New York Giants: Kenrick Ellis Easily Top Offseason Signing

During the New York Giants 2007 Super Bowl run, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was handed a remarkably talented defensive line. One so good that it allowed Spagnuolo to have great success using his 4-3 defense.

For those who may have missed it, Spagnuolo is back with Giants; coming over from the Baltimore Ravens where he was their secondary coach. I believe that once again, he will attempt to make the defensive line the center piece of his defense.

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Signing defensive tackle Kenrick Ellis will very much help the Giants in getting back to the unique success that Spagnuolo was able to orchestrate during the 2007 season. With having a solid front four defensive line in place that can get to passer, Ellis will go a long way in making sure that the Giants bring the pressure to opposing teams.

The 2015 Giants may not have Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, Mathias Kiwanuka, or the great Michael Strahan, but I am here to tell you that the recent signing of Ellis will prove to be much more impactful than it may first appear on the surface.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that this will be the best Giants defensive line of the Tom Coughlin era. I do believe however that with already having young, upstart players like Damontre Moore and Johnathan Hankins to go along with Jason Pierre-Paul, Ellis will help comprise a really solid and talented defensive line.

I should note that I predict Moore, and Hankins improving on their solid 2014 campaigns. Both are very young, promising players that bring much to the table. Getting back to Ellis, signing him fills a significant hole up front for Spagnuolo.

I for one, no longer have faith in Cullen Jenkins producing at an adequate level for the Giants in 2015. In the contrary, I see Ellis as an absolute gem of a find for general manager Jerry Reese. I expect to see Ellis starting at defensive tackle come opening day.

Nov 24, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; New York Jets defensive end Kenrick Ellis (93) against the Buffalo Bills at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Ellis is a 27-year-old, former third round pick of the New York Jets. Ellis primary played nose tackle for them and was mostly a backup. He’s an exceptionally talented player that has tremendous upside. As for why he didn’t excel with the Jets, there simply wasn’t any room on the line for Ellis. The Jets are loaded with talent at the defensive tackle position.

Again, the idea here is that Ellis will succeed alongside of Moore, Hankins and Pierre-Paul. I believe this group will feed off each other. It would be remiss of me to fail to mention that the linchpin to all this happening is Pierre-Paul playing up to his capabilities.

Nevertheless, motivation and a back injury seem to be the only things that have ever held Pierre-Paul back from being great. Assuming he stays healthy, we should expect nothing other than great play for the recently franchise tagged, star defensive end.

Overall, if things work out like I believe they will, this little talked about signing could just prove to be the best move Reese has made in years.

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