The youth across the Giants' roster this season has been well-documented, and while the Giants did not enjoy the success the team and fans were hoping for this season, the rookie class featured four players on Pro Football Focus’ Top 50 NFL rookies through Week 17. This matched the Oakland Raiders and Indianapolis Colts for the most in the league.
Defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence's promising campaign earned him the No. 9 slot in PFF's rookie rankings. The 22-year-old earned a 76.1 overall grade, but Lawrence really left his mark in the run game. The No. 17 overall pick in last year's draft earned a 76.3 run defense grade, which ranked 21st among the 117 qualifying interior defenders. Among the six interior defensive linemen selected in the first round of the 2019 draft, Lawrence was the only one to play 500 or more snaps and earn an overall grade above 70.0.
Lawrence was also named to PFF’s 2019 NFL All-Rookie Team. He racked up 38 tackles (24 solo), 2.5 sacks, three tackles for loss, and nine quarterback hits. He also recorded one forced fumble and one pass defended while playing in all 16 games.
The second defensive player on the list is safety Julian Love, who came in at No. 13 on PFF's rookie rankings. Love did not see any action on defense until Week 12, when Jabrill Peppers went down with a back injury against the Chicago Bears. But from that point on, Love was one of the best in the league while playing in the box.
Love earned the ninth-best grade in the box over the last six weeks of the season. The fourth-round pick allowed just 19 yards on his 80 coverage snaps while playing in that alignment. Love finished with 35 tackles (28 solo), one interception, one forced fumble, three passes defensed, five tackles for loss and one quarterback hit.
On offensive side of the ball, wide receiver Darius Slayton ranked No. 22 on PFF's rookie rankings. Slayton played in 14 games, finishing with 48 receptions for 740 yards and eight touchdowns. He had 12 catches of 20+ yards. His 70.5 receiving grade ranked sixth among rookie receivers.
Slayton was a fifth-round pick (171st overall) and the 18th wide receiver selected in last year's draft. The 22-year-old finished at or near the top of the rookie leaderboard in several categories. Slayton ranked fifth in receiving yards, sixth in yards per game, fifth in catches of 20+ yards, and tied for first in touchdowns.
Daniel Jones was the fourth and final member of the Giants 2019 rookie class to earn a spot on PFF's list, finishing at No. 34. He completed 61.9% of his passes for 3,027 yards, 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 12 starts. Jones added 45 rush attempts for 279 yards (6.2 yards per attempt) and two rushing scores.
Jones set franchise rookie marks for passing touchdowns, yards, pass attempts and completions. The No. 6 overall pick became the first rookie in NFL history to throw for 350+ yards and five touchdowns with zero interceptions in a game. He joined Fran Tarkenton and Deshaun Watson as the only rookies in NFL history with three games of four or more touchdown passes.
View photos of Giants quarterback Daniel Jones throughout his NFL career.
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