Safety, and corners, in numbers: Giants' secondary is stacked with talented players
Giants cornerback Adoree Jackson works against cornerback Isaac Yiadom during minicamp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, N.J., on Thursday. Credit: Brad Penner
Logan Ryan joked about what could be a new personnel grouping for the Giants’ defense this season.
At least it seemed like he was joking.
"I'm a big proponent of playing 11 defensive backs on every snap," he said, "so maybe all of us will be out there in different packages."
Even if Ryan was a bit serious about it, defensive coordinator Patrick Graham dismissed that hypothetical alignment. Of course the Giants need defensive linemen and linebackers on the field. Of course they won’t stack their entire unit with cornerbacks and safeties.
But the fact that it could even be hypothesized by anyone, well, that says a lot about this Giants secondary. Because if they really truly wanted to, they might actually be able to pull it off.
That’s how deep their group is heading into the 2021 season. They have so many safeties that they will get headaches trying to figure out how to utilize Ryan, Jabril Peppers, Xavier McKinney and Julian Love at the same time. They have enough diverse cornerbacks with James Bradberry, Adoree’ Jackson, Darnay Holmes, Aaron Robinson, Sam Beal and Isaac Yidom to match their strengths against pretty much any type of receiver the rest of the NFL can throw at them.
While the rebuilding of the offense was the declared focus of the offseason, the Giants have rather sneakily assembled what could be among the top secondaries in the league.
"I think we are going to be pretty solid," said Bradberry, a Pro Bowler in 2020 in his first season with the Giants.
The addition of Jackson, a free agent from the Titans, is perhaps the most significant. Not only does he give the Giants a starting cornerback opposite Bradberry and seeming stability at a position that was in flux for the entirety of the 2020 campaign, his skill set will allow the Giants to play much more man-to-man coverage this season. Shorthanded last year, they had to rely on zones far too often.
"I know we didn't play a ton of man last year but we picked spots to play man," Graham said. "Adoree' brings another element, Aaron Robinson, Darnay, they bring another element to it. Will we probably be in more man? Possibly."
When a coach says possibly, it really means probably.
"You need to play man-to-man coverage in this league, period, point-blank," Graham added.
The Giants will still be a flexible unit that will try to match itself against each opponent and surprise them with what they try to do from week to week. Bradberry, though, may have already given away the game plan for Week 8 against Kansas City.
"You have the [Tyreek] Hills of the world, a fast guy, so match up with a fast guy [like Jackson] and it gives you more versatility," Bradberry said. "I would definitely like to match up with a physical guy on physical guy and a fast guy on fast guy."
Jackson, the speedier of the projected starting corners with Bradberry the more physical player, made it sound as if he will relish that assignment among the others he will receive.
"That’s the best part of playing defense," he said. "I was asked in high school which I liked more, scoring a touchdown or getting a defensive stop. I feel like getting a defensive stop is way better."
So far, the Giants haven’t had to cover anyone. Most of the defensive backs were working on their own during OTAs and at this week’s minicamp reps were pretty exclusive to low-speed techniques. They weren’t even allowed to play with their hands and reach for the passes at times.
But when training camp opens in late July, and the season begins in September, they’ll get their chance to show what they can do. And the many ways they can do it.
Even if it's 11 of them … though probably not all at once.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
