‘Seems Like’ Giants Starter Is Battling to Keep First-Team Role: Report

Getty New York Giants linebacker Micah McFadden (center) could be fighting for his starting job in 2024.

There appears to be a training camp competition brewing at middle linebacker according to New York Giants beat reporter Dan Duggan of The Athletic.

“It seems like Micah McFadden will have to battle for the starting ILB job [this year],” Duggan observed after the July 26 practice. “Dyontae Johnson and Carter Coughlin have gotten some reps with the 1’s in camp. And it doesn’t seem to be strictly related to a pitch count for McFadden since he was with the second-team defense at times today.”

This is a notable development, considering McFadden was one of the Giants’ more consistent 2023 starters — registering 14 caps and 737 snaps with the first-team defense next to veteran team leader Bobby Okereke.

That was not the case for McFadden as a rookie, as the fifth-round talent split snaps with Tae Crowder for the majority of the campaign. Still, it felt like Big Blue found something in the Indiana product and it’s way too early to say that’s no longer the case.

The bigger takeaway here is that everyone is going to have to earn their place in new coordinator Shane Bowen’s defense, no matter what happened under Wink Martindale before him. If McFadden can do that, he’ll slot back in right where he left things off in 2023.

Micah McFadden’s Analytics Prove Giants Should Not Hand Him Starting Gig

McFadden did some things well last season, but there were a lot of holes in his game too.

On the bright side, he racked up 101 combined tackles for the first time in his NFL career, recovered four fumbles and one interception — so he was integral in the takeaway department — and he delivered on 12 tackles for a loss which doubled his rookie numbers.

The analytics tell a different story, however. Pro Football Focus credited McFadden with a porous 20.7% missed tackle rate last year. That ranked dead last for qualifying starting linebackers (minimum 50% of snaps played).

McFadden’s number of key defensive “stops” (36) also finished 39th among qualifying starters.

In coverage, he allowed an 82.9 completion percentage, which was tied for 49th within the same pool of linebackers. Although his 8.8 yards allowed per reception ranked much more favorably (tied for 22nd). Overall, quarterbacks threw for a 103.0 passer rating when targeting McFadden.

Finally, as a run defender, McFadden hovered around the middle of the pack with his metrics. His stop percentage (7.1%) and average yards gained before the tackle (3.9) were okay, but by no means great. And as mentioned above, his missed tackle rate was poor in every area.

With performance reviews like these, McFadden is lucky he wasn’t outright replaced this offseason. Instead, he’ll get another opportunity to improve and win back the role.

Are Dyontae Johnson or Carter Coughlin Starter Material?

At the end of the day, McFadden should still be the favorite to win this job — in part, because the other options are even less experienced.

Johnson is a former undrafted rookie out of Toledo that made the practice squad last summer. He has never played a single NFL snap, so it’d be asking a lot to thrust him into a starting role in Week 1.

Coughlin is more of a core special teamer at heart. He did log 192 defensive snaps as a rookie seventh rounder out of Minnesota, but the Giants have faded him out of the rotation since then.

Last season, Coughlin only played two snaps on defense compared to 397 on special teams. It’s possible he fits Bowen’s system better than he did Martindale’s, but these are not the strongest of candidates.

The sleeper pick for the job would be 2024 sixth rounder Darius Muasau — who started 26 games for UCLA at inside linebacker over the past two years. Based on Duggan’s early training camp reports though, it doesn’t seem like the Giants feel the rookie is ready.

The remaining inside linebacker options on the roster are 2022 sixth rounder Darrian Beavers and free agent signing Matthew Adams — another special teams expert — with the news that Isaiah Simmons could be switching back to defensive back.