New York Giants

Giants' Johnathan Hankins could quietly emerge among league's best DTs in 2015

Published Jun. 30, 2015 12:48 p.m. ET

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In his second season in the NFL, defensive tackle Jonathan Hankins emerged as arguably the New York Giants' second-best defensive player, behind only Jason Pierre-Paul. Hankins' raw and advanced stats during the 2014 season were equally as impressive.

Hankins finished with 7.0 sacks and 51 tackles in 2014. According to Pro Football Focus' game charters, he had the eighth-most defensive stops against the run of all defensive tackles. They also charted him with eight sacks, six quarterbacks hits, 21 quarterback pressures and three batted passes.

When they drafted Hankins in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft, the Giants expected him to be a dominant run stopper at the one-technique defensive tackle position in their 4-3 base. What they didn't expect was his pass rushing ability to each such a high level at this early stage of his career.

“He really surprised a lot of people with his pass rush,” said Giants defensive line coach Robert Nunn, per Giants.com. “Everybody thought that he was a run stopper coming out but those sacks were legit. He had some legit numbers and a lot of quarterback hits and pressures, came up big in some key situations and I really like where Hank is.

“He has got to continue to improve with technique. That is where his big improvement has got to be going into training camp but I think that it is a very good situation. He has got a chance to be a solid player for a very long time in this league.”

In new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo's aggressive scheme, Hankins is likely to be placed in more situations where his task will be to get after the passer. Hankins finished as Pro Football Focus' 69th-best player in 2014, and on this trajectory, he seems like a lock to crack their top 50 after the 2015 season.

(h/t New York Giants)

Photo Credit: Andrew Weber/USA TODAY Sports