Big Blue View
New York Giants third-round selection Darius Alexander set career highs in snaps played and pressures on Sunday vs. the New Orleans Saints. Alexander played 27 snaps with a pair of pressures and a tackle for loss in the Giants’ 26-14 loss. Alexander, though, did have a quarterback hit that resulted in an interception, which was negated by Tae Banks’ defensive pass interference penalty — no surprise.
Nevertheless, the Giants are starting to see a return on their investment. Prescient as ever, defensive line coach Andre Patterson was confident in his declaration that Alexander will be a player in due time; we may be witnessing those early signs right now.
Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen was asked about Darius Alexander in Monday’s press conference; here is that exchange:
QUESTION: Darius Alexander was a healthy scratch week one and now it seems like he’s making some plays. What do you see from his kind of rapid development and do you attribute any of that to maybe lighting a fire under him?
BOWEN: Yeah, I think for anybody, not being out there is probably the best motivator that we have. To his credit, he has worked his butt off and we’ve seen it in practice week in and week out, the development, the growth, using his skill set, using his length. Got a lot of trust in him right now with how he’s playing. He’s been doing it consistently. It hasn’t been a flash in the pan, one-time thing. So, like the trajectory he’s going. Credit to him, he’s worked and he’s overcame where he was early on in the year and he’s taken strides and I think he’s improving every week.
Alexander’s trajectory of development has slowly tilted upward after his injury-plagued off-season that rendered him inactive in Week 1. Alexander has five pressures on 62 pass-rushing reps with two stops, three tackles, and four hurries. Here are all of Alexander’s plays from Week 5:
The Giants needed a defensive lineman to step up with Dexter Lawrence ailing. Two of Alexander’s best pass-rushing reps came on his first two attempts:
On third-and-11, the Saints’ first actual third-down attempt, Alexander hits guard Trevor Penning (70) with a bull-rush from the 4-technique position. Alexander got Penning on ice-skates and worked the half-man to the outside, stressing the edge of Penning into the pocket. Penning grabbed cloth and held Alexander, impeding his ability to turn the corner, as Spencer Rattler (2) maneuvered to his right and delivered an incomplete pass that was knocked down by Jevon Holland (8).
The Giants lost this football game — no excuses. However, the Saints were holding the Giants’ defenders all game. Nevertheless, Alexander did enough to force Rattler to step aside in the pocket and eye down his receiver long enough to allow Holland to break down on the crossing route and get his hand on the football. Alexander’s next pass rep came on a third-and-5 opportunity that would have been intercepted if Tae...
