Deandre Baker is one of the best defensive backs in the history of Georgia football. He simply locked down every wide receiver that he ever faced off against in college.
The New York Giants used a first round pick on Baker, hoping his lockdown skills would translate to the NFL.
For the first half of the NFL season, it was not looking good for Baker or the Giants. He was getting beat regularly, giving up a ton of room to receivers to make easy catches and was being targeted by opposing quarterbacks.
But that was then.
Now, Baker has been playing like one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL.
According to @PFF_Giants, in the last 4 games QB’s targeting Deandre Baker are completing 26.3% (5/19) of their passes which is the lowest percentage targeting any CB.
Almost like labeling a 1st Round guy a bust and declaring he should be benched is a bit silly in year one.
— Bobby Skinner (@BobbySkinner_) December 18, 2019
DeAndre Baker is now down to 57.1 completion percentage on the season. Kid is getting better and better. Needs to work on some technique and clean up some penalties, but now you're starting to see why he was a No. 1
— The Giant Insider Newspaper & Podcast (@GiantInsider) December 16, 2019
Good for Baker, a former Jim Thorpe Award winner who is now playing like we knew he could.
Being a first round draft pick yields a lot of pressure, and one guy who knows a lot about that pressure is Giants running back Saquon Barkley.
Barkley talked with the New York Post about Baker and his rookie season.
“When you come in as a first-rounder, everyone sets expectations for you and there are expectations that you set for yourself and the kind of player you want to be,’’ Barkley told The Post on Friday. “Bake comes in every single day and works to get better and better. Obviously, he probably didn’t start the season how he would like to start his career. But these last couple weeks, he’s been playing lights out. He was a big reason why we got our first win in a while last week.’’