The NY Giants’ bad luck with injuries continued on Wednesday as the team suffered two major injuries on the defensive side of the ball.
One of the NY Giants’ biggest issues continued to rear its ugly head as two more players went down with serious injuries at training camp practice on Wednesday. Over the past few seasons, it feels like Big Blue has suffered as many serious player injuries as any other team in the league and it hurts all the more when one of those injuries happens to a young franchise cornerstone.
That’s exactly what the NY Giants are dealing with now that rookie second-round draft pick, safety Xavier McKinney, fractured his foot and was immediately placed on injured reserve.
According to Jordan Raanan of ESPN, McKinney is a candidate to return from I.R. later on in the season.
There is hope that McKinney can return this season and his rookie season is not totally lost. https://t.co/OT6lR1ZWWg
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) August 26, 2020
To say expectations were high from the former Alabama Crimson Tide would be putting things mildly, as McKinney was being looked at as the savior of the secondary or sorts right from the get-go.
During his college years, McKinney split his time between free safety, slot corner, and strong safety, and that versatility was going to be very welcomed for a defense that hasn’t had a consistent steadying force at the back-end of the defense since the Antrel Rolle days.
In addition to the rookie going down, veteran inside linebacker David Mayo also suffered a torn meniscus and will be out for quite some time. Last year’s rookie sensation, Ryan Connelly, has been practicing in a limited capacity and is almost 11 months removed from tearing his ACL but still is being held out of scrimmages and might not be ready for Week 1.
Who are the NY Giants likely to replace them with?
At free safety, the NY Giants figure to go with second-year pro Julian Love out of the gates. Love began transitioning to the safety position during his rookie season, although many predicted he’d be moved back to his natural cornerback spot after Xavier McKinney was drafted with pick #36.
If fellow sophomore Ryan Connelly isn’t ready to join Love amongst the starters on defense against Pittsburgh, new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham will be in a pinch when it comes to finding a capable second starting inside linebacker.
GM Dave Gettleman did spend two of his three seventh-round draft picks on inside linebackers in 2020, but neither player is likely anywhere near ready to slide into a starting role as a rookie.
Many in the media are already looking to scapegoat Joe Judge for these injuries due to him running what most have considered tougher than your average normal NFL practices, but that narrative is ridiculous.
The NY Giants – like every other NFL team – already has had a severely-limited offseason, so if McKinney and Mayo went down with this light of a workload they were probably due to go down anyway.