The New York Giants have boxed themselves in with countless poor roster decisions from general manager Joe Schoen, and some of them are only aging worse over time. Jevón Holland was expected to slot in as the perfect Xavier McKinney replacement, but instead is rapidly climbing the list of worst free agents in franchise history.
Things have gotten so bad for Holland that the Giants are trying to see if he'll recoup any value on special teams. After failing to activate any of their return man before the loss to the Washington Commanders, interim head coach Mike Kafka controversially opted to turn to the fifth-year safety to be New York's new return man, telling reporters:
"So, we got a lot of trust in (safety Jevón) Holland to go back there and fair catch it. He actually had a couple nice returns for us. But it was certainly one of the discussion points that we had in the week."Mike Kafka
It was a decision that was met with a lot of controversy, especially in the face of enough special teams ineptitude. But while addressing the media after the 29-21 loss, Kafka defended the decision even though Ihmir Smith-Marsette and Xavier Gipson are signed to the practice squad for a reason.
Mike Kafka defends Giants' decision to use Jevon Holland as a return man
According to Pro Football Focus, Holland has been among the worst safeties in the NFL this season, as his 54.5 PFF grade ranks 82nd out of 98 qualified safeties this season. Both he and Paulson Adebo have turned out to be horrible signings, but their rough seasons could prove to be a schematic issue.
Meanwhile, McKinney has emerged as one of the best defensive backs in football since leaving for Green Bay and isn't making that much more money per season. And the only reason the Giants signed the Oregon product to begin with was Schoen overcompensating after McKinney left.
Kafka seems to be well aware that the the decision to sign the 25-year-old has crashed and burned, so he's trying anything to see if he can make an impact. The Giants tried to do the same for Deonte Banks, and that yielded similar results, so his endgame with his choices aren't very clear.
The 38-year-old interim coach knows he's coaching for his job this season, and with the Giants having nothing to play for, there's no harm in testing the waters. But if you're turning a $45 million free agent into a special teamer, that's where the issues start to arise.
And by, now it's clear the former second-round pick is the same disaster he was in Miami.