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In recent years, the New York Giants have had major roster turnover in their secondary. They have moved on from familiar names such as Landon Collins, Janoris Jenkins and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.
Now with an extremely young developing core, Pro Football Focus has ranked the Giants as 27th best secondary in the league.
James Bradberry is the big offseason addition to the Giants secondary, and while it’s true that few cornerbacks have had a tougher job over the past few seasons, given the division in which he has had to ply his trade, he’s also never quite lived up to the potential we saw as a rookie. Bradberry has consistently generated PFF grades in the 60s but has a rare skill set and should immediately look significantly better without needing to try and cover the likes of Julio Jones and Mike Evans twice a season.
DeAndre Baker struggled badly as a rookie and was beaten for eight touchdowns in total, though his future is somewhat up in the air, given the reported off-field troubles. Beyond Baker, the Giants would be turning to Sam Beal, who played fewer than 300 snaps last year, or one of either Corey Ballentine, Darnay Holmes, Chris Williamson or Montre Hartage. So, for as much as Baker struggled last year, the prospects of a season without him would not be good.
Interestingly, PFF does not project Holmes to compete on the inside, which is precisely what he’ll do entering the 2020 season.
On the inside, Grant Haley was the team’s slot corner in 2019, but he earned a PFF coverage grade of 48.3 and was beaten for a passer rating of 114.2 when targeted. And at safety, Antoine Bethea has now gone, leaving Julian Love to try and fight off rookie Xavier McKinney for playing time alongside Jabril Peppers. McKinney has elite versatility and was used much the same way as Clemson’s Isaiah Simmons, though McKinney does come without the absurd size and measurables. Love played well last season, so it would be unfortunate if he were to lose time this year.
The Giants are loaded with potential, but only time will tell if their young core turns out to be viable starters in the league.
This offseason, the Giants addressed a position of need when they signed cornerback James Bradberry in free agency. Originally DeAndre Baker was slotted to be the No. 2 cornerback behind Bradberry. Baker struggled early on in his rookie year but improved down the stretch of last season. However, now, Baker’s status is very much up in the air following his alleged legal trouble which landed him on the commissioner’s exempt list.
Past that there are certainly a ton of question marks surrounding young players at the cornerback position. Having said that, there are many believe that Big Blue got an absolute steal when they drafted Darnay Holmes out of UCLA in the fourth round of this year’s draft. In fact, there have been some pretty high-profile names who have raved about Holmes.
At the safety positions, the Giants hope they can continue to develop their young core. They acquired Jabrill Pepper in the trade that sent Odell Beckham Jr. to the Browns and Peppers played well in his first season with Big Blue.
Xavier McKinney is another player that many felt the Giants got a lot of value with when they drafted him in the second round of this year’s draft. McKinney is a very versatile safety that can be moved around all over on defense. Between Peppers and McKinney, many believe the Giants have a young core to build around at the safety position.
Overall, the Giants’ secondary is extremely young so the rank given by PFF is understandable. With the uncertainty surrounding DeAndre Baker, don’t be surprised if they Giants add a veteran to help their secondary before the season starts.
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