The New York Giants have a lot of potential sleepers on their roster going into training camp – the team is building in a young direction, after all, and there’s a number of players that are either completely unproven or are looking to take a step forward and claim a bigger role on the team after getting some experience during the past one or two seasons.
With some key players gone such as Odell Beckham Jr., Landon Collins, and Damon Harrison, there’s plenty of spots that are waiting for young players to step in and fill the roles left open from various departures. One spot that needs players to step up, though, is cornerback. Now that the Giants have addressed the need in the draft, the focus will shift to making sure those draft picks break through in the NFL and lead the team’s secondary to success.
According to Maurice Morton of Bleacher Report, the cornerback position is where the Giants have the biggest sleeper on their training camp roster. One may think that this player would be Deandre Baker, who the Giants took in the first round, but Baker himself isn’t much of a sleeper… He’s received plenty of hype so far, and therefore the title went to Julian Love, who was taken later in the draft in the fourth round out of Notre Dame.
The Bleacher Report article quotes an overview of Love’s current status from NJ Advance Media’s Matt Lombardo:
Love has the chance to push Haley for the nickel job, but might be better suited to play safety because of his physicality and lack of high-end speed. Training camp and preseason will be critical for Love to carve out his role, if he loses the nickel competition, he could push Antoine Bethea for the starting safety spot opposite Jabrill Peppers, if the veteran falters.
The Giants have a need at both safety and cornerback following the departure of Landon Collins and there’s no telling whether or not Bethea or Baker will be able to fill the openings at their respective positions respectively. It could give a chance for Love to step in, even if Love isn’t in the position to be an immediate starter right now.
After all, Love is believed to have been drafted lower than his actual value, and could have easily went higher – don’t let this player’s fourth round status trick you into thinking the Giants didn’t get another player that can make an impact right away.