Linval Joseph Justifies The Giants' Faith In Him

The New York Giants drafted Linval Joseph out of East Carolina in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft they were hoping the massive 6-foot-4, 328-pound defensive tackle would turn into a run-stuffing force in the middle of their defense.

There was some concern in the fan base when Joseph barely played as a rookie, getting in on only 63 snaps and making eight tackles. In 2011, however, Joseph blossomed/ He statred 15 games after Barry Cofield left via free agency, made 49 tackles and had two sacks.

How good was Joseph against the run? Pro Football Focus ranked him fifth in the league among defensive tackles in its 'Run Stop Percentage' statistic. The Run Stop Percentage stat determines the number of times a defender has caused an offensive failure as a percentage of how many plays he is in on run defense. By PFF's calculations Joseph did that 8.7 percent of the time, the same number as New England's Vince Wilfork.

You might also want to know that out of the 46 defensive tackles who played at least 200 snaps in run defense the aforementioned Cofield placed 45th in the league in Run Stop Percentage, making such plays just 2.8 percent of the time.