Having a poor secondary can be a terrible thing for a defense‘s pass rush. The New York Giants experienced that in 2019 when their secondary allowed a 66.4% completion rate against and 30 overall touchdowns. They also recorded only 36 sacks, which ranked 21st in the NFL. They were below average in just about every category, and the 2020 off-season was meant to bolster the defense’s production.
Last year, the defense was littered with rookies and inexperienced players. That played a massive part in their degradation and demise.
New York Giants rookie appearances in secondary (2019):
Corey Ballentine: 13 appearances, two starts
Julian Love: 15 appearances, five start
DeAndre Baker: 16 appearances, 15 starts
The Giants made drastic changes to their secondary this off-season, signing former Carolina Panther James Bradberry, Logan Ryan, and drafting Darnay Holmes and Xavier McKinney. The addition of new players should prove to be a significant difference moving forward, and hopefully, a positive one.
Bradberry is an upgrade over Janoris Jenkins, who joined the New Orleans Saints late during the 2019 season. Jabrill Peppers cemented himself at strong safety and took massive developmental steps forward. Holmes is an upgrade at the slot position where the Giants were currently rotating Grant Haley and others. We would be remiss not to mention Julian Love, who earned reps at safety and corner in 2019, developing into a solid utility player who can plug-in at multiple positions.
New Projected starting secondary:
CB1: James Bradberry
CB2: Logan Ryan
SS: Jabrill Peppers
FS: Julian Love
Slot: Darnay Holmes
Having a strong secondary is a priority in the NFL, as it can help the pass rush succeed with their assignments. There is such thing as coverage sacks, which essentially is a sack due to great coverage.
With the interior defensive line experiencing games together in 2019, we should expect to see an increase in efficiency.
Projected starting pass-rush/defensive line:
ROLB: Markus Golden/Oshane Ximines
DL: Leonard Williams
DL: Dalvin Tomlinson
DL: Dexter LawrenceÂ
LOLB: Kyler Fackrell/Lorenzo Carter
The Giants brought in Kyler Fackrell and retained Markus Golden, which should help boost the unit’s production. A year of experience with Leonard Williams, Dalvin Tomlinson, and Dexter Lawrence is also beneficial.
Having a strong secondary who can hold up in coverage will give them more time to get to the quarterback. Last year, having a bevy of rookies was not ideal, and subsequently hurt the defense across the board. The signing of Logan Ryan is a big deal, and his versatility proved to be influential.
The Giants became a better team on Monday, and the pass rush will only benefit from the strengthening of the secondary.