The NY Giants defense made strides in 2020, but despite youth at all three levels has a chance to make a leap in 2021
In Patrick Graham’s inaugural season as NY Giants’ defensive coordinator, he shattered all expectations.
He took the Giants‘ defense from a joke, to a formidable unit.
Graham opened up the eyes of everyone sleeping on his abilities throughout the league – forcing them to take notice by shutting down the likes of Sean McVay and Russell Wilson.
Instead of parlaying his tremendous coaching job into a head coaching position, Graham opted to return to his ‘dream job’ for a second season. Now, the sequel writes itself – can he rally a group of young, hungry defenders into one of the league’s strongest units?
Even with the unit bursting with youth at key positions, it’s possible. NY Giants general manager Dave Gettleman did a fantastic job acquiring pieces for Graham’s beautiful mind – it’s easy to see why fans should be excited to see it all come together.
Here are 5 reasons why the NY Giants will have a strong defense in 2021, despite youth:
Fantastic Depth
The NY Giants’ front office may have made plenty of splash moves this off-season, but they filled in the cracks with solid, reliable players.
Adoree’ Jackson and Azeez Ojulari will be counted on from day one, but players like Ifeadi Odenigbo, Reggie Ragland, Elerson Smith and Ryan Anderson provide the team with valuable depth pieces. It’s a welcome shift from past seasons – where the front office neglected to fill out the roster with quality talent.
Graham’s defense was gutted last season at key positions – like defensive back and edge rusher. In close games against savvy offensive coordinators, the team’s lack of depth contributed greatly to their losses.
That won’t be the story in 2021 – the Giants will be able to handle the rigors of a 17-game season with their newfound depth.
Veteran Leadership
The championship caliber defenses in Giants’ history all had one thing in common – a strong, veteran leader.
In 2007, it was Michael Strahan leading the unit. In 2011, Justin Tuck and Antrel Rolle combined to fire up their teammates.
Finally, the Giants have a leader who can measure up to the legends who came before him – Logan Ryan.
A former Super Bowl Champion, a winning player and a culture changer – one of the best signing Gettleman made in his tenure was bringing in Ryan. Now officially here for the long haul, the defensive back is doing everything he can to bring greatness back to a legendary franchise.
Ryan is pulling out all the stops – recently reaching out to former Giants’ defensive backs in hopes of strengthening his secondary.
"“The best Giants secondaries – who are those players and I reached out personally this year,” said Ryan. “I reached out to Antrel Rolle, I reached out to Jason Sehorn and I reached out to Corey Webster and I reached out to those guys and I said, ‘Hey, I want to pick your brain and be great like you. I respect what you have done in the past, can you give me anything.’”"
Ryan’s not the only veteran leader on the Giants’ defense though – Jabrill Peppers, Blake Martinez and Leonard Williams will each have prominent voices as well. Spearheaded by Ryan, the leadership council on the Giants’ defense is one of the league’s best.
Loaded Secondary
Perhaps no position group has seen more resources spent by Gettleman than the Giants’ secondary.
Boatloads of money and countless draft picks has gone into rebuilding the team’s unit – but it looks like it’s about to pay off. The Giants are poised to deploy one of the strongest secondaries in the entire league.
James Bradberry and Adoree’ Jackson manning the top corner positions, while Isaac Yiadom and Rodarius Williams back them up. In the slot, Aaron Robinson and Darnay Holmes lock down the position as an exciting, young tandem.
Elsewhere, Ryan, Xavier McKinney, Jabrill Peppers and Julian Love put the clamps on from the safety positions. It’s an embarrassment of riches at a position group that plagued Giants’ teams for years prior.
The shirts were printed for a reason – the New York Pass Defense returns in 2021.
Man Coverage
In 2020, the biggest weakness that the Giants’ defense had was their inability to play man coverage.
After continually being burned by ineffective play with the coverage deployed, Graham switched to a scheme that was primarily zone coverage. By the end of the season, the Giants were playing man coverage just 23 percent of the time – ranking 26th in the league.
They simply didn’t have the personnel to run Graham’s preferred scheme.
Now, with the additions of players who excel in man coverage, like Jackson and Robinson – Graham will certainly deploy it more often. He tried not to sound too giddy while speaking on the possibility – but reading the tea leaves show you his excitement.
"“I know we didn’t play a ton of man last year but we picked spots to play man. Again, like those guys last year, they did a good job of what we asked them to do. Like we mixed up more zone and then we had man in the pass. But again, I don’t know what the recipe is going to be for this year yet,” Graham said. “But I don’t want to be disrespectful of the guys that were here last year that aren’t here. I mean, Adoree’ [Jackson] brings another element, Aaron Robinson, Darnay [Holmes], they bring another element to it. Will we probably be in more man? Possibly."
The ability to play more man coverage will be music to Graham’s ears – and sound like nails on a chalkboard for opposing offensive coordinators.
Patrick Graham
The architect of the revitalization – and the biggest reason the Giants will have a strong defense in 2021.
Joe Judge has been a godsend for the franchise, but would we be saying that if he didn’t hire Graham? His best move as Giants’ head coach was the decision he made on January 17th, 2020 – when he made Graham his defensive coordinator.
If his first season was an indicator, Graham will become a household name and then some in 2021. The sky is the limit for his defense – now featuring more talent, and more layers.
He helped mold Leonard Williams into what the Giants thought he could be, he shut down some of the best offenses in football, he manufactured a pass rush out of seventh-round picks and free agents – Graham is a miracle worker. After watching James Bettcher’s defense get butchered week-in and week-out, it was like going from a cheap steak to Ruth’s Chris.
Enjoy the ride, Giants fans – with Patrick Graham at the helm, the 2021 Giants defense could be one of the league’s best.