Julian Love:
The Case for Julian Love: Love is just a good football player. He actually outperformed Jabrill Peppers at strong safety last season, and his excellent football instincts were obvious against the pass and run. Cornerback is Love’s natural position though and he was a Jim Thorpe award finalist as a CB for Notre Dame.
Reminder that Julian Love was the 7th CB on PFF’s Board in 2019, and forced 18 incompletions (90.7 coverage grade) his last year at Notre Dame, 3rd best among eligible cornerbacks in his draft class.
— PFF NY Giants (@PFF_Giants) May 15, 2020
It was a real surprise that the Fighting Irish corner fell to the 4th round in the 2019 NFL draft. In Notre Dame’s semi-final game against Clemson, Love matched up very well against Tee Higgins and Justyn Ross. When he left the game due to injury, the wheels fell off for the Irish and his strong play was sorely missed. Julian is now listed as a cornerback on the Giants’ official website, and that could a position he will excel in.
The Case Against Julian Love: One of the reasons Love was moved to safety is that he lacks the top-end speed of an ideal NFL corner. Patrick Graham might view Love as a versatile chess piece that can be used all over the secondary, and not one of the outside starting cornerbacks.
The verdict: I believe Love is the answer. He should get the first shot at starting cornerback based on his strong play last season and his terrific career at Notre Dame. He lacks top-end speed, but so did Baker, and he was given every opportunity in 2019.
Another possibility for the G-Men is that they use a CB by committee approach. They have so many cornerbacks with different skill sets, they can mix and match depending on matchups.
Love and Beal can play more against the bigger receivers, while Ballentine and Holmes are used against the speedy guys. The secondary is built like a basketball team. The NY Giants have players to cover the point guards and the power forwards of the NFL.