NFL Network's Charley Casserly's top EDGE prospects
The Giants defense played well last season, finishing the year ranked ninth in the NFL in points allowed (22.3) and 12th in yards allowed (349.3) per game.
While most of the defense will be returning in 2021, the Giants may still look to add to its depth at a few positions, including at edge rusher.
NFL Network analyst Charley Casserly spoke about a few of his favorite EDGE prospects in this year's NFL Draft, starting with Michigan's Kwity Paye.
Paye played in just four games in 2020, finishing with 16 tackles (12 solo), two sacks and four tackles for loss on his way to being named Second-Team All-Big Ten. It was the second consecutive season he earned Second-Team All-Big Ten honors after racking up 6.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss in 12 games as a junior.
"He's my number one rusher," Casserly said about Paye. "The most explosive rusher in this draft. I've seen him win outside with speed, inside with quickness. I've seen him line up right across at every position on the defensive line, defensive tackle and defensive end. I see him using his hands playing the run, can slip some blocks."
Casserly's other top edge defenders include a pair of Miami pass rushers- Jaelan Phillips and Gregory Rousseau.
Phillips transferred to Miami after two seasons at UCLA. In his first campaign with the Hurricanes in 2020, Phillips recorded eight sacks, 15.5 tackles for loss, one interception and three passes defensed to go with 45 tackles (21 solo). He was named Second-Team All-ACC, AP Second-Team All-American and AFCA First-Team All-American.
"He's my second-rater pass rusher here..." Casserly said. "I see him with speed on the outside, I've seen quick inside moves, I see potential there. He sets the edge very well."
Rousseau shined in his only full season at Miami back in 2019. In 13 games, Rousseau registered 15.5 sacks, 19.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one pass defended, along with his 54 tackles (34 solo). His 15.5 sacks were the second-most in the nation behind only Ohio State's Chase Young. His accolades for the 2019 season include First-Team All-ACC, Second-Team All-American, Freshman All-American and ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Casserly likes what he's seen on tape from Rousseau, describing him as "athletic, quick, shows potential."
NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah updated his ranking of the top 50 prospects in the 2021 NFL Draft for the final time before the start of the draft.
No. 50 Georgia CB Eric Stokes
No. 49 Oregon S Jevon Holland
No. 48 LSU WR Terrace Marshall Jr.
No. 47 Notre Dame OT Liam Eichenberg
No. 46 Penn State TE Pat Freiermuth
No. 45 Wisconsin-Whitewater IOL Quinn Meinerz
No. 44 Oklahoma EDGE Ronnie Perkins
No. 43 Alabama DT Christian Barmore
No. 42 Houston EDGE Payton Turner
No. 41 Minnesota WR Rashod Bateman
No. 40 Alabama IOL Landon Dickerson
No. 39 Florida State CB Asante Samuel Jr.
No. 38 Virginia Tech OT Christian Darrisaw
No. 37 North Dakota State OT Dillon Radunz
No. 36 Oklahoma State OT Teven Jenkins
No. 35 Michigan OT Jalen Mayfield
No. 34 Missouri LB Nick Bolton
No. 33 Washington EDGE Joe Tryon
No. 32 Alabama QB Mac Jones
No. 31 Penn State EDGE Jayson Oweh
No. 30 Georgia EDGE Azeez Ojulari
No. 29 Washington DT Levi Onwuzurike
No. 28 Florida WR Kadarius Toney
No. 27 Northwestern CB Greg Newsome II
No. 26 Mississippi WR Elijah Moore
No. 25 North Carolina RB Javonte Williams
No. 24 Tulsa LB Zaven Collins
No. 23 Kentucky LB Jamin Davis
No. 22 Virginia Tech CB Caleb Farley
No. 21 Miami EDGE Jaelan Phillips
No. 20 Alabama RB Najee Harris
No. 19 Clemson RB Travis Etienne
No. 18 Miami EDGE Gregory Rousseau
No. 17 Michigan EDGE Kwity Paye
No. 16 TCU S Trevon Moehrig
No. 15 Notre Dame LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
No. 14 South Carolina CB Jaycee Horn
No. 13 USC OL Alijah Vera-Tucker
No. 12 Penn State LB Micah Parsons
No. 11 Oregon OT Penei Sewell
No. 10 Northwestern OT Rashawn Slater
No. 9 Alabama CB Patrick Surtain II
No. 8 Ohio State QB Justin Fields
No. 7 North Dakota State QB Trey Lance
No. 6 Alabama WR DeVonta Smith
No. 5 Alabama WR Jaylen Waddle
No. 4 BYU QB Zach Wilson
No. 3 LSU WR Ja'Marr Chase
No. 2 Florida TE Kyle Pitts
No. 1 Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence
Giants release WR Golden Tate, LB David Mayo
The Giants today announced the release of veteran wide receiver Golden Tate and linebacker David Mayo.
Tate, 32, played the past two of his 11 NFL seasons with the Giants. He joined the team as a free agent on March 14, 2019, played in 23 games with 14 starts and caught 84 passes for 1,064 yards (12.7-yard avg.) and eight touchdowns.
In 2020, Tate played in 12 games with four starts. He was inactive for the season opener vs. Pittsburgh (hamstring), at Washington on Nov. 8 (coach's decision) and the season's final two games (calf injury). Tate caught 35 passes for 388 yards and two touchdowns and completed one of two passes for 18 yards.
Tate started 10 of the 11 games in which he played in his first season with the Giants in 2019, when he had 49 receptions for 676 yards and six touchdowns. The latter two totals were each the second highest on the team.
Tate had a long reception of 64 yards at New England on Oct. 10, 2019, when he had his Giants-best 102 yards. His other high totals were eight catches at Detroit on Oct. 27, 2019 and two touchdowns at the Jets two weeks later. Tate also averaged 9.4 yards on 14 punt returns.
Mayo, 27, joined the Giants six days before the start of the 2019 season and in two seasons played in 27 games with 15 starts. His totals included 100 tackles (62 solo), including 2.5 sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
In 2020, Mayo tore the meniscus in his left knee, underwent surgery and spent the season's first five weeks on injured reserve. He played in each of the final 11 games, starting two, and led the Giants with nine special teams tackles (six solo). On defense, he had 20 tackles (12 solo), including two for loss and forced one fumble.
Mayo debuted with the Giants the previous season, when he played in all 16 games, including starts in each of the last 13. He tied for second on the team with a career-best 80 tackles (50 solo), including his first two career sacks.
Prior to joining the Giants, Mayo played four seasons for the Carolina Panthers and was in training camp in 2019 with the San Francisco 49ers.
View NFL.com's updated rankings of the top 101 free agents of 2021 ahead of the new league year, which begins March 17.
No. 101 QB Mitchell Trubisky
No. 100 EDGE Everson Griffen
No. 99 DT Al-Quadin Muhammad
No. 98 CB Chidobe Awuzie (Update: The Cincinnati Bengals have reportedly agreed to a deal with Awuzie.)
No. 97 EDGE Kerry Hyder
No. 96 WR Breshad Perriman
No. 95 RB James White
No. 94 DT Kawann Short
No. 93 RB James Conner
No. 92 S Kareem Jackson
No. 91 TE Dan Arnold
No. 90 DT Lawrence Guy
No. 89 WR Emmanuel Sanders
No. 88 CB Troy Hill
No. 87 S Malik Hooker
No. 86 EDGE Takkarist McKinley (The Cleveland Browns have reportedly agreed to a deal with McKinley.)
No. 85 G Kyle Long
No. 84 CB Casey Hayward Jr.
No. 83 CB Quinton Dunbar
No. 82 NT Tyson Alualu Update: The Jacksonville Jaguars have agreed to a deal with Alualu.)
No. 81 DE Derek Wolfe (Update: The Baltimore Ravens have agreed to a three-year deal with Wolfe.)
No. 80 OT Kelvin Beachum (Update: The Arizona Cardinals have agreed to a two-year deal with Beachum).
No. 79 RB Marlon Mack
No. 78 CB Bashaud Breeland
No. 77 QB Tyrod Taylor
No. 76 EDGE Aldon Smith
No. 75 DB Desmond King II
No. 74 OT Alejandro Villanueva
No. 73 RB Duke Johnson
No. 72 TE Gerald Everett
No. 71 OT Riley Reiff
No. 70 S Keanu Neal
No. 69 DT Sheldon Rankins
No. 68 WR Cordarrelle Patterson
No. 67 C Austin Reiter
No. 66 S Xavier Woods
No. 65 LB Kyle Van Noy
No. 64 DT Ndamukong Suh
No. 63 DT Larry Ogunjobi
No. 62 CB Patrick Peterson
No. 61 RB Kenyan Drake
No. 60 CB K'Waun Williams
No. 59 S Jaquiski Tartt
No. 58 NT DaQuan Jones
No. 57 CB Janoris Jenkins
No. 56 WR Antonio Brown
No. 55 QB Jacoby Brissett
No. 54 CB Michael Davis (Update: The Los Angeles Chargers have agreed to a multi-year deal with Davis.)
No. 53 CB Xavier Rhodes
No. 52 WR Sammy Watkins
No. 51 CB Richard Sherman
No. 50 DE Denico Autry
No. 49 WR Marvin Jones (Update: The Jacksonville Jaguars have agreed to a deal with Jones.)
No. 48 WR John Brown
No. 47 CB Malcolm Butler
No. 46 WR Nelson Agholor (Update: The New England Patriots have reportedly agreed to a deal with Agholor.)
No. 45 TE Rob Gronkowski
No. 44 LB K.J. Wright
No. 43 OT Eric Fisher
No. 42 RB Chris Carson
No. 41 EDGE Melvin Ingram
No. 40 CB Mike Hilton (Update: The Cincinnati Bengals have reportedly agreed to a deal with Hilton.)
No. 39 S Anthony Harris
No. 38 C David Andrews
No. 37 QB Andy Dalton
No. 36 CB Adoree' Jackson
No. 35 EDGE Carlos Dunlap
No. 34 WR T.Y. Hilton
No. 33 CB Ronald Darby (Update: The Denver Broncos have reportedly agreed to a deal with Darby.)
No. 32 CB Jason Verrett
No. 31 LB Jayon Brown
No. 30 EDGE Haason Reddick
No. 29 EDGE Justin Houston
No. 28 C Rodney Hudson
No. 27 DE Shelby Harris (Update: The Denver Broncos have agreed to a three-year deal with Harris.)
No. 26 OT Mitchell Schwartz
No. 25 CB William Jackson (Update: The Washington Football Team has agreed to terms with Jackson.)
No. 24 EDGE Leonard Floyd (Update: The Los Angeles Rams have agreed to a four-year deal with Floyd.)
No. 23 S John Johnson (Update: The Cleveland Browns have reportedly agreed to a deal with Johnson.)
No. 22 DL Dalvin Tomlinson (The Minnesota Vikings have agreed to a deal with Tomlinson.)
No. 21 WR Corey Davis (Update: The New York Jets have reportedly agreed to a deal with Davis.)
No. 20 EDGE Romeo Okwara (Update: The Detroit Lions have signed Okwara to a multi-year deal.)
No. 19 QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (Update: The Washington Football Team have reportedly agreed to a deal with Fitzpatrick.)
No. 18 CB Shaquill Griffin (Update: The Jacksonville Jaguars have agreed to a deal with Griffin.)
No. 17 TE Hunter Henry (Update: The New England Patriots have reportedly agreed to a deal with Henry.)
No. 16 TE Jonnu Smith (Update: The New England Patriots have reportedly agreed to a deal with Smith.)
No. 15 WR JuJu Smith-Schuster
No. 14 WR Curtis Samuel
No. 13 QB Jameis Winston (Update: The New Orleans Saints have agreed to a one-year contract with Winston.)
No. 12 WR Will Fuller
No. 11 EDGE Yannick Ngakoue
No. 10 C Corey Linsley
No. 9 EDGE Matt Judon (Update: The New England Patriots have reportedly agreed to a deal with Judon.)
No. 8 G Joe Thuney
No. 7 EDGE Jadeveon Clowney
No. 6 WR Kenny Golladay
No. 5 EDGE Carl Lawson (Update: The New York Jets have reportedly agreed to a deal with Lawson.)
No. 4 EDGE Trey Hendrickson (Update: The Cincinnati Bengals have reportedly agreed to a deal with Hendrickson.)
No. 3 EDGE Bud Dupree
No. 2 EDGE Shaquil Barrett (Update: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have signed Barrett to a multi-year deal.)
No. 1 OT Trent Williams
Joint Statement from MLB, MLS, NBA, NHL, NFL and WNBA
The study published today by JAMA Cardiology is an illustration of the collaboration amongst medical experts at MLB, MLS, NBA, NHL, NFL and WNBA and our respective players associations over the past year. Since the onset of the pandemic, we have worked more closely together than ever to share lessons learned to ensure the best possible care for players.
As part of that ongoing collaboration, each league implemented a similar cardiac screening program for athletes with prior COVID-19 infection. The screening programs, which are based on American College of Cardiology recommendations, are used to detect serious conditions resulting from the virus and help promote an athlete's safe return to play after COVID-19 infection.
Using de-identified data from the six leagues, the peer-reviewed study published today found very few cases of inflammatory heart disease and that a return to professional sports following COVID-19 infection can be safely achieved using this return to play screening program. In this study of 789 COVID-19 positive athletes from across our leagues, evidence of inflammatory heart disease was identified in 0.6% of athletes. The study also found no adverse cardiac events occurring in the athletes who underwent cardiac screening and subsequently resumed professional sport participation. The study additionally reflects the care provided by club medical and athletic training staffs who contributed to the study.
As with other lessons professional sports have learned about COVID-19, the results of this study are being shared broadly to continue to contribute to the growing body of knowledge about the virus – a commitment we collectively share with each other and our players for the benefit of society beyond sports.
