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The New York Giants have worked diligently to shore up their roster and depth ahead of the 2022 regular season, but not everything has gone swimmingly.
While general manager Joe Schoen has done some positive work along the offensive line, at linebacker and along the edge, he was forced to sacrifice a bit in the secondary — a unit that had been the Giants’ best. Gone are safeties Logan Ryan and Jabrill Peppers, as well as cornerback James Bradberry.
That leaves Wink Martindale’s unit a bit thin on the backend and thrusts much of the pressure onto the shoulders of cornerback Adoree’ Jackson, the now-veteran of the group.
Opinions on Jackson vary but those over at Pro Football Focus remain high on his potential. In fact, they ranked him among the NFL’s top outside cornerbacks, falling just short of the “elite” tier. Rather, Jackson landed in the “on the cusp of elite” tier.
12. ADOREE’ JACKSON, NEW YORK GIANTS
Jackson has been a brick wall on his side of the field over the past few years. Among qualifying corners since 2019, he boasts the fifth-lowest target rate (12.0%), sixth-most passing stops (29) and second-fewest yards per coverage snap (0.69). Quarterbacks are largely avoiding him in coverage, and he’s blowing up anything underneath him when given the opportunity. While the Tennessee Titans did cut him in the middle of that stretch, the data speaks for itself. Jackson earned a top-five coverage grade in his first season with the Giants in 2021 and will eye elite-level play in 2022 and beyond at the Meadowlands.
Interestingly, PFF had Jackson ranked significantly higher than Bradberry, who was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles shortly after his Giants release.
22. JAMES BRADBERRY, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
Bradberry enjoyed a career year in his first season with the New York Giants in 2020. He turned in a 79.8 PFF grade, well over 10 grading points ahead of his previous career-best. Unfortunately, Bradberry reverted to his older form in 2021 and saw his grade fall 17 grading points. He still ranked well above the 50th percentile in outside coverage grade thanks to 17 combined pass breakups and interceptions, but he also tied for the most touchdowns allowed (8). The new Eagle will always be a productive player, given his physicality, but it’s going to come with some bust tendencies.
Aaron Robinson did not make the cut on the 32-player list. In fact, no other Giants were ranked.
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