Both NY Giants Tuck and Kiwanuka Make Top 5 Pass Rushing Productivity Ranking
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Well, Eagles RB LeSean McCoy was right along along. Osi Umenyiora IS the 3rd best DE on the Giants roster according to a new report out by Pro Football Focus today.
But this is actually good news and you’ll soon see why. The ranking is an interesting one — it’s not total pressures mind you, another ranking that Umenyiora did not appear on although Tuck did. It’s Pass Rushing Productivity ranking which calculates pass rushing snaps divided by QB pressures. In other words when you lined up to get pressure on 3rd and 4th downs from 2008-2010, did you? The result is pretty amazing for the Giants – with Justin Tuck being the #2 overall most productive, and Mathias Kiwanuka ranking #5 a bit further down the list. It includes both DE’s and LB’s too.
(Click on the image to zoom in)
If you’re looking for a reason for the Giants to re-sign Kiwanuka to a one year deal even though Umenyiora had a monster 2010 campaign — this is it. Kiwanuka has quietly produced more pressures per snap than virtually every other DE and LB in professional football. Justin Tuck was even better, nearly the best. For those that want to switch to a 3-4 because you get more sacks — can it for a second. What does it tell you about the Giants talent and their 4-3 scheme that out of 5 players, the Giants have 2 of them as the most productive in the league — with Tuck out ranking James Harrison of all people? And Kiwi is only slightly behind? And Demarcus Ware is down at the bottom of the list at #10?
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Aside from that, just imagine that Giants D-line if Kiwi never got hurt — wow that would have been something scary. Maybe can happen though in 2011. Dare to dream….