Breaking: Giants Set To Replace Leonard Williams With Former First-Round Draft Pick
Trading Leonard Williams to the Seattle Seahawks has left a sizeable hole at the heart of the defensive line for the New York Giants. Dominant nose tackle Dexter Lawrence II is trying to fill it when healthy, but he needs help, something the Giants can acquire by signing former first-round draft pick Sheldon Rankins in 2024 NFL free agency.
The Houston Texans’ starter’s a good fit for the Giants, according to Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus: “Rankins signed a one-year contract with the Texans in free agency and is earning a career-high 73.0 pass-rush grade through Week 13. Rankins was productive in two seasons playing at MetLife with the New York Jets, so he could transition back to New York fairly seamlessly playing for the Giants.”
Rankins makes sense for the Giants because he’s an interior lineman who can alter the line of scrimmage and pressure the pocket. Williams did both of those things well during roughly five years with Big Blue.
Replacing Williams with Rankins would help keep Lawrence playing at an All-Pro level. The move would also make amends for some recent flops at the position acquired by general manager Joe Schoen in the veteran market.
Sheldon Rankins Playing Career-Best Football
As Spielberger pointed out, Rankins is posting the best pass-rush grade of his career. The player drafted 12th overall by the New Orleans Saints in 2016 has recorded four sacks this season, with three of those takedowns coming during a monster game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 10, per PFF HOU Texans.
Getting to the passer has never been a problem for Rankins. The veteran of three teams enjoyed his most prolific season back in 2018, when he notched eight sacks.
Aside from the sacks, Rankins got “home with a pressure once on every 8.9 pass-rush snaps,” per PFF.
A torn Achilles, followed by an ankle sprain, wrecked Rankins’ 2019 campaign, but his injury history needn’t worry the Giants. He’s appeared in 52 games since 2019 and is arguably at his peak headed into free agency next year.
Rankins hitting the market is timely for the Giants, who missed the target twice when looking for D-tackle help last offseason.
Giants Lack Quality Replacements for Leonard Williams
Schoen did well to get a ‘24 second-round pick and a 2025 fifth-rounder when he sent Williams to Seattle on October 31. What didn’t work so well was Schoen’s foray into free agency for defensive tackles earlier this year.
The search yielded Super Bowl winners A’Shawn Robinson and Rakeem Nunez-Roches. Neither of whom have performed up to billing this season.
Both have played barely over 40 percent of the Giants’ defensive snaps, according to Pro Football Reference. They have combined for just 25 solo tackles and yielded no sacks.
Robinson and Nunez-Roches not making the grade has left Lawrence doing too much by himself. No. 97 can handle the load most of the time, the way Lawrence did against the Washington Commanders in Week 11 in a performance highlighted by Nick Falato of SB Nation’s Big Blue View.
Lawrence is still dominant, but the Giants’ defense would be special with another difference maker next to him along the interior. Rankins fits the bill as a proven commodity who would feast when Lawrence is double-teamed and eventually ensure opponents can’t gang up on the Giants’ best defensive player as often.
