The New York Giants‘ special teams unit has been one of the team’s few bright spots in 2019. The Giants are sitting at a disappointing 2-6, but that is not the fault of their third unit. The Giants’ defense is mainly to blame since they are allowing an average of 386.8 yards per game, ranked fifth-worse in the league.
New York’s special teams unit, however, ranks much higher in comparison with the rest of the league. Their average of 23.5 yards per kickoff return is ninth-best in the NFL. This impressive average is mainly thanks to rookie defensive back Corey Ballentine.
Corey Ballentine Is An Improvement As A Kick Returner
In the first six games of the season, Corey Ballentine served as the Giants’ primary kick returner. Ballentine returned nine kickoffs for 237 yards, an average of 26.3 yards per return, including an impressive season-long return of 52 yards.
Since taking over as the lead kick returner, Darius Slayton also fielded nine total kickoffs. However, he was much less efficient on the same number of kick returns. Slayton totaled 189 return yards, an average of 21 yards per return. His longest return was only 30 yards — a clear drop-off in production and efficiency.
The Lions took advantage of Ballentine’s absence in week eight. Detroit kicked off to Darius Slayton and strategically left the ball short of the end zone. This made it easier for Detroit to pin the Giants’ offense up against their own end zone since Slayton was not a threat to return the ball for more than 20 yards.
The Giants were without Corey Ballentine for the last two games due to a concussion he suffered in week six. But Ballentine has now cleared concussion protocol and will be back returning kicks for the Giants against the Cowboys on Monday Night Football.