Most of the time this season, when there’s been news about New York Giants cornerback DeAndre Baker, it hasn’t been good news. The Giants not only took Baker in the first round but traded up for him, a move that along with drafting others for the secondary and bringing in Jabrill Peppers, was supposed to increase their depth at the position group and move the team away from the recent years where defensive back has been a problem position.
However, things have gone a lot rougher for Baker since then.
Poor play in a rookie season where he was practically thrown to the lions by being placed into an early role as a starter has made Baker a target for opposing quarterbacks, and in a vicious cycle, Bakers poor responses on the field have only made him more of an attractive option to throw to. It’s not just on the field that the cornerback has struggled, though.
Earlier in the month, Baker gained the attention of former Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes for his lack of effort. Tynes mentioned that players who put in Baker’s amount of effort and hustle get no respect from their teammates, and based on recent news, it looks like Tynes is onto something.
It has been an “up and down” rookie season for DeAndre Baker, who was called out last week in front of team for his effort on this “unacceptable” play. But the #Giants insist there have been enough positives for the first-round pick to self-correct. https://t.co/wR21tB2Lx1 pic.twitter.com/D9cIMp1bNY
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) November 22, 2019
Baker was called out in front of the team for his unacceptable play according to Jordan Raanan, and fan sentiment isn’t much better. In fact, it wouldn’t be a crazy assumption to say that Baker likely has less goodwill with the fans at this point than with the locker room, which is never a good sign for a rookie player fighting to get established.
He’s even gotten the comparison multiple times to Eli Apple, the much maligned cornerback who Baker was effectively drafted to replace.
https://twitter.com/WillPresti/status/1197914510528598016
There’s a saying that the more things change, the more things stay the same. That about sums up the Giants’ situation with drafting cornerbacks, and at the end of the day, that’s something that should fall on the shoulders of the organization rather than any individual player.
Fans can rightfully criticize DeAndre Baker for his play, but at some point, questions have to be asked about the management that drafted him after trading up. Of course, Dave Gettleman isn’t responsible for the team’s previous cornerback selections, but with a trend of failed selections at the position, one has to wonder just how much John Mara has played into making some of this selections. Mara is, after all, the one consistent amid a number of failures for the Giants.