NY Giants get excellent news on Leonard Williams injury front
The NY Giants had a scare with Leonard Williams’ hamstring injury early on in camp but he returned to action on Friday and is ready to roll.
One of the NY Giants’ most polarizing players is back in action at practice on Friday, as defensive lineman, Leonard Williams returned from his stint on the injured list due to a bum hamstring.
This is a make it or break it year for Leonard Williams as he is being paid way above his pay grade but he has a chance to finally show the potential that we all know he has.
As much as I’ll never get over how Dave Gettleman chose to acquire Williams, he’s going to be a huge part of the Big Blue defense this year and he needs to be getting all the reps he can get in this shortened training camp.
Most importantly, new defensive coordinator, Patrick Graham needs to get plenty of looks at what Williams can do and where he can do it as he is as versatile as a defensive lineman as one can be.
Most NY Giants fans believe the defensive line will be the strong suit of the defense and for that to happen Williams is finally going to have to break out of his shell and actually start making actual football plays.
While there is no other way to describe his 2019 hard stat line than pathetic, Williams’ presence did seem to have a positive effect on his linemates, particularly Dalvin Tomlinson who had a career year and once Williams arrived he really took off.
When you add in 2019 first-round pick Dexter Lawrence, the NY Giants really might have something cooking along the defensive line for years to come which will set the rest of the defense up for success.
It’s time for Leonard Williams to make real football plays for the NY Giants
Leonard Williams defenders will point to his analytical stats such as pressures and double-team winning percentage, but if you’re making $16M per year you’ve got to give the NY Giants more than that in 2020.
Patrick Graham is expected to run a 3-4 base but has mentioned several times that he will run ‘multiple’ looks and change up the scheme from down to down on occasion. If that’s the case, I would expect Williams’ sack numbers to go up as he would be facing less double teams.
While Williams did rack up 6 QB hurries, 10 QB knockdowns, and 16 pressures, sooner or later he’s going to have to start getting all the way home. In two of his six NFL seasons, he’s had less than 5 combined sacks and tackles for losses which is flat out atrocious as he’s never missed a game due to injury.
For whatever reason, he hasn’t been able to unleash the potential we all know he has and saw when he came out in the 2015 draft where he was at one point thought to be a possible top 2-3 pick, so hopefully, Patrick Graham mixes it up and puts him in positions where he can make plays instead of being a double-team eater.
dark. Next. Which Giant are hurt the most by no preseason action?
Hopefully, Leonard Williams busts out in a major way as the NY Giants need star power on the defensive side of the ball and he certainly has the potential to be that guy at just 26-years-old.