New York Giants: Ranking the defensive units heading into 2020 season

The New York Giants are heading into the 2020 season with an unpredictable defense. After spending a bevy of draft capital on new players in 2019, the defense ranked 30th in the NFL. This off-season, they turned over even more of the defense, replacing Antoine Bethea at free safety, Alec Ogletree at linebacker, and signing several more free agents. General manager Dave Gettleman brought in James Bradberry to replace Janoris Jenkins, Blake Martinez, Kyler Fackrell and drafted Xavier McKinney to slide in at free safety.

There’s a lot of unproven talent at a majority of positions on defense, which is reason for concern as the Giants head into the third year of a full roster overhaul.

Let’s take a look at each defensive unit for the New York Giants and how they stack up against each other:

Ranked from best to worst

1.) Interior defensive line

The Giants placed the franchise tag on Leonard Williams this off-season, locking him in at about $16 million for the 2020 campaign. Williams is a reason for debate among Giants fans, as Gettleman spent a third-round pick on him in a trade from the Jets in 2019.

The last time Williams produced in the sack category was back in 2016 when he recorded 7.0. Last year with Big Blue, Leonard earned 0.5 sacks, 26 combined tackles, and 11 quarterback hits. The Giants seem to think he is a staple in the interior of the defense and can perform at a high level.

We know Willaims is capable of performing well, he just hasn’t been able to do it consistently on bad teams. Hopefully, with chemistry around Dexter Lawrence and Dalvin Tomlinson, the trio can dominate. They are an elite run-stopping group with pass-rush potential; they just need more support from their secondary and outside linebackers.

2.) Safeties

The Giants have a promising young group of safeties in Julian Love, Xavier McKinney, and Jabrill Peppers. Before Peppers suffered a season-ending injury on a punt return, he was on pace for his best season yet. He earned 76 combined tackles, five tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, and one INT, proving he can be a staple at strong safety.

Ultimately, the defensive scheme will change under Patrick Graham, which utilizes safeties more uniquely. I expect them to be heavily involved in the pass rush scheme. However, all three will be involved on defense, with Love playing a more secondary role, allowing McKinney and Peppers to maneuver around and create unpredictability.

Love enjoyed playing time at strong safety and free safety in 2019, giving him the ability to act as a utility man. On a conference call this week, head coach Joe Judge mentioned changing positions based on opposing offenses. It will be exciting to see how they utilize the trio of safeties. They are one of the more promising units on the defense.

3.) Linebackers

The linebacker group for the Giants is full of questions. They signed Blake Martinez to take over as their primary MIKE linebacker moving forward, but he is unproven in coverage. He did mention that the Green Bay Packers utilized a strange mesh-zone scheme, which didn’t allow him to play man coverage. That should change with Graham leading the group.

Blake hasn’t missed a game in three seasons and is one of the league’s best tacklers. Last year, he tallied 155 combined tackles, five for a loss, three quarterback hits, and 3.0 sacks. However, he allowed an 83.8% completion rate and two scores.

Aside from Martinez, the Giants also have Ryan Connelly, who is returning from ACL surgery. It is difficult to tell whether he can return to his 2019 form when he recorded two interceptions in the first four games of the season. He has an incredible instinctual ability that allows him to shoot the gap and get into the backfield quickly. If he feels confident on his injured knee, he will likely claim the starting job.

I wouldn’t rule out David Mayo starting the season as the weak-side middle linebacker, though. Giving Connelly as much time as possible to get back on track is essential, and Mayo is the de-facto player to take over in the meantime.

4.) Outside linebackers

The outside linebackers also hold a lot of questions. Aside from Markus Golden, who is returning after a double-digit sack campaign in 2019, the Giants simply don’t know what they have in players like Lorenzo Carter, Oshane Ximines, and Kyler Fackrell (10.5 sacks in 2018).

Ximines is coming off a rookie campaign where he posted 4.5 sacks over 45% of defensive snaps, but year two can be problematic for some players. Carter failed to take a step forward in 2019, despite double the reps.

Overall, the unit has plenty of potential and talent to utilize, but it comes down to consistency. The development of Carter and Ximines is essential, but luckily the Giants have two players in Fackrell and Golden that can produce at an average level.

5.) Cornerbacks

The cornerbacks are concerning to a degree, with DeAndre Baker being placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List and Sam Beal opting out the 2020 season. Aside from James Bradberry, the Giants are playing in the deep end at CB2. The options on the roster consist of Julian Love, Darnay Holmes, Chris Williamson, Corey Ballantine, and newly signed undrafted free agent Prince Smith. None of these players can be trusted to hold a starting position right out of the gate, aside from Love, who played corner at Notre Dame.

If I had to guess, I would assume Love starts the season at CB2, unless the Giants sign a free agent. With Holmes being projected as a nickel corner in the NFL, I believe he will end up starting in the slot. While a secondary consisting of Breadberry, Love, and Holmes might not be the worst thing in the world, they are far from cemented and a long way away from consistent.