Keep An Eye On Kiwanuka (and Strahan)

August 27, 2008 at 7:04 am | Article by Paul Hickey |

Keep An Eye On Kiwanuka (and Strahan) Giants star defensive end Osi Umenyiora went down this past weekend with a season ending MCL tear, leaving a huge gap at defensive end for the New York Giants. With Justin Tuck replacing the retired Michael Strahan, the Giants are now looking to either veteran Renaldo Wynn, or third year man Mathias Kiwanuka to fill in for Osi. But will a familiar number 92 enter the fray also?

Kiwanuka is an explosive former first round pick who was moved to strong side linebacker in 2007 due to the Giants’ great depth at the DE spot. As we expected, and predicted, Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and head coach Tom Coughlin have moved Kiwanuka back to the DE spot for the remainder of the 2008 season. The former Boston College product will line up opposite Tuck, making for a very solid pass rushing attack, but leaving a gap at strong side LB.

Look, anyone who has ever coached or played in the NFL will tell you that replacing a strong side ‘backer is 10 times easier than finding a pass rushing defensive end. Kiwanuka moving back to his natural position only makes sense.

Wynn remains the Giants third DE for now, but will have more fantasy relevance as he’ll likely see more time with Umenyiora out - unless Michael Strahan - who has been in contract negotiations with the team - returns for 2008.

Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reported yesterday that Strahan has decided to stay retired - which means, for now, it looks like Kiwi will start opposite Justin Tuck and have significant fantasy value in leagues that score him as a DE.

We’ll keep you updated on this situation, but in the meantime, competitive IDP owners should be looking to add Kiwanuka to their squad - as his value has increased due to the position change.

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