While the New York Giants’ defense has been stellar through nine weeks, they can use all the help they can get in the secondary. Aside from star corner James Bradberry, the CB2 position has been a revolving door of inadequacies. Whether it be Isaac Yiadom or Ryan Lewis, the Giants have failed to supplement the position with talent, mainly due to a lack of available funds and their desire to work in young players.
Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham has done a fantastic job developing a scheme that helps maximize his player’s strengths. While CB has been a bit tumultuous at times, as Yiadom allowed a perfect 153 passer rating to Alex Smith and the Washington Football Team in week nine, every start has a few hiccups.
Next off-season, Graham’s unit should see improvement, with a reallocation of money and draft capital. However, they have yet to inject young safety Xavier McKinney into the secondary.
After suffering a fractured foot prior to the start of the regular season, McKinney has been slowly working his way back. Some predict he could return after Thanksgiving, following the teams week 11 BYE.
“That’s still up in the air,†head coach Joe Judge said of McKinney returning for week 10. “I don’t know if we will necessarily see him this week. He was on the field the other day running with the trainers. I haven’t had much of a chance with my own eyes to really get my eyes on him. I know he’s making a lot of progress. I’m getting positive reports on him. We have until Wednesday. He’ll be with the trainers tomorrow, that may shed a little bit more light on it for us. Based on how we practice Wednesday, if we go full tilt or some kind of an abbreviated walk thru, or short fundamentals practice, we haven’t decided yet. That may affect whether or not we start his clock on that day or not.â€
When will the New York Giants insert McKinney into the defense?
Based on the positive developments regarding McKinney’s foot and his proximity to starting regular practice, I predict he will be ready for the team’s Week 12 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.
That would be December 6, following a game against the Cincinnati Bengals in week 12. It would be a perfect opportunity for the Giants to face off against one of the league’s best offenses — a great test for McKinney early on.