NFL

Giants hope 2nd-rounder Hankins can be a ‘big’ factor

A WIDE BODY: The Giants are hoping defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins — putting pressure on University of Central Florida quarterback Blake Bortles last season — can use his girth to push the pocket. (Fred Squillante /Ohio State University)

Everyone wants the new guy to look the part on the first day of a new job, but when Johnathan Hankins arrives on May 10 for the Giants rookie mini-camp, prepare to be underwhelmed.

“No, you’re not going to be real impressed,’’ Luke Fickell, Ohio State’s co-defensive coordinator, yesterday told The Post.

Not impressed with the second-round draft pick?

“He’s not going to have veins in his arms or look like somebody where you’re going to go ‘Oh [expletive],’ ’’ Fickell said. “He’s going to have a gigantic smile on his face, he’s going to be happy-go-lucky but his body is not going to impress everybody. It’s not going to be ‘Oh [expletive], there’s Justin Tuck.’ Not going to see the veins bursting out. Like abs, everybody’s got ’em, some are just covered up. His are covered up.’’

What we have here is a roly-poly rookie known as “Big Hank’’ by everyone at Ohio State, a jumbo-sized defensive tackle the Giants believe can consume opposing running games with his girth. When Marc Ross, the Giants’ director of college scouting, described Hankins as a “wide-body’’ he spread his arms out to his sides to indicate a rather large bottom. Based on ability, plenty of scouts had Hankins as a first-round talent. But that body, oh, that body.

“That’s one of those reasons he ends up where he is, there are some negative things,’’ said Fickell, who served as Ohio State’s interim head coach in 2011 after Jim Tressel was suspended and eventually resigned. “He looks fat. He looks chubby. Yeah, he’s not a great-bodied guy.’’

The Giants went into the draft determined to get bigger and they don’t grow them much bigger than Hankins, though he’s not as large as he once was. Fickell recalls Hankins arriving on campus weighing “350-ish’’ pounds and there was plenty of concern this Detroit-area prospect might be too big to ever be any good.

“We weren’t really sure, there were a lot of mixed feelings on him when he first came in,’’ Fickell said. “So often in high school you take a kid that’s 250 pounds and hope someday he can be 290. You don’t usually take a guy that’s 350 pounds and say we got to get him down to 310 or 320. We weren’t sure about taking him, he doesn’t do much on film. And we couldn’t have been more wrong.’’

Immediately, the Buckeyes staff noticed Hankins possessed what Fickell described as “unbelievable contact balance.’’ He could get knocked around but always managed to stay on his feet and headed in the intended direction. Hankins played in all 13 games as a true freshman, averaging about 15 snaps. He started all 25 games the next two seasons, often never coming off the field for a single defensive play. That prompted scouts to question Hankins’ stamina, as he tended to wear down late in games.

Fickell said he doesn’t agree with that assessment.

“If that’s the biggest knock on him, I think he’ll be in great shape,” he said.

Hankins played at 330 pounds as a sophomore but when Urban Meyer was hired as head coach he instructed Hankins to slim down. He played in 2012 at 320 and, lo and behold, Ohio State’s run defense improved to second-best in the Big Ten and 14th in the nation. The Buckeyes went 12-0 and Hankins had his best season, with 55 tackles.

The Giants list Hankins at 6-foot-2, 320, and might want him to shed a few pounds. He left school after his junior year and is only 21 years old. A year working in an NFL strength and conditioning program will no doubt help reduce the 27.2 percent body fat he measured in February at the scouring combine.

“I feel like being the way I am, you don’t really see too many big guys running from sideline to sideline making plays,’’ Hankins said. “Just playing all of the positions on the defensive front, I feel like I’m probably one of the best and I feel like I’m the best, so I’m going to keep working hard to help the team be good.’’

Fickell said Hankins is “a pleaser’’ in that he cheerfully will do whatever is asked of him.

“He is not a jokester, but he’s always got a smile, he is a warm kid, would sit there and talk football with you and watch film for hours upon hours,’’ Fickell said. “A kid you’d have over your house. He is just one of those kids, you just love him to death, one of those kids you say ‘Do you ever have a bad day?’ He’s a joy to be around.’’

A big, big joy.