Dec 25, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Giants linebacker Micah McFadden (41) against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Giants ILB Micah McFadden Quietly Having Career Year

Originally posted on New York Giants on SI
By Patricia Traina | Last updated Dec 12, 2024 2:00 PM ET

New York Giants inside linebacker Micah McFadden isn’t exactly a household name, but if he keeps playing as he has, there’s no reason to think he won’t continue to be a part of the team’s defensive foundation for a long time.

McFadden, a fifth-round draft pick out of Indiana in 2022 (pick No. 146), is currently having the best season of his young NFL career. His 91 total tackles currently rank third on the team, two behind Bobby Okereke’s 93 and six behind safety Tyler Nubin, the team leader just placed on injured reserve.

McFadden’s eight tackles for loss are tied for second on the defense with defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence II, and trail team leader Brian Burns’s 12.

McFadden has also posted four games with double-digit tackles, including three with 11 and his season-high 13 in Week 2 against Washington. And per ProFootball Focus, McFadden has significantly cut down on his missed tackles, of which he had a team-leading 25 last season (20.7% missed tackle rate), to just 12 this season (11.9%).

McFadden’s best so far this season was arguably last week’s effort against the Saints. In addition to his 11 tackles, he stuffed the Saints on six rushing attempts, the most in any game by a defender, per NextGen Stats. His 15 run stuffs are tied for fifth most in the NFL and have contributed to the Giants’ 69 run- stuffs, which are sixth most in the league.

Also per NextGen Stats, McFadden’s 51 stops this season are just two shy of his career high of 53 set last year.

McFadden currently has one more season on his rookie contract, that year counting for $1.188 million against the team’s cap.

With continued improvement in his performance, he certainly appears to be making a strong case for a second contract from the team that, per Over the Cap, is projected to have $57.26 million in cap space next year.