Adoree’ Jackson signing rounds out NY Giants secondary

The NY Giants have officially signed Adoree’ Jackson.

After agreeing to a meeting over the weekend, the Giants did not let their free-agent target leave without a deal for the second time in three days.

First, Kenny Golladay slept over in NY after having dinner with Jabrill Peppers and then  Adoree’ followed suit by eating dinner with Logan Ryan (his former teammate). Peppers also recruited Jackson on social media, alongside Darnay Holmes to join New York and continue their string of free agent signings.

Adoree’ slept over in NY Sunday, and signed a contract Monday.

Jackson was supposed to visit the Eagles Monday after the Giants, but the Giants never let Adoree’ head down the highway to Philadelphia. Clearly, Joe Judge and Dave Gettleman made Jackson a serious target and made sure to not let him visit their bitter NFC East foes.

By signing Adoree’ Jackson, it completes a much-needed full revamp of the NY Giants’ secondary that badly needed a second cornerback on the outside.

James Bradberry will shut down opposing  No.1 receivers again this season, while Adoree’ will likely be used all over the secondary and cause headaches for opposing quarterbacks. Add in Darnay Holmes and the Giants cornerbacks rooms is all of a sudden infused with talent and potential.

The NY Giants’ secondary is rounding out nicely both at cornerback and at safety. The safety group is just as deep and exciting as the cornerbacks group on paper. Logan Ryan returns for year two as the leader of the secondary and he will pair up with Jabrill to form a versatile and dynamic starting safety alignment. Add in Xavier McKinney and Julian Love, this secondary finally has some depth and a variety of options to deploy in a variety of schemes that Pat Graham will love to cook up.

The entire secondary looks much different than it did just two seasons and three seasons back. Three seasons back, the Giants cornerbacks consisted of Janoris Jenkins, Antonio Hamilton, Grant Haley, and B.W Webb. The group had absolutely no depth with little starting-caliber talent besides the Jackrabbit.

The safety group was much of the same as Landon Collins was the only standout, reliable player at the position. The Giants have since moved on from Landon, Michael Thomas was a solid (albeit unspectacular) veteran, and Curtis Riley has not played a snap of NFL football since his shocking bad display of tackling and effort.

In 2019, gone were both Jenkins and Collins, unquestionably their two best players in the secondary. Jenkins was cut near the end of the 2018 regular season for insensitive Tweets he sent while Landon Collins got a massive 6-year, $84 million deal with the Washington Football Team. Both B.W. Webb and Curtis Riley were not resigned and the group looked much different.

Heading into 2019, the Giants added an overwhelming four cornerbacks to the group. DeAndre Baker, Julian Love, Corey Ballentine, and Sam Beal were all drafted in the same offseason. Joining them at safety was Antoine Bethea, who was clearly over the hill and had a lost step to start in today’s lightning-fast NFL. They also traded for Peppers this offseason which rounded out a new-look group in the back of the defense. The unit struggled mightily in 2019 and the secondary was a sore spot for the entire team.

Yet again in 2020, the Giants fielded a much different secondary than 2019. DeAndre Baker was cut after an entire legal fiasco, Corey Ballentine was cut a few weeks into the season after falling from a start to a benchwarmer, and Sam Beal opted out for COVID-19 which concluded his second missed season in three years.

The Giants handed Bradberry a three-year deal in the 2020 free agency. In the 2020 draft, the Giants added Xavier McKinney in Round 2 and Darnay Holmes in Round 4. Isaac Yiadom came via trade from Denver while Logan Ryan signed late in training camp, which concluded three straight seasons with completely different guys at both cornerback and safety.

The Giants secondary finally settled down after years of turnover and bad play from the group. They had a solid, dependable group between Bradberry, Logan Ryan, and Peppers. Behind them, Darnay Holmes was fully capable of handling the slot and Julian Love showcased the ability to rotate between safety and corner. McKinney’s rookie year got off to a rough start with a broken leg, but he bounced back nicely and showed a lot of promise for next year.

Heading into 2021, the Giants have continuity, an abundance of talent, and a nice blend of veterans and young players who should form one of the deepest secondaries in football this year. The Giants return all three safeties from last year (four if you include Julian Love) and bring back several cornerbacks in Bradberry, Darnay, Love, and Yiadom.

Adoree’ Jackson joining them only increases the expectations for the group. He played with Ryan in Tennesse and their familiarity should allow Jackson to thrive in this scheme. Between Bradberry, Adoree’, and Darnay at cornerback alongside Peppers, Ryan, and McKinney at safety, this is the most talented secondary the NY Giants have had in years. Bradberry and Jackson are both starting #1 cornerbacks while Darnay Holmes looked the part of a starter last year. Both Peppers and Ryan are trustworthy starters whose different play styles complement each other well and McKinney’s all-around impact will round the trio. They must take advantage of the group they have and become a playmaking, turnover-causing unit.

For the first time in a while, the Giants secondary seems complete and returns Giants players from last season. It’s even better that they all are exciting young players and all under contract for the next two years at least. This group has the chance to shine and grow together and become one of the best secondaries in Giants’ history.