Breaking Down the New York Giants Draft: Tyler Sash

Tyler Sash is a former Iowa Hawkeye who was considered a leader of their defense and a player that is a “coach’s dream”. Sash was a player who was generally slotted in the third or fourth round range, but was chosen in the late 6th round by the Giants with one of their compensatory picks. Let’s break down the New York Giants draft selection of Tyler Sash.
I’ve been breaking down the New York Giants draft pick by pick, but I wanted to start this pick off with the thoughts of my co-editor Sayre Bedinger who follows the Hawkeyes and the Big 10 very closely.

Tyler Sash was one of the leaders of the Iowa Hawkeyes defense, and was probably the best pick in the draft for his production in college, his place on my draft board, and what I feel is his potential in that type of defense. The Giants’ defense is predicated on rushing the passer, and they have a ton of guys who can do that. Adding good players in the defensive backfield seems to be something of a bonus for them, and Sash is a 3rd round player getting picked up in the 6th round. He is a playmaker in every sense of the word. Not the greatest athlete in the world, but he can hold his own, and he is ALWAYS around the ball. His instincts are off the charts, and while he’s not an elite tackler, he doesn’t let a whole lot get past him. I would classify him as a ball-hawk. He made some of the most exciting defensive plays in Iowa history, including an interception against Indiana in 2009 that he described to me in one word as “Dirty.” YouTube it to see for yourself. He was one of my favorite picks of the entire draft. He is a leader on and off the field, has a good head on his shoulders, and was a great pick for the Giants.

The Good

Sash is considered a team leader and was ultra productive in college. Sash had 13 sacks the past three seasons and over a 150 combined tackles the past two seasons. Sash also had a few punt returns (5 this past season).

Sash is also a very intelligent player, in Reese’s own words “Smart player, he came in, he can line up the entire defense. He can put everybody on there and tell you what they should do. You love those kinds of guys”. In an interview with Mike Francesa Reese sounded, even giddy when describing Sash saying “it’s pretty impressive” about his ability to know what everyone on the defense is suppose to be doing.

The other good things about this pick is that the Giants have a need at safety, especially safety depth because Chad Jones might never play football again, Michael Johnson is not very good, and Deon Grant will probably leave via free agency if he can find a team where he can start. If Grant leaves there’s a huge need (and even if he doesn’t) for depth at safety. Sash also is a player who will do everything he can to help out the Special teams. Sash, also seems to be an ideal fit in the 3 safety prospect that the Giants used frequently last year under new defensive coordinator Perry Fewell.

The Bad

Sash does not have great measurables. He ran a 4.62 40 yard dash, and only had 11 reps on the bench press (a very low number for a safety, or any player really). He doesn’t have great coverage ability, even though he does have top instincts and understanding of a game. If he’s ever found in man coverage, he’s vulnerable.

The Grade

A. Call me a pessimist, but the fact that I love the Giants picks so much is a little scary. Are the Giants that lucky and smart to obtain players in every single round that are excellent values?

If we were doing our team mock drafts before the draft and I did this mock for the Giants:

Prince Amukamara

Marvin Austin

Jerrel Jernigan

James Brewer

Greg Jones

Tyler Sash

People would have called me a homer, and refused to read this website anymore. Sash is excellent value, but not only that he fits a need AND the system the Giants run. Out of all of the safeties in this class probably Jaiqwan Jarrett and Tyler Sash fit the third safety role for the Giants the most. Now, Sash does not have anywhere near the potential of Chad Jones did, and it’s unfortunate that Jones was in that terrible accident. Sash and Jones are complete opposite kind of players.

What a pick the Giants made here. Hopefully there’s something that the Giants aren’t missing with all of these players. Early in the draft they got big time potential players with huge measurables and than in the 6th round they grabbed two of the most productive players in college football at their positions the past two seasons.

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