Tag: Julian Love

Two Former Notre Dame Stars Listed as “Most Underrated”

A pair of former Notre Dame stars were recently listed as “most underrated” on PFF’s list of such players

If you watched Notre Dame for even a short time between 2016 and 2018 chances are you saw Julian Love or Drue Tranquill make a big play.

Whether it was a pass break up, interception or returning a fumble recovery for a touchdown, the young man just had an ability to make plays on the regular.

Now Pro Football Focus is throwing praise their way as they’ve released the “Most underrated on all 32 NFL teams” list ahead of the 2020 season.  In it they list Julian Love, the second year defensive back as the New York Giants representative and Tranquill as the Chargers rep.

Of Love they say:

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.

Love defended three passes last season while also recording one interception and forcing a fumble.

On Drue Tranquill…

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PFF names Julian Love the most underrated Giant

Pro Football Focus has named defensive back Julian Love as the most underrated member of the New York Giants.

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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Giants’ Julian Love earns degree from Notre Dame

New York Giants DB Julian Love used his time off due to COVID-19 to complete his degree at Notre Dame.

This offseason has been a trying one for all of us. For NFL players who are usually participating their team’s offseason program at the team’s facility, things are not normal.

Players are working out at home and joining meetings via streaming services. Some players, such as New York Giants’ second-year safety Julian Love, used the time to complete his degree from the University of Notre Dame as per the Giants’ official website:

Following his strong junior campaign, Love would forego his final year of eligibility and declare for the 2019 NFL Draft, where the Giants selected him in the fourth round (No. 108 overall). The young corner started the final five games of the season and played well, recording 34 tackles (27 solo), five tackles for loss, one forced fumble and two passes defended.

Love took the time to thank his college coach, Brian Kelly, for the support. Kelly also sent this congratulations to the Chicago-area native Love, who apparently was well-liked in South Bend.

“Julian, it’s coach,” Kelly said in a video message. “Think back to your story with Notre Dame. A boyhood dream come true. You came here to South Bend to grow in football and in life and you smiled the whole way through it. And look where the story is now, a beloved NFL playmaker returns to his alma mater to finish his degree. Now I can’t stop smiling. Congratulations, Julian. Go Irish!”

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Giants’ Joe Judge: There is still a role for Julian Love

Despite signing CB James Bradberry and drafting S Xavier McKinney, head coach Joe Judge says there’s still a role for Julian Love.

So, now that the New York Giants have found their tandem at safety after selecting Xavier McKinney in the second round of the NFL Draft on Friday night, what becomes of Julian Love?

Love, a fourth-round pick out of Notre Dame last year, finished up the season as one of the Giants’ starters at safety next to veteran Antoine Bethea, who was released last month.

Love filled in admirable for Jabrill Peppers, who missed the final month of the season with a fractured bone in his back. Peppers is healthy again and ready to take his rightful place in the starting lineup. That was supposed to be next to Love, whose role is now in limbo after the addition of McKinney.

Head coach Joe Judge indicated on Friday night that there is room for everyone on his new defense.

“Julian has a great skill set. He can play corner, he can play in the slot and he can play back deep as a safety. We are going to use him as we need by each game plan,” Judge told reporters during a conference call. “He may be an every-down safety, he may be an-every down corner.

“We are too far away right now to give that an answer. We are excited about all the guys we have back there. We believe we added some talent to the back end for guys to compete and we are going to see where it shakes out. Nothing has been decided in terms of positions that will go into a depth chart at this point and nothing has been decided in how we are going to use guys by game plan. That will change week to week. We believe we have enough skillsets that it will give us flexibility within our packages.”

The Giants have a young and exciting secondary buoyed by Peppers, McKinney, Love and cornerbacks James Bradberry, DeAndre Baker, Sam Beal, Corey Ballantine and Grant Haley. In a passing league they should have enough talent to keep up with the high-flying offenses in the NFL.

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Giants’ Julian Love prepared to challenge for starting safety spot

Julian Love is ready to compete for the starting safety role.

The New York Giants are said to be in the market for a safety in the upcoming NFL Draft and many mocks have them taking one as early as the second round.

With veteran Antoine Bethea released, there is an opening next to Jabrill Peppers in the secondary. The Giants are hoping to fill that with a stud rookie.

Or, they can look internally on their own roster. Peppers suffered a lower back injury late last season, which opened up an opportunity for Julian Love, a fourth-round pick out of Notre Dame.

Love started the Giants’ final five games at safety last year after being used sparingly the first three months of the season.

“The fourth-round draft pick from Notre Dame played reasonably well and finished his first NFL season with 37 tackles, one interception and one forced fumble,” writes The Post’s Paul Schwartz. “He graded out as the 32nd-ranked safety in the league by Pro Football Focus, ahead of Peppers (No. 48) and ahead of Landon Collins (No. 41), the former Giants second-round pick who left in free agency in 2019 and signed with the Redskins.”

Still, the Giants want more from the safety position. Love is determined to prove them wrong.

“I want to be the safety of the future for the Giants,” Love said in a phone interview with Schwartz. “I believe I’m the guy. If I didn’t feel that way I wouldn’t say that. But I do feel like that. I’ve been working real hard. I want to go there and get everything in motion and really have a dominant year.’’

Perhaps the Giants do have some faith in the 22-year-old former Irish star. They did not sign a veteran safety in free agency to challenge him but the draft looms with such prospects as Alabama’s Xavier McKinney, Grant Delpit of LSU, Minnesota’s Antoine Winfield, Jr. and Ashtyn Davis of Cal likely on the board when the Giants select in the second round at No. 36.

Love will be prepared should that happen.

“If they did bring in a safety, I know I have multiple traits and multiple strengths to kind of play any position and be successful,’’ he said. “I really feel I can be a safety for this team, what this team needs, so I’m going to go in, I’ve been working hard, I want to go in and hit the ground running to show everybody that, despite who comes in.’’

Notre Dame Record Holder Making NFL Number Change in 2020

Love did all of that while wearing a different number than he did at Notre Dame.  The former number 27 for the Fighting Irish sported jersey number 24 for the Giants in 2019.  In 2020, Love will be going back to his roots.

Julian Love was one of the best Notre Dame defensive backs in recent memory.  In just three years of play he set the program record for most passes defended in school history and took home All-American honors before declaring for the NFL Draft after the 2018 season.

Love was drafted by the New York Giants in the 2019 NFL Draft, 108th overall in the fourth round.  Once getting playing time in the back-half of his rookie year, Love began to make an impact as he recorded an interception in his first start, defending three passes on the year, forcing a fumble and making five tackles for loss.

Love did all of that while wearing a different number than he did at Notre Dame.  The former number 27 for the Fighting Irish sported jersey number 24 for the Giants in 2019.  In 2020, Love will be going back to his roots.

Love will wear number 20 for the Giants in 2020, the same number he wore at Nazareth High School in the Chicago suburbs, something Love mentioned on Instagram on Tuesday.

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Love wore number 27 while at Notre Dame as the number 20 was taken by fellow-defensive back Shaun Crawford back in 2016.

Celebration Time – Happy Birthday to Three Former Notre Dame Stars

Everyone might be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day but if you played football at Notre Dame, your birthday is celebrated two days later.

Everyone might be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day but if you played football at Notre Dame, your birthday is celebrated two days later.

OK, that’s not actually the case but it’s a pretty celebratory day for three Notre Dame football legends as Julian Love (22), Quenton Nelson (24) and Rick Mirer (50) all celebrate birthdays today.

Since all three were great and created countless memories with their highlight-worthy play while at Notre Dame, let’s celebrate the three today.

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Giants’ Julian Love poised for breakout season in 2020

New York Giants safety Julian Love is a player who is expected to make a big jump in Year 2.

Last year’s NFL Draft class brought a ton of new talent into the league, but only three draftees made the Pro Bowl as rookies: Nick Bosa, Josh Allen and Mecole Hardman, and Bosa and Hardman missed the game because they played in the Super Bowl.

That’s about to change for some as this class enters Year 2.

The New York Giants had several rookies ball out last year – quarterback Daniel Jones, defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence and wide receiver Darius Slayton all impressed in their inaugural seasons as pros.

Other players such as cornerback DeAndre Baker also flashed. Ryan Connelly, a linebacker taken in the fifth round, earned a starting role in late September before blowing out an ACL and missing the rest of the season.

This year, other players from that class are expected to make a jump. The Giants, according to some draftniks, got a steal in Notre Dame defensive back Julian Love in the fourth round, but Love couldn’t get on the field the first three quarters of the season.

An injury to starting safety Jabrill Peppers paved the way for Love to get some playing time in the final quadrant of the year, finally giving us an idea of what he can do.

From Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report:

Maybe you didn’t watch much Notre Dame football between 2016-18, and nobody could fault you for tuning out the New York Giants last December. Under those circumstances, you might still be unfamiliar with emerging safety Julian Love, who hardly saw the field in the first 11 weeks but then impressed down the stretch.

The 2019 fourth-round pick had 34 tackles (five for a loss) while excelling inside and outside of the box as well as in coverage in the final five weeks of the regular season. He’s a polished former cornerback with strong tackling skills and the ability to hold it down in the slot, and he’s yet to turn 22.

If you check out tape on Love from late in season, it’s easy to get excited about his potential. His instincts and versatility indicate that Giants general manager Dave Gettleman might have gotten this middle-round pick right.

Peppers will be back and healthy for training camp, but the Giants other starter at safety, 35-year-old Antoine Bethea, may not be. He could be cut by the Giants this spring to make way for Love and other younger, more inexpensive options.

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NFL Draft: Is Troy Pride, Jr. Still A Sleeper? USA TODAY Says Yes

His numbers don’t jump off the page at you as he intercepted four passes in his Notre Dame career which feels rather low for a two-year starter and regular contributor for even longer.

If you’ve been paying attention to NFL Mock Drafts or the off-season work to get to April’s NFL Draft, a Notre Dame player you’ve heard great compliments about over the last month has been cornerback Troy Pride, Jr.

Pride was a mainstay in the Notre Dame secondary over the last three seasons, appearing in 37 games in that time.  His numbers don’t jump off the page at you as he intercepted four passes in his Notre Dame career which feels rather low for a two-year starter and regular contributor for even longer.

He also started all 13 games on Notre Dame’s 2019 squad that not only went 11-2 but also allowed the third-fewest pass yards in all of college football.  If he wasn’t intercepting passes, he certainly wasn’t allowing big plays either.

Pride’s speed has been discussed at length and will be on full display at the upcoming NFL Combine.  For those paying attention he’s been seemingly climbing draft boards for a while now and his rise doesn’t feel like a surprise.

The USA TODAY Wednesday gave names of 11 draft sleepers and mentions Pride:
It’s hard to fathom a two-year starter at Notre Dame who also ran track would end up on this list. Pride, however, hasn’t received widespread recognition, even after an impressive Senior Bowl week in which he flustered nearly all of his opposition. At 5-11 and 195 pounds, he won’t be confused for Richard Sherman or Patrick Peterson, particularly given he recorded just four interceptions in three years. But his quick feet and recognition skills allow him to stick close to pass catchers and deny them any easy opportunities.

His size will keep him from ever being seen as a truly elite NFL prospect and if he his ultimately limited in the league, that’ll likely be why.  But his tape doesn’t lie and giving up a few well-thrown back shoulder throws this year may have urked some Notre Dame fans, but his skills and speed speak for themselves.

He might not be some superstar in the NFL but assuming health (which can be risky) I have trouble believing his skill-set and speed won’t keep him cashing league checks for a good amount of time.

Giants get an A- grade for 2019 draft class

The New York Giants were recently given a letter grade of A- for their 2019 NFL Draft class courtesy of NFL.com.

The 2020 NFL Draft is just around the corner, so what better time to look back on the 2019 NFL Draft to see how teams and players did one year in?

That’s exactly what Nick Shook of NFL.com did this week when he graded the draft class of all four NFC East teams with the New York Giants earning the top letter grade of A-.

The Giants made the most of their haul from the Odell Beckham trade, which landed them, in part, the 17th overall pick, by selecting Dexter Lawrence, who had a solid rookie season. New York also might have found its franchise QB in Daniel Jones, answering a huge question for the team’s foundation. DeAndre Baker had a tough start but finished strong and stands to make a significant improvement in Year 2. Oshane Ximines was effective in his first season despite making just two starts, recording 4.5 sacks. Julian Love is an exciting young player for the back end of New York’s defense. Darius Slayton was an excellent find in the fifth round. Corey Ballentine struggled with a position change to the slot, but he could improve with more time.

Free agency/combine focus: Is New York going to attempt to retain Leonard Williams, who was acquired via trade with the Jets in October and is headed for free agency? Darius Slayton, who led the team with 740 receiving yards and eight touchdown catches, was a nice find, but with second-leading receiver Golden Tate (676 yards, six TD catches) at 31 years old, more capital needs to be invested at the position in a deep draft class. The Giants also need to decide whether they’re willing to pay to keep linebacker Markus Golden (10.0 sacks) and right tackle Mike Remmers, with the former serving as a pleasant revival and the latter helping bolster what was once New York’s most glaring weakness. The Giants are still going to need to address linebacker one way or another and decide whether to seek additional edge help or invest in Williams.

Shook also gave the Giants a nod for eventually finding a way to get tight end Kaden Smith onto their roster — a very deserving tip of the cap.

Comparatively, the Washington Redskins also earned a letter grade of A-, while the Philadelphia Eagles were given a “B” and the Dallas Cowboys given a “C-.”

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