The New York Giants have needed more production out of their inside linebackers for several season now. They thought they had it last year when rookie Ryan Connelly came in and flashed, but he was soon lost for the year to a torn ACL.
In free agency this year, they decided to invest in Green Bay’s Blake Martinez, one of the league’s top tacklers since coming into the NFL as a fourth-round draft pick out of Stanford in 2016.
Martinez is walking into a great situation with the Giants. He knows the defensive system being installed by new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, having played under him in Green Bay in 2018.
“Martinez gives us a guy that has played in the system for Pat Graham and will get us lined up,” said general manager Dave Gettleman. “I think that this scheme is going to fit him better.”
Experts have not exactly chimed in because the Giants’ defense has been so bad in recent years, one player isn’t likely to move the needle very much.
Cynthia Frelund of NFL.com believes Martinez, a bona fide tackling machine with 443 total tackles to his credit over the last three seasons, will be much improved this season. Translation: he’s going to be active.
Next Gen Stats show that, as a Packer last season, Martinez made a tackle on 15.8 percent of his snaps (third-highest rate in the NFL among those with a minimum of 500 defensive snaps). The Giants’ defense, especially in the middle, will rely on Martinez’s effective play, likely requiring him to make even more tackles than the Packers’ defense required of him last season.
That will depend largely on the development of defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. If Lawrence becomes a master run-stuffer in the middle, the Giants will benefit, but at the same time, it is comforting to know that they have a strong spine on defense with Lawrence, Martinez and safeties Jabrill Peppers and Xavier McKinney up the middle.
