UDFA Dana Levine adds to edge competition for Giants

When it comes to undrafted free agents information — such as complete scouting reports — can be hard to come by for players not from Power 5 schools. In the case of Temple’s Dana Levine, an undrafted edge defenders who signed with the New York Giants, at least there was one available scouting report to give us some information.

From Pro Football Network:

Rotational defensive end who had a career year as a senior in 2019, when he made 32 tackles (11 for loss) with 5.5 sacks. Missed four games due to an ankle injury in 2018.

Positives: Underutilized linebacker who shows athleticism and toughness. Quick, explosive and sells out to make plays. Sacrifices his body to occupy the gaps and displays speed in both a straight line and laterally. Quickly closes to the action, plays with proper pad level and effectively makes plays in space. Shows the ability to stand over tackle and come out of a three-point stance.

Negatives: Can get too hyped up get to the quarterback and overrun the action. Struggles to get off blocks.

Analysis: Levine was an explosive college defensive end who projects to outside linebacker at the next level. He possesses the size and upside to play on Sundays, and at the very least he should receive practice-squad consideration.

Let’s take a closer look at whether or not Levine could earn that practice squad consideration.

The basics

Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 235
Age: N/A
Position: Edge
Experience: Rookie
Contract: Year 1 of three-year, $2.287 million undrafted free agent contract | Guaranteed: $2,000

How he got here

In indicated above, Levine followed a pedestrian first three seasons for the Owls with an excellent senior season. He had 5.5 sacks, half of his four-year career total of 11. He also had a career-best 11 tackles for loss, and tied his career-best with 32 overall tackles.

As far as how Levine ended up with the Giants, Temple had four players selected in the draft, which means NFL scouts spent a lot of time watching Owls games. The Giants were thought to be heavily interested in Temple center Matt Hennessy (Round 3, 78th, Atlanta Falcons).

It probably doesn’t hurt that Levine, as the highlight reel below indicates, appears to be a solid special teams player

2020 outlook

As indicated above, Levine is probably fighting for a spot on the practice squad. He seems like the type of player coach Joe Judge would like — a player who can handle special teams work as well as compete for a spot on defense. The Giants selected several players like that in the final two rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft.

The Giants have Lorenzo Carter, Oshane Ximines, Kyler Fackrell, seventh-round pick Carter Coughlin and maybe Markus Golden at the edge. Can Levine earn the right to be on the practice squad? Your guess is as good as mine.