in NFL history. He knows what it takes to be successful in the NFL, and has no problem telling people exactly what he thinks. So when he praises a young player, take note, he’s probably onto something.

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Giants officially sign 13 undrafted rookie free agents

The New York Giants have officially signed 13 undrafted rookie free agents ahead of their three-day minicamp.

The New York Giants will hold their three-day rookie minicamp beginning on Friday and that meant the arrival of many players on Thursday. It also meant the time had come to officially sign some contracts.

Following the NFL’s schedule release, the Giants officially announced the signing of 13 undrafted rookie free agents — many of whom we had been made aware of previously.

The 13 signees were as follows:

  • TE Austin Allen
  • DB Yusuf Corker
  • DT Jabari Ellis
  • DB Darren Evans
  • DB Zyon Gilbert
  • FB Jeremiah Hall
  • DT Christopher Hinton
  • TE Andre Miller
  • G Josh Rivas
  • DB Trenton Thompson
  • DT Antonio Valentino
  • RB Jashaun Corbin
  • EDGE Tomon Fox

In addition to those 13 players, the Giants have invited a slew of others for tryouts. And while those names have not yet been released, it’s expected that several NFL veterans will also be trying out for a spot on the 90-man roster.

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