The New York Giants’ young secondary has had a rocky offseason. Second-year cornerback DeAndre Baker was arrested earlier this summer and has several severe criminal charges being prosecuted. On top of that, cornerback Sam Beal has opted out of the 2020 NFL season due to COVID-19 concerns, leaving the Giants even more thin at cornerback.
Luckily for the Gmen, there is a new addition to the cornerback group that could fill the hole that has been opened. Darnay Holmes, the Giants’ fourth-round selection out of UCLA was initially thought to be a slot cornerback exclusively. But as the offseason rolled on, many fans have come to the realization that Darnay Holmes has a pretty good chance of being an outside cornerback for the Giants. Now, in training camp, Holmes is officially training for both the inside and outside cornerback positions.
Darnay Holmes Being Cross-Trained
New York’s defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson spoke with the media today and shared some insight on the state of the cornerback position. At the outside cornerback position, Henderson said that all the cornerbacks are “competing” and that the team does not have “a true depth chart” at cornerback just yet.
When asked specifically about Darnay Holmes, Henderson had this to say:
We’re cross-training him right now, outside and inside, as all our players are doing right now. He’s doing a good job in camp, but he has a long, long way to go. We haven’t even gotten to the pads yet to really see. That’ll be when you can really see what you have in those guys, is when we put the pads on and it’s a little more competitive, it’s real and he’s going against guys. Right now, we’ve just been in shorts. He’s been positive, doing some positive things. He has some growing to do. But we’ll see what he is when we put the pads on and actually compete against each other. – Jerome Henderson on Darnay Holmes 8/14/20 via Giants.com
Darnay Holmes has been cross-training at both outside and inside cornerback, according to Jerome Henderson. This is exciting news for Giants fans who were worried about the lack of depth at outside cornerback. Now the question is, will Darnay Holmes be able to succeed on the outside, and will it suit him better than the inside?
Could Darnay Holmes Succeed On The Outside?
Darnay Holmes was drafted to play inside at the nickel cornerback position. But this would be a first for Darnay. The cornerback spent his collegiate career at UCLA playing outside cornerback. Darnay’s playing style is actually similar to that of a prototypical outside cornerback. The problem is, Holmes is small. Darnay stands in at roughly 5 feet 10 inches and 195 pounds (but it would not be surprising if those numbers are a little high).
How small is Darnay Holmes, really? When comparing him to the Giants’ last outside cornerback, Janoris Jenkins, they are about the same height and weight. So maybe size will not be a big issue for Holmes. Darnay could continue playing the position he was so good at in college with the Giants.