One giant Giant
6-8 DE trying to provide depth behind JPP, Vernon
CLEVELAND — In Devin Taylor’s view, his great height is a huge advantage in his quest to continue his NFL career with the Giants as a valuable piece in the puzzle, adding depth behind a formidable starting defensive-end duo.
Other than when that great height is not an advantage. Such is the life of a 6-foot-8 player who physically towers above a collection of oversized men.
“The advantage is having length, on everybody,’’ Taylor told The Post. “In most cases you’re generally going to have longer arms than the person you’re going against, so it puts you at an advantage, because they’re always having to struggle to reach out for you.
“The disadvantage ... gravity, good old gravity. Your center of gravity is a lot higher than anyone else’s, so when you think you’re bending down, playing lower, it’s not as low as other people, so you kinda have to fine-tune and find the in between that works for you, versus a coach yelling at you ‘You have to play lower!’ You have to be able to work around that.’’
The Giants are looking to load up at a position they value above almost all others. They have a fortune ($147 million) invested in starting defensive ends Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon and want to assemble a stable behind them. Romeo Okwara was a surprisingly effective undrafted rookie last season, filling in when JPP went on injured reserve. Kerry Wynn, entering his fourth year with the Giants, is a steady worker and overachiever who played at Richmond. Owa Odighizuwa, the third-round pick in 2015, is coming off two unproductive seasons and, battling through undisclosed personal issues, is in a fight to save his roster spot. Avery Moss is a rookie fifth-round pick who will likely make the team and fill a specialteams role.
Taylor is the intriguing newcomer. He s pent hi s f irst four NFL seasons with the Lions and had 11 . 5 sacks the past two years, getting seven sacks as a reserve in 2015 and 4.5 in 2016 as a 16-game starter. At 27, Taylor is in his prime and he is so tall he actually looks skinny, with his 270 pounds stretched across his elongated frame.
In his first game for the Giants, Taylor dropped in coverage — a new wrinkle for him — and so stunned Steelers rookie quarterback Josh Dobbs that he threw the ball directly at the statuesque Taylor, for an interception.
“I think he just didn’t see me — just luck of the draw,’’ Taylor said. “That wasn’t a height thing, that was reading your keys and it just happened the ball was thrown there.
“Any time you can show up on film, that’s good, well, in a positive way. Being able to make that play it was kinda like ‘Hey, I’m here.’ ’’
Taylor hopes to again announce himself in Monday night’s second preseason game, facing the Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium. If Taylor, Okwara and Wynn can show they deserve more than cameo appearances, it will free up defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to shave a few snaps a game off the workload of PierrePaul and Vernon, who probably were used too heavily in 2016.
“They’re both very well-conditioned and they’re both freaks of nature, so they can both, if they need to, play the whole game,’’ Wynn said. “Part of our job is to make sure we’re doing what we’re supposed to do when we’re out there, so the trust is built and there’s no drop-off when we come in.’’
It seemed as if Okwara could be a breakout player this season, but he has not had an overly impressive summer.
“I talked with him the other day, I think he needs to jump it up a little bit,’’ Spagnuolo said. “We need to see him do some of the things he did a year ago that we were all impressed with.’’
This critique was accepted, not rejected.
“Exactly that, I need to pick it up,’’ Okwara said. “I think I’m a very self-aware player. I see where he comes from, it’s a matter of taking the coaching and getting better.’’
Taylor could be an X-factor if he proves he can be a situational passrusher, allowing other defensive ends to move inside to add even more athletic ability to the group attacking the quarterback. “It’s a different role,’’ Taylor said .“They already have their starting-role guys so they need at least another couple that can contribute, whether it be on a sub down, base-front down, just to be able to f ill in and then have another threat as well on the field.
“I’d say for me, because they want to be able to move them around, they want another threat that people are going to respect, I guess. I still have to work my butt off, like everyone else does, to make the team.’’