Each team in the NFL has their over-hyped players as well as their undervalued ones. The New York Giants are no different. They have been systematically ridding themselves of players who under-perform their contractual expectations (for the most part) and are concentrating on players who play up to — and above — their talent level.
In a list of each NFL team’s most underrated player, Ben Linsey of Pro Football Focus‘ choice for the Giants is an interesting one:
NEW YORK GIANTS: DB JULIAN LOVE
The Giants’ secondary has some definite question marks with DeAndre Baker facing possible legal trouble and an unproven group at cornerback behind free agent acquisition James Bradberry. But Julian Love is someone they should feel pretty good about after a promising start to his NFL career as a rookie last season. Love is a guy who graded extremely well at the college ranks as an outside cornerback for the Fighting Irish, earning coverage grades of 83.7 and 90.9 during his final two seasons with Notre Dame. Love followed that up by coming away from the 2019 season with an encouraging 70.5 overall grade despite being a 21-year-old rookie playing a new position. Whether he remains at safety or moves back to cornerback to potentially fill in for Baker outside, Love is a player to watch as he enters his second season.
Not a bad assessment of Julian Love, but he’s underrated for a reason. He was used sparingly last season until near the end of the year when he filled in for the injured Jabrill Peppers at safety. Before that he had played a total of three snaps on defense over the first nine games.
Love is seen as a slot corner or safety, so he will not take over for DeAndre Baker should Baker be forced to miss time handling his legal issues. Love will not start at safety, either. Peppers and second-round draft pick Xavier McKinney will be the likely starters on opening day.
So that would leave Love to battle for a nickel or slot position where the Giants just drafted UCLA’s Darnay Holmes to compete for. At the very least, Love will continue to add depth and talent to a young, promising secondary.
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