When the New York Giants traded three picks to the Seattle Seahawks for the 30th overall selection in last year’s NFL Draft, fans hoped the kid they picked would be special.
DeAndre Baker, a cornerback from Georgia who did not allow a touchdown in final collegiate season, was the first cornerback to come off the board in the draft. The immediate reaction among the Giant fans was “he better be worth it.”
For the first half of the season, it appeared as if the Giants made a major miscalculation with Baker. He looked confused and played with the trepidation of a kid who was in over his head.
Baker was lining up a good 10 yards off the line of scrimmage and getting schooled by offensive coordinators who smelled blood in the water. He allowed 38 completions on 54 targets in the Giants’ first 10 games (70.4%) and quarterbacks were feasting on Baker with a QB rating of 131.9.
The consensus was that Baker was simply not ready for the NFL. Many felt defensive coordinator James Bettcher was not utilizing Baker properly. He was a press corner in college and Bettcher had him lining up on Paterson Plank Road.
After the Giants’ bye in Week 11, Baker began to resemble a first round pick. He played with more confidence and it showed in the results. Quarterbacks didn’t pick on him as much, and when they did, he held his own.
The completion rate dropped to 48.5% (16 of 33) and the QB rating fell to 94.0 which is much more respectable and in line with some of the top corners in football.
If he were able to maintain his post-bye production throughout the entire season, the 22-year-old would have finished the year with a better completion percentage allowed than 2019 First-Team All-Pro selections Tre’Davious White (50.0), Stephon Gilmore (50.0) and Marcus Peters (55.6).
It’s a small sample size to work with and—outside of his lockdown performance against the Green Bay Packers—the competition he faced wasn’t exactly the best the league has to offer.
As Baker continues to improve, Giant fans will hopefully forget what the team gave up to get him. Whoever the new defensive coordinator is will also hopefully realize that Baker is a cover corner who should not be thrust into zone responsibilities.
[lawrence-related id=638194,638187,638173]