At first glance, the New York Giants’ secondary might be underwhelming on paper, but they made several high profile acquisitions this off-season to bolster the unit. Signing James Bradberry, formally of the Carolina Panthers, and drafting star safety Xavier McKinney in the second round, the group is bound for improvement, after being one of the worst in 2019.
However, one of the more exciting facts about the secondary is how astronomically young they are. Bradberry is the oldest at 26 years old.
Here’s a cohesive list of the entire New York Giants secondary and their respective ages:
Jabrill Peppers: 24
Xavier McKinney: 21
DeAndre Baker: 22
James Bradberry: 26
Julian Love: 22
Corey Ballentine: 24
Sam Beal: 23
Grant Haley: 24
Darnay Holmes:22
Chris Williamson: 23
Their average age is 23.1, which attests to their youth and the foundational values general manager Dave Gettleman has instituted during his tenure. The past two seasons have really been the start of the rebuild and overhaul of the roster for the Giants, which included the drafting of Corey Ballentine, Julian Love, DeAndre Baker, and the acquiring of Jabrill Peppers.
Gettleman and new head coach Joe Judge added Chris Williamson, Darnay Holmes, and Xavier McKinney in this year’s NFL draft.
Improvement is inevitable, right?
While expectations might not be high for this group, they have the individual talent to piece together a solid coverage scheme finally. Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham will bring a different style to the defense, focusing on man coverage and schemed blitzes.
While acting as a DC for the Miami Dolphins in 2019, Graham utilized man coverage 50% of the time and blitzed 41% of third downs. We should expect the safeties to be active in rushing the passer and also dropping back into coverage.
Considering the New York Giants have three quality safeties in McKinney, Peppers, and Love, we can anticipate they will utilize three safety looks frequently, brewing unpredictability, and solid zone coverage from the position.
However, the cornerbacks will be tested in man coverage, especially DeAndre Baker, who is coming off a tumultuous rookie season. In the event that his legal troubles are alleviated, he will feature on a defense much more friendly to his skill set.
For comparisons sake, the Dolphins’ average age last season was 25.2, the lowest in the NFL, indicating that the Giants’ secondary is astronomical young.