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New York Giants Awarded Two Players Off Waivers

By Kenneth Teape

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The New York Giants are onto phase two of the roster breakdown process heading into the first week of the regular season. After the deadline passed Saturday to cut their roster down to 53-players, it is now time to scour the waiver wire and free agent market. The Giants could still afford to upgrade at safety and defensive back, as well as adding more depth to the offensive line. Well, it seems that they have added competition to at least one of those spots, as they were awarded two players off of waivers today.

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First, we will take a look at Asa Jackson. Jackson spent the first three seasons of his NFL career with the Baltimore Ravens after being selected by the team in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL Draft, number 169th overall. He started appeared in seven games for the team last season, starting six of them. He recorded 28 tackles with three pass deflections.

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Where the Giants are most likely hoping that he can help the team out is on special teams. Last season he blocked a kick for the Ravens, and this summer he has proven to be a solid return man. He was solid returning both kickoffs and punts, as he averaged 48 yards on three chances, with a long of 103 yards, on kick return; on punt returns, Jackson averaged 14.6 yards per return on five chances, with a long of 53 yards and one fair catch.

He could quickly find himself in the mix for returning kicks with the Giants. It is fair to guess that the Giants will not used prized wide receiver on punt returns anymore to scale back the chance of injury. The Giants could go back to Preston Parker returning kicks, who was solid in both kickoff and punt return last season. But, with him being Victor Cruz direct backup and probably having a role offensively in the early going of the season, it is fair to question if the Giants would put him at injury risk as well, since they do not know when Cruz will be returning to the team.

Also, not that it has any direct correlation, but the Giants have had success recently picking up ex-Ravens cornerbacks off waivers. Last season when they were desperate for depth, the Giants picked up Chykie Brown off waivers from the Ravens. He proved to be a useful piece in a depleted secondary; the Giants are hoping they can strike twice with Raven cornerback castoffs. He also worked with defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo last season, so there will be a level of comfortability that doesn’t normally come with players acquired this late in the process.

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The second, and more recognizable player of the two that the Giants were awarded, is Louis Nix. Nix was a third round pick of the Houston Texans last season out of Notre Dame. Knee injuries caused his stock to plummet during the draft process, but at Notre Dame Nix was one of the top defensive tackles in all of college football. He ended up on injured reserve as a rookie, missing the whole season.

He never seemed to click with Texans’ head coach Bill O’Brien though, as the coach expressed disappointment in the professionalism that Nix showed. But, Nix has been healthy this preseason, as he started every game for the Texans during the summer. He recorded four tackles in the game, as his strength is as a run clogging defensive tackle.

His draft pedigree alone would have gotten Nix another chance, and it will come with the Giants. With two players being claimed, it means the Giants will have to make a corresponding move to their 53-man roster. People were surprised that Markus Kuhn and Jayron Hosley both made the cut, so they are two players that could be on the chopping block. Expect the Giants to also consider players such as cornerbacks Mike Harris or Trevin Wade, as their position was the one the Giants targeted during the waiver process.

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