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Damon Harrison, Landon Collins of Giants make PFF Top 101 list

Pair of Big Blue defenders clearly deserving

By Ed Valentine

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Los Angeles Chargers v New York Giants Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images

A pair of New York Giants defenders, Damon Harrison and Landon Collins, have been named to the Pro Football Focus list of the top 101 players of 2017. Harrison was ranked No. 39 by PFF, and Collins checked in at No. 70 after an injury-plagued season.

PFF had this to say about Harrison:

There is no greater run-stuffing force in the NFL than Damon Harrison, the Giants’ defensive tackle. Harrison won PFF’s best run defender award again this season, and has made run stops and run-stop percentage a statistic owned by him alone. Harrison again topped 40 run stops this season, third time in his career, or two more times than the rest of the league’s interior defenders have managed since 2006. The run game has never been less important in the NFL, but Harrison is good enough to be an exception to that rule.

PFF Elite Stat: Harrion’s 40 run stops led all interior defenders. He’s led all interior defenders in that statistic each of the last three years.

PFF had the following comment regarding Collins:

A year ago, Landon Collins had a defensive player of the year kind of season and while 2017 wasn’t quite at that level, it was still an excellent year and reinforced his quality, especially given the disaster of the season that unfolded around him. Collins notched 37 defensive stops this season, nine fewer than the year before, but he also played significantly fewer snaps due to injury and saw the rest of the defense collapse around him.

PFF Elite Stat: Collins totaled 20 run stops in 2017, tied for fifth-most among safeties with at least 113 run-defense snaps.

Both are deserving. It is also telling about the 3-13 Giants that it is pretty much impossible to make an argument for any other player.

A few other notes from the list:

  • Los Angeles Rams’ defensive tackle Aaron Donald was ranked No. 1.
  • There are seven Philadelphia Eagles on the list.
  • The list is based purely on 2017. That is why Odell Beckham Jr. is not on it.
  • Guard Andrew Norwell of the Carolina Panthers, expected to be pursued by the Giants in free agency next month, was No. 43.
  • Former Giants defensive tackle Linval Joseph, now with the Minnesota Vikings, was No. 55.

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