New York Giants rookie defensive lineman Jordon Riley is currently in the phase of ‘happy to be here’ as he navigated his way through the team’s rookie minicamp this past weekend.
The seventh-round draft pick out of Oregon is used to being in new places. His collegiate career took him to four different schools, starting with North Carolina, then to community college, Nebraska and finally, to Oregon.
“Each part was a part of my journey,” said Riley. “I just feel like I just learned to just never stop, never get too down on myself, just keep going, keep pursuing. Even all the adversity I went through, I think just stay humble and just keep going.”
Riley will see some more adversity in the NFL as he joins a stacked group of defensive linemen here with the Giants. By admission, he did not know much about the team’s top two linemen, Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams, stating that he was just here to learn and fit in.
The Giants hope the 6-foot-5, 320-pounder does just that. He will serve as part of the rotation behind starters Lawrence, Williams and the recently signed duo of A’Shawn Robinson and Rakeem Nunez-Roches.
Riley is excited to get going under defensive line coach Andre Patterson.
“Just learning how he wants things, coaching style. It’s a different coaching style. Just learning how he wants things. He’s a great coach, got a long history in this league, and I’m just blessed to be a part of his room,” Riley said.
Riley was specifically drafted for his size and his ability to play the run. He was unaware of general manager Joe Schoen’s first impression of him during the scouting process.
“A lot of them watched my film and they liked what I bring to the run game and stuff like that. But other than that, no, I didn’t really hear that,” he said.
Ultimately, Riley provides additional depth in an area where the Giants were sufficiently lacking a year ago.
