For years the New York Giants have been known for having the deepest and best Defensive Line in the NFL. Players like Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, and Jason Pierre-Paul have terrorized opposing quarterbacks and have formed the defensive foundation for two Super Bowl Champions. Of course they didn’t all play together as Strahan retired before JPP became a force, but in making these type of replacements the Giants continued to be a force in the trenches.
However that line seems to have taken a hit this offseason. Osi Umenyiora is now a member of the Atlanta Falcons, departing the Giants as a free agent. While that was expected, the Giants now have a bigger problem. This week Jason Pierre-Paul was forced to undergo back surgery to repair a herniated disc in his lower back.
Pierre-Paul released the following statement on the Giants Website:
“My back has been bothering me for a while, and even last season I played through some back issues. The treatment I’ve been doing has helped manage the issue, but this procedure is going to get me fully healthy and there should be no more pain. I’m going to do everything the doctors tell me to do during my rehab so I can be back playing the game I love at a high level as quickly as possible.”
The team has said that the minimum recovery time for this type of surgery is 12 weeks, and even head coach Tom Coughlin has admitted that Pierre-Paul may miss the Giants’ opening week game with the Dallas Cowboys as the rehab and recovery from back surgery will take time.
Pierre-Paul’s injury clearly creates a rather large hole on the Defensive Line for the G-Men. However the Giants’, as always, have a plan to fill that gap on their defensive line. When Umenyiora left, the Giants asked Mathias Kiwanuka to add a little more weight to his frame and prepare to go back on the defensive line. Kiwanuka last played DE on a full time basis in the 2008 season. In 2009 he began rotating between defensive end and outside linebacker and in recent years he became a full time linebacker. However Kiwanuka has never been as effective as a linebacker as he was at defensive end and this move couldn’t have come at a better time for the Giants.
While the original plan was to use Kiwanuka as a backup (but playing a lot of plays in a rotation with Pierre – Paul and Tuck), the JPP news could have him in the starting lineup on September 8, 2013. He will need to come up big for the Giants, especially early in the season, as they will need to make up for the slack caused by the loss of JPP who is arguably the best defensive player on the team. Still in Kiwanuka, the Giants are filling the hole with and experienced player and one who has produced at the NFL level. Its this depth and the ability to compensate when injuries occur that has helped to make the Giants a model franchise in the NFL.
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photo credit: Chris Pusateri Photography via photopin cc
