The New York Giants will be in a state of flux in the secondary this year. James Bradberry comes in from Carolina to replace Janoris Jenkins in the number one spot, but no one can say definitively yet if Bradberry will work in the Giants’ system and play like someone worth the money. DeAndre Baker would have been the top candidate for the number two corner after playing there last season and making improvements towards the end, but his ongoing legal trouble means that his future with the team entirely is in question. And no one knows exactly where Julian Love is going to line up.
Love came onto the scene last season and made an impact during the second half when the coaches finally gave him a chance, and he gave them reason to not look back with one interception and five starts overall. His play also earned him a decent title from Pro Football Focus – the most underrated player on the Giants, according to their list of the most underrated player on every team.
The Giants’ secondary has some definite question marks with DeAndre Baker facing possible legal trouble and an unproven group at cornerback behind free agent acquisition James Bradberry. But Julian Love is someone they should feel pretty good about after a promising start to his NFL career as a rookie last season. Love is a guy who graded extremely well at the college ranks as an outside cornerback for the Fighting Irish, earning coverage grades of 83.7 and 90.9 during his final two seasons with Notre Dame. Love followed that up by coming away from the 2019 season with an encouraging 70.5 overall grade despite being a 21-year-old rookie playing a new position. Whether he remains at safety or moves back to cornerback to potentially fill in for Baker outside, Love is a player to watch as he enters his second season.
While it remains to be seen what position Love will play, his versatility is one of his strengths in this case and will help his chances with getting into the starting lineup. Though, it’s debatable whether Love can truly be considered the most underrated player on the Giants, because his position has gotten plenty of attention which has put Love on the radar of most fans who look beyond the surface to see which players could break out this season.
If Love does remain at safety, where he played last season, he would have to compete with Xavier McKinney. Due to the marquee nature of the second round pick, a move to corner seems more likely. Love can play both positions, but there’s multiple ways a full time move like that could go overall. If Love can hold the position down, though, he may not be so underrated anymore as it would bring more mainstream popularity for him and his game among Giants fans.