2. Logan Ryan
When Xavier McKinney suffered a fractured foot and it was determined that he would miss significant time this season, the NY Giants went out and signed free-agent Logan Ryan. When they did, many believed that he would start at the second outside cornerback position opposite of James Bradberry and Julian Love would move to free safety to replace McKinney.
While Love did in fact get the nod as the starting free safety, Ryan was slotted into the versatile safety role that Love was initially expected to have before McKinney’s injury, and Corey Ballentine was named as the second outside cornerback.
The defensive backfield for the NY Giants is versatile with players like Jabrill Peppers, Xavier McKinney, Julian Love, and Darnay Holmes who are able to play multiple positions on defense. The addition of Ryan provided yet another versatile player to the defensive backfield, as he has played the outside corner, slot corner, and safety positions.
In the first game of the season, Ryan primarily played safety for the GMEN, mainly in nickel packages and other sub-packages. That said, he could be a legitimate candidate to start opposite of James Bradberry moving forward. It will likely be contingent upon whether the Giants feel they have an adequate replacement for him at safety.
He’s also a legit option to move inside and play nickle corner if Holmes ontinues to show growing pains as a rookie, as it was puzzing to see defensive coordinator Patrick Graham not at least try this in Week 1.
Ryan played 99% of his snaps as a corner with the Titans in 2019 – over half of those out of the slot – so its not as if the position is foreign to him in the least bit.
If the NY Giants acquire a safety or opt to place an internal candidate into his role at the safety position moving forward, the combination of James Bradberry and Logan Ryan at cornerback is an extremely good one.