The New York Giants have been investing in their secondary the past two offseasons, drafting six cornerbacks and a safety and signing free agent James Bradberry of the Carolina Panthers to a three-year, $45 million deal.
In addition, they added safety Jabrill Peppers to the mix as part of the trade for Odell Beckham Jr.
No one is sure what to make of this group at the moment. Peppers and Bradberry will be starters for sure come opening day, but the other positions are wide open. The Giants are hoping that second-year cornerback DeAndre Baker can overcome his legal issues and assume a starting role. The same can be said for this year’s second round selection, Alabama safety Xavier McKinney, who the team hope is a good as advertised.
One thing is for sure, however. Bradberry is one of the league’s best cover corners in zone coverage, as per Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar.
The Panthers’ second-round pick out of Samford in the 2016 draft, Bradberry was a bit underrated as Josh Norman’s successor, and Carolina’s top cornerback. But the Giants had no trouble discerning his value, as they threw him a three-year, $45 million contract this offseason. The Giants played zone on 55% of their defensive snaps in 2019, and they didn’t do it very well — especially after cutting Janoris Jenkins in December following a social media flap. The wisdom of letting Jenkins go will be discussed in a moment, but there’s no question that Bradberry will fit Big Blue’s zone concepts like a hand in glove. In 2019, he allowed just 27 receptions on 52 targets for 387 yards, no touchdowns, three interceptions, and a Positive Play Rate of 44.2%.
That’s a huge upgrade for the Giants, who were like a sieve on pass defense in 2019. That all began with the lack of a legitimate pass rush under defensive coordinator James Bettcher, who compounded the issue by having his corners play loose off the line of scrimmage.
Bradberry broke into the NFL as a second round pick out of Samford in 2016, selected by none other than Dave Gettleman when he was the general manager in Carolina. Bradberry’s career took off like a shot, winning the vaunts starting role left behind by the release of Josh Norman.
James Bradberry was one of the top rookie corners last year pic.twitter.com/Cf3WTwza4k
— PFF (@PFF) July 11, 2017
Bradberry has gone from a superb press corner to an excellent zone cover man. The bottom line is he can do both very well. The leveling off of his play in Carolina may have something to do with the departure of defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, who took the head coaching job in Buffalo, after Bradberry’s rookie season.
With Patrick Graham now in as Giants’ defensive coordinator and veteran Jerome Henderson running the defensive backs, you can expect to get the best out of Bradberry — and the others — going forward.
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