The most important Giants player on the defensive side of the ball is Jason Pierre-Paul. And no one is a close second.
Analyze all you want how Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie upgrades the secondary or the benefits of a full season of Jon Beason at middle linebacker. It doesn’t matter if the Giants trade up, up and away and take Jadeveon Clowney in the NFL Draft or if Michael Strahan decides to ditch all his TV gigs and slip back into a uniform. For all the focus on who is new and what is improved, the fate of the Giants defense hinges on which JPP hits the field.
If he is the menace of 2011, everything should fit neatly together and this could be a top-10 unit. If he is the mediocrity of 2013, everything could fall apart and this could be a bottom-10 defense. Three years ago, Pierre-Paul emerged as one of the most impactful players in the entire league. His 16.5 sacks and relentless pursuit of the ball made him the most desirable young defender in the game. Greatness was the next stop on the JPP train, until greatness got derailed by physical issues and, perhaps, motivational lapses.
What we witnessed the past two seasons was alarming. In 2013, Pierre-Paul played in 11 games, due to a shoulder injury, and only produced two sacks. Surely his back surgery and recovery and shoulder maladies compromised his athletic ability. Or maybe – and this has to scare the Giants – he was a flash in the pan, a one-trick pony who does not have a second act.
One thing about JPP, he doesn’t build himself up when he’s not feeling it. This past week, he sounded as if he was feeling it.
“No doubt, no doubt, I’m going to go out there and play the game like I was 21 again,’’ said Pierre-Paul, who is only 25. “This whole offseason I’ve just been training and thinking that I want to get back on the football field. It’s coming.’’
JPP’s founding fathers are all gone. When he arrived, he had Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck as mentors to show him the ropes. All Pierre-Paul had to do was watch and learn, and he surpassed both of them in his magical 2011 season. Umenyiora and Tuck have withstood the test of time, while JPP at the moment looks like a star that shined brightest of all and then flamed out.
Without vintage JPP, the pass rush is nowhere. Sure, Mathias Kiwanuka returns, but he was a linebacker when JPP rose to prominence and, after accepting a pay cut to stay on the roster, Kiwanuka figures to start at defensive end, but only for one last go-round.
“We’ve got young guys in there, guys from other teams and we’ve been here the longest, so they have to follow us,’’ Pierre-Paul said. “We’ve got to lead.’’
Assuming Pierre-Paul has any leadership qualities at all is risky business. He’s always been something of a big kid in the locker room, and for the past two years he’s complained about too many aches and pains for a freakish athlete in his early 20s.
Perhaps the way he looks is a sign that he means business. Never considered much of a workout warrior, JPP was listed as weighing 278 pounds last season but said he got up to 285. He looked svelte and lean this week and says he’s down to 270.
“I’m getting older,’’ he explained. “I can’t hang with the young cats now that I’m getting older. I feel good at that weight, too.’’
The Giants hope JPP does not follow in the footsteps of Hakeem Nicks, another of their former first-round draft picks who rose to prominence and was a key figure in earning the franchise’s fourth Vince Lombardi Trophy. Nicks, battered with knee and foot issues, was an unreasonable facsimile of himself the past two seasons and in 2013 seemed most interested in staying healthy to get through the final year of his contract.
Pierre-Paul closes out his five-year, $16.08 million rookie deal this season and will make $3.16 million. No one wants to see him walk in Nicks’ still-fresh footsteps and play it safe.
Greater riches await him if he can duplicate his 2011 performance. After that sterling season, it did not seem possible the Giants would allow Pierre-Paul to play out his contract, but there’s been no extension, no new deal. No one knows what exactly he is.
Could it be we’ve seen the best of JPP?