Lewis to aid pass protection, screen game
After how much the offense struggled under ex-coaches Ben McAdoo and Pat Shurmur during the past four seasons, the Giants believe they can return to being diverse and explosive in Jason Garrett’s system.
One overlooked aspect of that is the screen game, where the Giants have been particularly ineffective in recent memory.
That should change this season as beyond the schematic changes, New York looks to feature a much-improved offensive line and a key complementary running back behind Saquon Barkley.
Dion Lewis signed a one-year deal with the Giants in April. The 29-year-old spent the last seasons in Tennessee, where he had a career-high 59 receptions in 2018 and continued his reputation as one of the NFL’s top blockers at running back. He has also returned 57 kickoffs in his career.
“He’s just a real pro,” Garrett said. “You can tell he loves the game. He works very hard at it. He respects the details of the game and what he needs to do to be a complete back. … You get him in some of those two-minute situations, he’s a very clean protector, he understands who he needs to block when he’s asked to do that. But he’s also a very good route runner who can beat you when he gets out in space.”
Admittedly more limited physically at 5-foot-8, 195 pounds, Lewis carries a unique perspective on pass protection and says he’s incorporated a plethora of drills and knowledge from various coaches across his 10 years in the league.
“Pass protection is something that took me a while to learn,” Lewis said. “The longer you do it, the more reps you get at it, the better you become. I think I am extremely confident in that. Just try to use my technique and use my leverage and things like that to overcome some of the other obstacles I have. I just look at it as a two and half to three second fight. Try not to get beat inside — that’s the way I look at it and that’s my mentality.”
Lewis’ role this season will likely come mostly on third downs as a pass blocker and receiving threat. His veteran presence should not only improve the offense as a whole, but aid in Barkley’s growth.
“He’s such a great player so I kind of help him whenever he has questions,” Lewis said. “At the same time, I’m not a real ‘rah-rah’ guy. I’m more of a guy who just comes to work every day and works hard. He works really hard as well, so we mesh really well from that point. When he asks questions, he asks me and when I have questions, I ask him. We try to stay in each other’s ear. Try to use that to become better player’s ourselves.”
Pass protection has been arguably the biggest area of improvement for Barkley entering his third season.
“It doesn’t matter how big or small you are,” said running backs coach Burton Burns, who served in the same capacity at Alabama from 2007-17. “It’s technique, and it’s one of the fundamentals that we’re always preaching and I’m coaching every day. ‘Let’s have good pad level, let’s have good balance.’ I think that plays into not only running the football, but it also plays into the protection part of it. And it’s timing. Everything is about timing.”