What’s the difference between last year’s New York Giants defense and this year’s? Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale summed it up in one word.
Speed.
“I think that the biggest thing you will see is the difference in our speed and as soon as we can catch the execution up with the speed, like I said, it’s going to be fun for you guys to watch and for our city to watch and our fans to watch,” Martindale told reporters on Wednesday.
The Giants added speed at all three levels of the defense this offseason with players such as linebackers Bobby Okereke and Isaiah Simmons and rookie cornerbacks Deonte Banks and Tre Hawkins III.
“I think that he is a very competitive person,” Martindale said of Banks. “I like his attitude. I’ve used the Ted Lasso quote to nauseam now, but that’s just who he is. He loves to compete, he loves this defense, he loves the system, and you can tell the way his teammates have grown close to him already that he’s an all-around good guy that’s going to have a lot of success in this league.
“He’s ahead of schedule as far as that, you know, being ready to go and being excited about going. You know there is going to be hiccups, we all know. That’s being a rookie. That’s both for he and (cornerback) Tre (Hawkins III). They are just two strong-willed individuals that I think they are going to be just fine.”
Simmons brings a size/speed element to Martindale’s ‘position-less’ defense that is raising some excitement inside the building.
“I went back the last three years and looked at his productivity and looked at things he did do really well, and I think it fits our system great,” Martindale said. “It’s not what position are you going to play him at, we are going to play him wherever you need him because he can do so many different things. I’ve talked before about a positionless defense, he fits perfect to that.”
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