SECOND FIDDLE IN THE MIDDLE
Starting linebacker spot is Goodson's to lose
Wait your turn. B.J. Goodson knows all about it, which is why he appears to have handled his limited role as a rookie expertly as he moves on, rather quickly, to the next phase of his career with the Giants.
Goodson barely played at all in 2016 after arriving as a fourthround draft pick from Clemson. He was one of the heart-and-soul members of a fearsome college defense but got on the field for only 13 snaps on defense with the Giants. This was the traditional learn-and-grow rookie season. Goodson was a mainstay on special teams (314 snaps) and a spectator while others ran around at linebacker.
This was nothing new for Goodson. He was a special-teams player as a redshirt freshman at Clemson and it was more of the same for him as a sophomore. He started six games as a junior and then all 15 as a senior for the national championship runner-up Tigers, leading the team with 160 tackles.
And so, Goodson was able to deal with the plan the Giants coaching staff put in place for him.
“It definitely helped with being humble and being grateful for the opportunity,’’ Goodson said recently after an Organized Team Activity practice. “Just staying grounded, keeping my head down and working. Preparation meets opportunity.’’
The Giants believe he is now properly prepared and they are granting him the opportunity to take over the starting job at middle linebacker. That is where Goodson is lining up this spring at a time when depth charts are jumbled and not always accurate. In this case, what the Giants want is what they are putting on display. They opted not to resign Kelvin Sheppard, who started 11 games at middle linebacker in 2016 and did not add to the position in free agency or the draft. It is Goodson’s job to lose.
“I still have to work,’’ he said. “Nothing changed, I still have to work, still have to go get the job.’’
Goodson is not close to cracking a smile in his official Giants head-
shot and a few casual conversations with him reveal “no-nonsense’’ is an apt description of his persona. At 6-foot-1 and 242 pounds, he is no physical monster and the Giants are not expecting, for now, an every-down role for him. If he can help stop the run on first and second down and bring some nastiness, that will suffice, and there are so many gifted, proven players around him that Goodson merely needs to fit in on a unit that features Damon “Snacks’’ Harrison who is one of, if not the best, runstopping interior defensive linemen in the league.
If Goodson cannot cut it, there are not many fallback options. Jonathan Casillas and Keenan Robinson played the bulk of the snaps at linebacker last season but are better-suited to roles on the outside, as is Devon Kennard. Veteran J.T. Thomas missed last season with a knee injury and he is trying to make a comeback.
“I think B.J. definitely has con- fidence out there for sure and that’s one of the biggest things you want to see in your middle linebacker,’’ cornerback Eli Apple said of his draft classmate. “He definitely has that confidence and that voice.’’
Goodson is quiet by nature and his voice is going to need to be loud and decisive. The middle linebacker makes the defensive calls. Antonio Pierce, a former Giants middle linebacker with a Super Bowl ring, is providing Goodson with tutorials this offseason.
“The way that I carry myself, everything is 100 percent mental for me,’’ Goodson said. “I feel like the battle is always won in the mind before it’s actually taken into action. So the mental preparation is very important to me.
“I’ve gotten very comfortable with calling the defense. My teammates do a great job of rallying around me and just getting everyone lined up, I’m kind of having fun taking charge of it.’’