Giants need to see production from DT R.J. McIntosh

R.J. McIntosh has had little impact on the New York Giants’ defense in the two seasons since he was a fifth-round pick. Will that change in 2020 with a new defensive coordinator in Patrick Graham and head coach in Joe Judge, or is it possible McIntosh finds himself an odd man out when the season-opening roster is constructed?

Let’s take a closer look as we continue profiling the players who will be on the team’s 90-man roster when training camp opens.

The basics

Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 283
Age: 24
Position: Defensive line
Experience: 2
Contract: Year 3 of four-year, $2.781 million rookie deal | UFA: 2022

How he got here

The Giants made the Miami product the 139th selection of the 2018 NFL Draft. McIntosh played only six games at the end of a the 2018 season, as a mysterious health issue forced him to miss the offseason, training camp, preseason, and the first half of the regular season. He played only 65 snaps that season.

Last season, McIntosh began the season as part of the defensive line rotation. He played double-digit snaps in each of the first five games. Over the final 11, though, he played 10 or more snaps only twice. McIntosh, then, would seem to have played his way out of the defensive line rotation. He ended 2019 with 2 sacks, 13 tackles and 2 quarterback hits.

2020 outlook

The forecast for McIntosh’s future with the Giants is cloudy. The previous coaching staff obviously judged McIntosh harshly, mostly removing him from the playing rotation.

Will that change with the new coaching staff. The top four defensive linemen are Leonard Williams, Dalvin Tomlinson, Dexter Lawrence, B.J. Hill. McIntosh would be in the group with veteran Austin Johnson and 2019 seventh-round pick Chris Slayton fighting to remain on the roster. To stick around, McIntosh probably has to do something to impress the new coaching staff.