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The New York Giants’ secondary was one of the league’s best this season and the best of the Giants’ secondary was cornerback James Bradberry, the 27-year-old former Carolina Panther they inked to a three-year, $45 million contract last spring.
Bradberry was tied for second in the NFL in passes defensed (18) this year and was named to the Pro Bowl. He was the highest-rated defensive player on the Giants’ defense by Pro Football Focus.
Not only that, Bradberry was also named a Second Team All-Pro courtesy of PFF.
Bradberry had four tackles and a pass defensed against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Dallas came into the game hot, especially their three tp wide receivers — Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb.
Led by Bradberry, the Giants looked the trio down for the most part. The three combined for 15 catches but only gained a collective 133 yards and no touchdowns. The longest gain through the air allowed was for 21 yards by Lamb.
The Giants have relied on Bradberry to carry to anchor one side of the field while they searched for a solution on the other side at corner. Isaac Yiadom, who had started the previous eight games, was benched in favor of Julian Love on Sunday. The plan worked.
“We put a lot on James Bradberry’s plate,” said safety Logan Ryan. “We leaned a lot of coverage from James Bradberry. When you’re the top corner, you’re allowed to do that. We put everything on James Bradberry’s plate. We pushed all the defense away and dared them to throw at James Bradberry and they still didn’t.”
Next season, the Giants will likely look for a more permanent option to pair with Bradberry. They thought they had that this spring in DeAndre Baker and/or Sam Beal but Baker blew up his Giants career with legal issues and Beal opted out with COVID concerns.
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