Giants vs. Washington: Statistics, numbers and broken records

The New York Giants defeated the Washington Football Team in Week 9 and here’s a look at some of the statistics, numbers and broken records.

The New York Giants defeated the Washington Football Team, 23-20, in Week 9 which improved their season record to 2-7.

Remarkably, the victory thrusts the Giants back into contention in the NFC East and with a win against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 10, would find themselves tied for the division lead in wins.

But getting back to Sunday, here’s a look at all the noteworthy stats and records to come from the Week 9 win:

The Giants have now swept the season series vs. Washington in consecutive seasons.
With the win, the Giants have now beaten Washington in five straight games.
The Giants gained a season-high 402 yards in Week 9.
New York’s 166 rushing yards represented a season-high.
The Giants have rushed for 100 or more yards in four consecutive games.
The Giants held Washington to just 37 yards on the ground, the lowest opposing total since October 21, 2013 (Vikings, 30).
The Giants forced five turnovers on Sunday and committed 0. That was their best turnover differential since September 25, 2014 (+5 at Washington).
New York forced three first half turnovers, which was their largest total over the first and second quarters since October 28, 2012 (at Dallas).
The Giants last forced and recovered a fumble on their opponent’s first play back in October of 1998 (vs. Atlanta).
With the win, Daniel Jones is now 4-0 in his first four starts against Washington.
Cornerback Isaac Yiadom recorded his first career half-sack.
With his three field goals, Graham Gano has now made 18 in a row.

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Giants-Cowboys Week 5: Offense, defense and special teams snap counts

The New York Giants lost their Week 5 game against the Dallas Cowboys. Here are the snap counts on offense, defense and special teams.

The New York Giants fell to the Dallas Cowboys, 37-34, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Sunday, dropping their record to 0-5 on the season and potentially putting jobs on the line.

For the fourth time this season, the Giants battled and had a chance to walk away with a win, but simply couldn’t make the plays they needed to in the end.

Here’s a look at the snap counts that attributed to their latest loss.

Offensive snaps: 68
Defensive snaps: 66
Special teams snaps: 34

Cornerback Ryan Lewis has completely taken over as No. 2 alongside James Bradberry, seeing the field on 97% of all defensive snaps. By contrast, Corey Ballentine didn’t take a single defensive snap in Week 5. Ditto Isaac Yiadom.

Unfortunately, safety Nate Ebner and linebacker Devante Downs took two defensive snaps each, and wouldn’t you know it, the Cowboys scored a touchdown on one of those plays.

Meanwhile, defensive back Adrian Colbert, who had two terrible personal foul penalties called against him, out-snapped Jabrill Peppers 50 to 23. That would seem to indicate that Peppers is not fully back from his ankle injury just yet.

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Giants will go with the ‘hot hand’ at cornerback

The New York Giants appear to have no plan at cornerback aside from James Bradberry, and will apparently go with the “hot hand” at CB2.

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With 2019 first-round pick DeAndre Baker on the commissioner’s exempt list and 2018 third-round pick (supplemental draft) Sam Beal sitting out the season due to COVID-19, what do the New York Giants do at CB2?

Rookie Darnay Holmes seems destined to win the nickel job, but that leaves the team with a glaring absence alongside James Bradberry, who is well-established at CB1.

The Giants did sign veteran Ryan Logan, but based on early indications, he will primarily play safety. There’s also Julian Love, who is likely to play most positions in the secondary based on scenario and circumstance.

Ultimately, there’s nothing concrete. And apparently, there’s not going to be.

We’ve heard things like running back by committee and rotational defensive linemen, but how about mixing and matching at cornerback? That’s apparently what the Giants are going to do.

“Right now, we’re looking to play as many of our players as possible at those positions. Keep them fresh and rotate,” head coach Joe Judge told reporters on Sunday. “One thing we haven’t had yet is a preseason game or a regular season game yet obviously. We’re going to make sure we use all of our guys, roll them on through, and we’ll see who performs the best. Whoever the hot hand is we may go with, but we’re going to make sure we keep rolling them on through and building the experience of the group as a whole.”

One of the first players likely to get a call is Isaac Yiadom, who was acquired from the Denver Broncos via trade last week and who picked up his playbook for the very first time on Monday (exactly seven days removed from kickoff).

“We like the way he plays on the line of scrimmage. He has some experience within the league. That goes a little bit of ways, but it’s our job as coaches to get him caught up to our system as fast as possible,” Judge added. “There won’t be much carryover necessarily from the other system, but we try to keep as many of the techniques similar for him so he can carry over as fast as possible. But we like the energy and effort he plays with, we like the physicality he shows on the line of scrimmage, and obviously, this is a guy that we remember when he came out of college not too long ago in the draft. We’ve known about this guy in the league for a while.”

This approach does not instill a lot of confidence.

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Broncos trade CB Isaac Yiadom to Giants for 7th-round pick

The Broncos are trading Isaac Yiadom to the Giants.

The Denver Broncos have agreed to trade cornerback Isaac Yiadom to the New York Giants in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick in 2021, according to The Denver Post‘s Ryan O’Halloran.

Yiadom (6-1, 190 pounds) was selected by the Broncos in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft out of Boston College. He failed to live up to his early-round status, earning just nine starts in his career.

In 29 career games, Yiadom totaled 61 tackles, seven pass breakups and one interception. He served primarily as a rotational cornerback and special teams contributor when Denver’s starting cornerbacks were healthy. Last year, Yiadom was a fill-in starter for eight games.

A.J. Bouye and Bryce Callahan will serve as the Broncos’ top two cornerbacks this season. Yiadom was competing with De’Vante Bausby and Davontae Harris for the No. 3 cornerback role before being traded.

Denver also selected Michael Ojemudia in the third round of this year’s draft and the team signed college free agent Essang Bassey after the draft. Duke Dawson also has a chance to make the 53-man roster so the Broncos have plenty of options at cornerback even after trading Yiadom.

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Denver Broncos depth chart prediction: Cornerback

Which cornerbacks will make the Broncos’ 53-man roster this season?

As we continue our 2020 depth chart prediction series for the Denver Broncos, today we’re going to be looking at cornerback.

Previously, we predicted the QB, RB, TE, WR, OL and DL depth charts.

Here’s a way-too-early projection for the team’s cornerback room:

Cornerback	Slot	Cornerback
A.J. Bouye	Duke Dawson Jr.	Bryce Callahan
Davontae Harris	De’Vante Bausby	Michael Ojemudia
Essang Bassey	Shakial Taylor	Isaac Yiadom

There’s a chance that Callahan could end up being the slot cornerback, like he was with the Chicago Bears. Callahan spent time on the outside last spring, though, and Denver liked Dawson as a slot cornerback before he was injured last season.

Bouye is a locked-in starter — Callahan and Ojemudia might be the favorites to start across from him, depending on how the slot situation shakes out. Harris and Bausby had stretches of strong play last year so they should have decent chances to make the team again this season.

Bassey was one of the top undrafted free agents available in April and he could be a sleeper to make the 53-man roster. Yiadom, a former third-round pick, will face fierce competition to make the team. Taylor will also face long odds, but he could make the squad with a strong training camp.

The Broncos carried six cornerbacks on their initial roster in 2019.

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Projecting Broncos’ secondary depth chart before the NFL draft

Here’s a look at the Broncos’ depth in the secondary going into the NFL draft.

With the 2020 NFL draft now just one week away, here’s a look at the Broncos’ projected secondary depth chart as it stands right now:

Cornerback	Safety	Safety	Dime	Cornerback
Bryce Callahan	Kareem Jackson	Justin Simmons	Duke Dawson	A.J. Bouye
Davontae Harris	Trey Marshall	Alijah Holder	Shakial Taylor	De’Vante Bausby
Isaac Yiadom	P.J. Locke	Kahani Smith	Tyvis Powell

Denver has a pretty good group of starters but the team is lacking depth across the board. If any of the team’s starters are injured (like Callahan was last year), the secondary will suffer greatly.

After losing Chris Harris to the Chargers during free agency, the Broncos have a big hole at cornerback. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the team use one of their first picks in the draft on a cornerback.

Denver also needs more depth at safety. Simmons should be a reliable defensive back for years to come (assuming he agrees to a contract extension) but Jackson is 32 years old and will need to be replaced in the coming years.

The Broncos should target a cornerback early and add a safety in the mid-rounds of the draft next week. Denver will have 10 picks to use.

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Broncos’ updated cornerback depth chart after A.J. Bouye trade

After the Broncos agreed to trade for A.J. Bouye, Denver’s cornerback depth chart is starting to shape up.

The Broncos have agreed to trade a fourth-round pick to the Jaguars in exchange for cornerback A.J. Bouye. The deal won’t become official until March 18 but we can already start imagining what Denver’s secondary will look like after Bouye officially joins the roster.

The Broncos are not going to tender De’Vante Bausby but that doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t bring him back. Denver should be able to re-sign Bausby for less than what a tender would cost. So with that in mind, we have Bausby as part of the depth chart even though he’s not under contract.

Chris Harris is not included on the depth chart, though. It’s possible that the Broncos could re-sign Harris but it appears unlikely to happen. Cyrus Jones and Davontae Harris seem to be candidates to be re-signed but they’re not on the current depth chart.

CB1: A.J. Bouye (6-0, 191 pounds) is entering his eighth season in the NFL and he seems to be a perfect fit for Vic Fangio’s defense. Bouye earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2017 after recording six interceptions and fans in Denver can only hope that he returns to top form under Fangio.

CB2: Bryce Callahan (5-9, 188 pounds) missed all of last season with a foot injury but Broncos fans shouldn’t overlook him. Callahan is doing better now than he was at this point last spring and he has experience playing under Fangio. In 2018, Callahan totaled two sacks and two interceptions.

CB3: De’Vante Bausby (6-2, 190 pounds) played in the AAF last spring before reuniting with Fangio in Denver (sensing a trend?). He emerged as a quality cornerback last season before suffering a scary injury. Bausby is now healthy again and could be a good CB3 or excellent CB4 in 2020.

CB4: Duke Dawson (5-10, 198 pounds) was selected by the Patriots in the second round of the 2018 draft and later traded to the Broncos for a late-round pick. He was a serviceable nickelback last season and should have no problem winning a rotational spot in the secondary this offseason.

CB5: Isaac Yiadom (6-1, 190 pounds) was selected by Denver in the third round of the 2018 draft and has failed to live up to his draft status since then. He can’t be relied on to be one of the team’s top cornerbacks but he could provide depth in 2020.

CB6: Shakial Taylor (6-0, 181 pounds) was claimed off waivers by the Broncos last November and didn’t dress for any games. Denver clearly saw something in him and wanted to stash him for the future. This offseason, Taylor will get a shot to prove he deserves some playing time.

CB7: Alijah Holder (6-2, 188 pounds) signed with the Broncos as a college free agent last spring and spent his rookie season on the practice squad. With Will Parks not expected to return, Holder might have a better chance to make the roster if he switches to safety.

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Broncos 2019 positional grades: Cornerback

The days of the ‘No Fly Zone’ are long gone and this year’s cornerbacks grade for the Denver Broncos reflects it.

The cornerback position is one of the most interesting areas on the entire roster of the Denver Broncos.

Once a major strength of the team back in the ‘No Fly Zone’ days, the Broncos have been searching for the right combination of players at the cornerback position for the last several seasons.

The team tried many players at cornerback last year, including some guys the team never planned on having to use. This was largely due to the fact that the team’s big free agent signing, Bryce Callahan, ended up missing the entire season.

The Broncos also signed Coty Sensabaugh and he suited up for four games but played sparingly before being released before the season ended. He will not be graded here.

The team has players it will try to integrate into the defense next season along with Callahan, such as Cyrus Jones and Alijah Holder. But none of those players earned grades for the 2019 season, so let’s look back at the year for those that did.

Chris Harris

Stats

Tackles: 56

Tackles for loss: 1

Interceptions: 1

Pass deflections: 6

Forced fumbles: 1

Harris didn’t have terrible numbers last season, though he did only reel in one interception.

He has been a key component for the team’s defense for years and is one of the best cornerbacks in Broncos history. But last season, he didn’t seem to be the top-notch cover guy that we have all come to know.

Was that because of deteriorating skills or a lack of interest in playing for the Broncos any further? Those questions could be answered this offseason as Harris will be an unrestricted free agent and the growing belief among fans seems to be that he won’t be back.

Grade: B-

Isaac Yiadom

Stats

Tackles: 43

Tackles for loss: 1

Pass deflections: 4

Yiadom isn’t quite the third-round bust that former cornerback Brendan Langley turned out to be, but he certainly leaves much to be desired.

Yiadom may be able to develop into a guy the team can count on in sub-packages and to fill in at times in the future, but the team can certainly do better for a starting corner.

Grade: C-

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NFL fines Broncos cornerback Isaac Yiadom, 3 Raiders players

Broncos cornerback Isaac Yiadom was fined by the NFL after being penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct against the Raiders in Week 17.

Near the end of the Broncos’ 16-15 win over the Raiders in Week 17, a brawl broke out between the AFC West rivals. The league punished four players involved in the incident last week.

Denver cornerback Isaac Yiadom received a $14,037 unsportsmanlike conduct fine, according to The Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala. That’s 2.324% of the $603,750 he earned during the 2019 season (salary via Spotrac.com).

In addition to Yiadom, three other players faced repercussions.

Raiders guard Josh Mauro and safety Erik Harris were fined $10,527 and $28,075, respectively, for unnecessary roughness. Oakland cornerback Nevin Lawson received the biggest punishment: a one-game suspension without pay to begin the 2020 season.

Lawson was suspended after using his helmet as a weapon in the brawl.

Yiadom (6-1, 190 pounds) was selected by the Broncos in the third round of the 2018 NFL draft out of Boston College. He hasn’t quite lived up to his draft status over the last two years, totaling just one interception and seven pass breakups in 29 games.

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