By no fault of his own, New York Giants rookie defensive tackle Bobby Jamison-Travis has left us quite puzzled.
Jamison-Travis arrived in New York as a sixth-round pick, one who would almost certainly spend his rookie season developing behind veterans D.J. Reader, Roy-Robertson Harris, and Shelby Harris.
Then, Robertson-Harris went down with a likely season-ending Achilles tear, and some Giants fans understandably believed Jamison-Travis would immediately benefit.
Organized team activities came and went without Jamison-Travis climbing the depth chart, which isn’t necessarily concerning.
However, the odd part is how divided the national media is over whether Jamison-Travis will contribute as a rookie.
Bobby Jamison-Travis is the center of an intriguing Giants storyline
Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport recently listed who he believes are six “underrated” rookies, most of whom were selected in the fourth round or later.
Normally, it wouldn’t be too noteworthy that Davenport didn’t include Jamison-Travis, especially after he spent OTAs working with the third-string defense.
Shortly before Robertson-Harris’ injury, ESPN’s Field Yates featured Jamison-Travis among 10 defensive rookies, all of whom were selected outside the first round, who he believes will provide an immediate impact.
Yates has essentially been on an island of his own, because similar stories and rankings, such as Davenport’s, typically haven’t even given Jamison-Travis an honorable mention.
To be clear, that’s not a criticism of Davenport or other NFL writers. It’s nonetheless interesting that a prominent NFL analyst was so overly high on Jamison-Travis, which in itself may have generated extra hype about the Auburn product.
But the lack of a consensus view on Jamison-Travis is true for many Day 3 picks. Longtime draft analyst Lance Zierlein called Jamison-Travis a bottom-of-the-roster player in a pre-draft scouting report and expected him to go unselected.
It is too early to know whether Jamison-Travis will have a realistic opportunity to crack the Giants’ second-team defense in training camp. Shortly after Robertson-Harris’ injury, the Giants signed veteran defensive tackle Josh Tupou, who played for John Harbaugh and defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson in Baltimore.
Luckily for the Giants, Harris and Reader are both healthy and remain the projected Week 1 starters.
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