Giants land 2017 NFL draft’s Renaissance man, Dalvin Tomlinson

Dalvin Tomlinson is coming off the best season of his college career with Alabama. Now he’ll have an opportunity to build on that success after being drafted by the New York Giants with the No. 55 pick in the second round.

Tomlinson looks like a prototypical SEC tackle, but off the field, he’s anything but. This Renaissance man is an artist and a musician who was accepted to Harvard, and he has plans for a career in finance after football. On the field, he has the potential to become a consistent contributor for the Giants.

He’s stout against the run, he sheds blocks effectively, and he has the physical attributes and talent to work his way into New York’s defensive line rotation right off the bat.

Tomlinson physically fits the mold that teams are looking for in defensive tackles. His long arms are an added bonus, and he uses them effectively to hold blockers at bay.

Tomlinson has a good understanding of how to use leverage to control offensive linemen. That comes, in part, from his history as a three-time state champion heavyweight wrestler in high school. He’s also big and agile enough to absorb double teams.

He’s a consistent and reliable tackler. Pro Football Focus says Tomlinson missed a total of three tackles over his entire college career, which is incredible. He’s a tough run stopper, but he’s underrated in terms of getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

His sack numbers aren’t gaudy. He had just three sacks over his three seasons at Bama. But he managed to rack up 70 quarterback hurries over that span, which is significant.

The biggest knock on Tomlinson is his limited experience. He was a rotational player on a Bama defense that was stacked with stars, and his senior season was the only year he played more than 45 percent of the team’s defensive snaps.

He did have success pressuring the quarterback in college, but that will be more of a challenge in the NFL. He’s one-dimensional as a pass rusher and he’ll need to develop different techniques to get the best of offensive linemen and get to the quarterback as a pro.

Tomlinson has torn both of his ACLs in the past. He tore one when he was playing goalie on his high school’s soccer team, and it delayed his ability to hit the field for the Crimson Tide. He tore his other ACL in the only game he played for Bama in 2013. Otherwise, though, his injury history is pretty clear.

The Giants defense saw a resurgence in 2016 and finished No. 2 in points allowed, but relied heavily on the production of Johnathan Hankins in the middle. Damon “Snacks” Harrison is still in the middle, but Tomlinson could be an instant boost to the middle of the Giants defense.