Jason Pierre-Paul didn’t terrorize quarterbacks the minute he showed up in East Rutherford. And neither did Damontre Moore.
Now that Justin Tuck is gone, as JPP looks to regain the form that made him the Monster of the Meadowlands with 16.5 sacks in his second season, the Giants will ask Damontre Moore to be the predator he was at Texas A&M when they called him DaMonster.
Who is DaMotivated more than ever to show NFL teams who passed on him that he is a first-round talent Big Blue stole in the third round.
“I play with a chip on my shoulder every day,” DaMonster said Wednesday at minicamp. “I did what I needed to do in college, and I’ve gotten bigger, better, faster, stronger and smarter, and so I’m just really ready to go out there and just show all the teams that passed me up what they missed out on.”
While JPP surged at the end of his rookie season to record 4.5 sacks, DaMonster could only boast 11 tackles in his limited debut. That first NFL sack can’t come soon enough.
“I dream about it,” DaMonster said. “I’m hungrier than ever to get that first sack. That’s what I love to do, so once I get out there, that whole experience is gonna be magical, so I’m just looking forward to it and I can’t wait.”
DaMonster’s first NFL sack victim doesn’t necessarily have to be Matthew Stafford in the season opener against the Lions. DaMonster has no preference.
“Everybody, everybody, all quarterbacks,” he said. “Whoever I play, I want to sack. I don’t look at it as favorites or anything. I don’t like no quarterbacks. When we’re on the field, all of ’em are enemies.”
That holds true for offensive linemen as well.
“I hate all my opponents,” DaMonster said. “I joke around, but when we’re on that field, it’s a different monster and a different beast out there. If you’re on the opposite side of me, I don’t like you at all. It’s me or you. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and I’m going out there and trying to just demolish my opponent.”
DaMonster likes watching Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware, Elvis Dumervil, Simeon Rice and Osi Umenyiora.
“Whoever’s considered a sack master, I’m always just trying to watch so I can better my game and see what I can take from them,” he said.
His weight is up from the 250-pound range, and he has made important strides in the weight room. Though with LeSean McCoy, Alfred Morris and Demarco Murray in the division, defensive ends Mathias Kiwanuka and Robert Ayers will be the early-down run stuffers until proven otherwise.
“I lost a lot of fat and toned up my body,” DaMonster said. “If I come in 255, that’s great, but if I come in 260 and still got my speed, that’s even better.”
He has grown up and learned that being a professional demands you be a student of the game.
“In college, I’ll say I barely watched film,” DaMonster said. “Now I’m in there studying like every day, trying to figure out techniques, studying my opponent and just trying to get better as a person so I can have that upper hand on the competition.”
He was Big Man on Campus in college (26.5 sacks in 38 games). Not here. Not as a rookie.
“It was very humbling,” DaMonster said.
He expects to be used on special teams again — he blocked a punt against the Raiders last season that was returned for a touchdown — and doesn’t mind at all.
“That’s where I made my impact when I first came in,” DaMonster said. “I look forward to keep making my impact wherever the coach needs me and tells me to go, that’s where I’m gonna go.”
But with Tuck in Oakland, opportunity knocks.
“Yes, sir, there’s opportunity every day you go out there,” DaMonster said. “It’s just about: Are you gonna take it? Now that the opportunity’s presented itself and it’s a big opportunity, I’m just ready to take it and just run with it.”
He is told that the Giants are counting on him to uphold their pass rush tradition punctuated with an exclamation mark by Lawrence Taylor. He welcomes it.
“I welcome any challenge,” DaMonster said. “As a true competitor, I feel like you should welcome any challenge and step up to the plate. When it’s time for me to step up to the plate, I feel like I always rise to the occasion.”
It is such a good feeling no longer being a rookie.
“Great feeling,” DaMonster said. “You have to start back at the bottom of the totem pole, so now it’s time to work back up.”
What would he like to tell Giants fans about the Damontre Moore they will see this season?
“A hungry dog that’s ready to hunt, and I’m gonna leave it all out there on the field,” he said. “All my energy, all my talent, everything — it’s gonna be laid out there, and you won’t ever have to question that.”
Time for DaMonster?
“Yes, sir, it definitely is.”