Giants Release Former Fifth-Round Draft Pick

After three disappointing seasons, where he struggled to stay on the field, the Giants officially released defensive linemen RJ McIntosh on Wednesday, per his agent Drew Rosenhaus, who told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

After not appearing in a game last season, McIntosh’s release comes as no surprise, given the fact that he had been buried on the Giants’ depth chart, making him a long shot to crack the roster in training camp.

McIntosh was a fifth-round pick in 2018 out of the University of Miami. He was also apart of Dave Gettleman’s first draft class as general manager of the New York Giants.

However, McIntosh was diagnosed with a thyroid condition during the NFL Combine, which landed him on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury List (NFI). This issue pretty much derailed his rookie year by limiting him to just six games.

McIntosh’s best season came back in 2019, where he gave the Giants two sacks, 13 total tackles and two tackles for a loss in 12 games.

Unfortunately, McIntosh only appeared in 18 career games for the Giants from 2018-19, recording 18 tackles, two sacks and three quarterback hits. The 25-year-old was a healthy scratch in all 16 games last year.

Disappointing 2018 Draft Class

At this point, Gettleman’s 2018 draft class is looking like a major disappointment. The Giants had a total of six picks and two of them are no longer with the team in McIntosh, and their fourth-round selection in quarterback Kyle Lauletta.

Beyond the latter two, running back Saquon Barkley, who was the No. 2 overall pick in ’18, has missed 17 games in the last two seasons, following a monstrous rookie campaign. Second-round choice in guard Will Hernandez has regressed since a promising first season, and so has third-rounder B.J. Hill.

The Giants’ additional third-round pick of this class was Lorenzo Carter, who has shown flashes at times as an edge rusher, but has not taken the jump after recording 4.5 sacks in his first year.

To be fair, Carter was off to a solid campaign for the Giants last season, until a torn achilles tendon suffered in Week 5, foiled the remainder of his third year as a pro.

Giants’ Defensive Line Projection

After losing standout defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson to free agency, along with the release of McIntosh, the Giants’ defensive line is a bit thinner than we are used to seeing since Gettleman took over.

While they did re-sign Leonard Williams to a three-year, $63 million deal in the offseason after a breakout 2020 season, Dexter Lawrence is the only other returning starter in this group.

Lawrence has certainly shown a ton of promise since the Giants drafted him at No. 17 overall in the 2019 NFL draft, but beyond the Clemson product and Williams, Austin Johnson will now be asked to fill into the vacant nose tackle spot with the departure of Tomlinson.

The depth of this unit isn’t the strongest either. Although Johnson was solid as a backup last year, it is uncertain of what he will give the Giants as a starter. And with Johnson no longer being used as a reserve, the Giants signed Danny Shelton, who started 12 games for the Detroit Lions last season, producing a sack, two quarterback hits, two tackles for a loss and 37 total tackles.

Shelton missed the final four games of the 2020 season with a knee injury. However, he does have familiarity with head coach Joe Judge, who he spent two seasons in New England with as a member of the Patriots from 2018-19. Shelton’s best campaign came in his final season in Foxborough, where he recorded a career-high three sacks, six quarterback hits and 61 total tackles in ’19.

READ NEXT

• Giants Make Major Call on Injured RB Saquon Barkley
• Potential Starter Stunningly Calls it Quits, 3rd Giant to Retire in 4-Day Span
• Giants Add ‘Outstanding Blocker’ from Lions, Sign 6-Foot-3 Defensive Back
• Giants Place Running Back on IR, Activate Former 2nd-Rounder

For more Giants content, follow @ragazzoreport on Twitter.