New York Giants: Julian Love Will Be The Giants’ Steal Of The 2019 NFL Draft

The New York Giants‘ defense has been one of the league’s worst over the past two seasons. The Giants’ secondary has been particularly bad, allowing opponents to throw for more than enough passing yards to sink the Giants 24 times in two seasons.

In 2017, the Giants’ secondary allowed 252.4 passing yards per game (ranked 31st in the NFL). In 2018, the Giants’ secondary allowed 252.8 passing yards (ranked 23rd in the NFL), showing minimal to no improvement. For this reason, the Giants made it a point of emphasis to fix the secondary in 2019.

The Giants did just that in the 2019 NFL Draft. New York drafted three defensive backs in the 2019 NFL Draft (four if counting Sam Beal). One of the Giants’ draft picks, Julian Love, in the secondary was a major steal, and he could prove that as soon as his rookie season.

Julian Love Stats And Highlights

The New York Giants drafted cornerback Julian Love in the 4th round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Julian Love was considered to be a 2nd-round prospect, but the Giants managed to snag him much later than that.

The cornerback out of Notre Dame has been highly praised by NFL scouts and analysts. Lance Zierlein of NFL.com had this to say about the Giants’ new cornerback:

Pure and simple, Love is a cover guy who possesses the feet, hips, instincts and competitiveness you want in a corner. He operates with outstanding technique from both man and zone, and his ability to anticipate and recognize routes allows for stickier coverage. He’s more finesse than physical and his lack of top speed might need to be schemed around with certain matchups. However, Love’s cover talent, intelligence and ball skills give him a good shot at succeeding outside or from the slot. – Lance Zierlein, NFL.com

Julian Love played for three years at Notre Dame. In those three seasons, Love was a spectacular defensive playmaker. Julian tallied an insane 39 passes defended in those three years to go along with 5 interceptions. He even added 176 total tackles.

Julian Love is a playmaker against both the pass and the run. He is a great tackler for his position. In 2018, Love posted a 75.9 tackling grade via Pro Football Focus as he racked up 63 tackles that season. He also added 3 tackles for loss.

The Giants were extremely lucky to find Julian Love sitting available during the 4th-round of the draft. For reference, Love was the 45th ranked prospect on PFF’s Top 250 Big Board. Julian Love was the Giants’ biggest steal in this year’s draft, and when it is all said and done, he might be the biggest steal of the entire draft.