The New York Giants are expected to add another former first-round pick this week after they came to terms with defensive lineman Danny Shelton, who they hope will help defray the loss of Dalvin Tomlinson earlier this month in free agency.
Shelton, the 12th overall selection out of Washington in the 2015 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns, has played in 87 games in his six-year NFL career with 72 starts, first for Cleveland, then with New England and Detroit.
Shelton is a wide-bodied nose/interior tackle that stands 6-feet-2 and weighs in at 335 pounds. The 27-year-old started the first 11 games of the 2020 season for the Detroit Lions last year before landing on injured reserve with a knee injury. He later returned in Week 17.
How does Shelton fit in with the Giants? Well, he played two seasons (2018-2019) in New England where current Giants head coach Joe Judge was the special teams coordinator. Shelton never played under defensive coordinator Patrick Graham but is a natural fit for what Graham does upfront.
The Giants need big bodies on the line and they don’t come much bigger than Shelton. He will step right into the D-line rotation with Dexter Lawrence, Austin Johnson, B.J Hill and, of course, Leonard Williams.
Shelton played on over 60 percent of the snaps in Detroit last season but the Giants won’t need him to play that many snaps. They are likely to add a lineman in the draft so Shelton will likely be playing less than half of those snaps, making him that much more effective.
