The Unga Games

Eric Coleman

unga


Uani’ Unga
will most likely be hot topic for waiver wire adds this week after tallying 12 tackles (10 solo) and one pass defended in the Sunday night game. He filled in at middle linebacker for the perennially injured Jon Beason. He was the green dot linebacker playing a team high 71 snaps as well. There is reason to be excited about any linebacker starting at middle linebacker in a 4-3 scheme, although dynasty expectations should be tempered.

Uani’ Unga, pronounced “Juan-ee OONG-uh,” was not a common name even in deep IDP formats until Beason was listed on the injury report. He is a 2015 UDFA from BYU who fell out of favor with the draft community after tearing his ACL in the bowl game against Washington. At BYU, he was the heart and soul of the defense, racking up 143 tackles last season. A good pro day may have put Unga in the third day draft conversation, but his injury prevented him from putting his athleticism on display. Not being able to prove this made it tough since was considered an undersized linebacker at 6’1” and 233 pounds. Unga was expected to miss some of his rookie season since his ACL injury was at the end of the college season. He surprised many by not only playing in the first NFL game, but playing most of the preseason.

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Let’s go ahead and pump the brakes a bit now.

Pro Football Focus (PFF) graded Unga as the worst inside linebacker in week one. This poor grade was mostly due to his inability in coverage. When I turned on game rewind, it was easy to see the lapses in coverage. PFF charts him as giving up nine catches for 99 yards on ten targets. The worst being a play where he refused to flip his hips to defend Jason Witten on a touchdown pass (pictured above). I thought he played reasonably well against the run and rushing the passer. PFF mostly agrees with my assessment, but they did give a little below average grades in those areas. During the game he played with a good motor and got the play quickly when he made the right read. It is worth noting that PFF graded him out positively in the preseason, where he mostly played outside linebacker. I personally have noticed a weak correlation between preseason PFF grades and regular season PFF grades, so I do not find the positive preseason that intriguing.

Beason missed the game with what is being called a minor knee injury, although he was a late scratch from the game. His absence from Thursday’s practice was originally just called precautionary. I am concerned his injury could be more serious with the lack of information that is available. If Unga can hold onto the job, I think it is reasonable to think he could play 500 snaps this season in light of Beason’s injury history.

Some my point to Beason’s age and poor play recently as a reason to like Unga’s dynasty prospects, but I think this is a flawed notion. Beason is 30 years old, but is signed through 2016 and his play has been historically better than Unga’s play in game one. There is little question that Beason is on the decline and has serious injury concerns, but I do not think he is going away soon. When Beason does come back, Unga’s play has not warranted a shot at taking the job of Devon Kennard or J.T. Thomas. Both are signed at least through 2017 on team friendly deals as well. Thomas has consistently graded out well in coverage, but was not included in nickel packages in Sunday night’s game. It is feasible that if Beason is out long term, the Giants could use Kennard and Thomas in nickel formations, seriously cutting Unga’s snaps. Finally, I would expect the Giants to expend some draft capital this year on linebackers, especially the depth the 2016 class is shaping up to have.

If you are looking to be more bullish on Unga, there are a few reasons to be optimistic. Beason is injury prone, so at a minimum, Unga should see significant opportunities this year. He has came back alarmingly fast from an ACL tear. It is conceivable we are not seeing a full strength Unga yet. Beason has been bad in coverage the past two years and we have not seen the Giants get very creative in their linebacking nickel schemes, either. They may choose to keep Unga on the field in nickel situations, even though J.T. Thomas has shown to be better in coverage.

In conclusion, I do not recommend breaking the FAAB bank on Unga in this week’s wavier run. He should mostly be considered a short term asset. If you counting on Jon Beason this season, which you shouldn’t have, he is a must add. Personally, I plan on putting small bids in on Unga as price enforcement. If I happen to get him, I will shop him to the Beason owner or use him as a bye week fill in as needed.

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eric coleman
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