Can the NY Giants survive with this current cornerback unit?

Who are the youngsters vying to step up?

As preveiously stated, James Bradberry is clearly entrenched as the alpha CB1 on this unit after signing a massive deal this offseason.

After that, how everything is going to play out is anyone’s guess.

Dave Gettleman doesn’t appear to be too worried about the situation as he hasn’t made a move on another veteran outside corner – which there are actually many of available on the market – since Ross Cockrell’s deal disappointingly fell though.

The biggest question is who will man the other starting corner job, and in turn, who will win the slot gig; this is where things get a little weird.

There is a strong narrative amongst Giants Nation – and the NFL in general when they came out in the draft – that Darnay Holmes and Julian Love will only be able to play in the slot level at the NFL.

I, for one, don’t buy it as although they’re both under 6′ feet tall, they both played at a high level in college football’s highest levels of competition on the outside.

Julian Love is the most interesting piece in the entire equation, as most websites are still listing him as a free safety since that’s where he spent his time transitioning to and playing at last season.

However, in light of recent events – particularly when Baker got popped – it was known Love was going to have to go back to his original position of cornerback. The NY Giants are actually strong along the back lines at safety and having him playing as the third safety would be a poor use of talent appropriation.

I honestly believe he can play on the outside; his critics point to his mediocre (for a top-level corner) speed and height (5’11”) as reasons why he won’t be successful along the boundary but from what I saw out of him at Notre Dame and last year I just don’t see why he can’t succeed there.

Thought to be a steal in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, if he could step up and man that position and play to the 81.1 QB rating allowed he maintained at safety last year that would be huge for the defense.

The other moving part here is another talented fourth-round drafted cornerback, Darnay Holmes.

The darling of the 2020 NFL combine in the cornerback department, I’ve heard whispers that he’s been getting reps along the outside and done quite well in the limited practices the NY Giants have had and that the team believes he could survive on the boudary.

So if you’ve got your rock-solid guy (Bradberry) and then these two work out, the NY Giants will be okay; that’s a big if and tall ask out of two lowly-drafted players with little NFL experience, though.

Corey Ballentine is actually the cornerback that’s being listed as the team’s starter on most depth charts (the NY Giants haven’t officially released theirs) but I believe that to be due to the slot corner narrative surrounding Love and Holmes.

In the end, I believe one of those two grabs the #2 job if no one else is signed as Ballentine did have some positive plays and moments as a rookie but struggled overall getting torched to the tune of a 126.4 QB rating; he also allowed 393 yards and 4 TD’s despite playing just 27% of Big Blue’s defensive snaps.

Yet, he is the most athletic out of the bunch even though he comes from the smallest school and was a late-round pick.

It hurts to even type his name after watching him play these last two seasons, but we really might be in a situation where Grant Haley is back on the field getting signifigant playing time, especially if there are any injuries.

Last year, that resulted in QB’s completing 82% of their passses when targeting the former Penn State Corner — AKA target practice.

Vying for spots on the backend are rookie seventh-round draft pick Chris Williamson, a former NFL and XFL player, Dravon-Askew-Henry, and a couple of undrafted youngsters the G-Men snagged off waivers this summer in Jarren Williams and Prince Smith.

Both were thought highly enough of to be signed as undrafted free agents by other teams which is a good sign and may have just been let go because most NFL teams reduced their roster sizes due to COVID-19 reasons.

Williamson is actually an intriguing prospect as he was the alpha corner on the 2019 tenacious University of Minnesota defense that led that program to its best season in years.

Add all that up, and it really amounts to a startling lack of experience.

Just imagine for a second if James Bradberry went down and how catastrophic that would be due to lack of veteran depth and corners more prone to playing on the outside.

To wrap this all up, Dave Gettleman, please make a move and make one fast.

No reasonable NY Giants fan is expecting a Super Bowl run, but that doesn’t mean we want to see our defense getting roasted week after week either and the simple signing of one of the many quality veteran cornerbacks on the market should make that task easy.

Let’s hope it gets done.