The box score would suggest that New York Giants safety Tyler Nubin fared relatively well in the club's gutting 28-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. However, his performance is a prime example of how the raw numbers don't always tell the whole story.
Understandably, Nubin's struggles have been overshadowed by the Giants seeing their four best players get hurt on the same night. There are much more pressing matters at hand, including quarterback Jaxson Dart's suddenly bleak rest-of-season outlook. That doesn't excuse what was ultimately a rough day at the office, though.
It became clear that the Rams came in with a plan to attack Nubin, which proved fruitful. Only two defensive backs gave up more receiving yards than him (108) in Week 2. His 106.3 passer rating allowed was well above the league average of 91.4 in 2025, for the sake of a larger sample size.
Giants' loss to Rams highlights Tyler Nubin's inconsistency
Any hope that Nubin was finally turning a corner following his impressive showing to kick off the 2026 campaign vanished — just like that. He was a complete liability, in primetime no less. Everyone saw him get spun around on a beautiful route by Los Angeles star wide receiver Davante Adams, and it was a microcosm of the game.
Nubin was targeted eight times in a game Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford recorded 31 attempts. For context, no other safety was thrown at more than five times across the entire slate.
Imagine if All-Pro wideout Puka Nacua, who sat out with a hip injury, were available for L.A. He and Adams would've made Nubin's life even more hellish. It'd be so easy to match either pass-catcher up with the Minnesota product and leave him with nowhere to hide.
Perhaps the Rams were trying to avoid ball hawk Jevón Holland, who tallied two forced fumbles (one recovery) and an interception. He made a tremendous impact despite not being tested in coverage once. Nevertheless, that argument can also be used to validate Nubin's status as a weak link in the Giants' secondary.
Replacing Xavier McKinney with Tyler Nubin hasn't gone as expected
Man, does New York probably wish it had a mulligan on the 2024 offseason. Letting Xavier McKinney walk to the Green Bay Packers and trying to replace him with Nubin has certainly backfired, to put it mildly.
Not long ago (2020, to be exact), McKinney was the second-round DB the G-Men made a bet on; he walked so Nubin could run just a few years later. Trip down memory lane aside, it feels safe to say the Packers drew the long end of the stick in this scenario.
McKinney has blossomed into one of the NFL's premier safeties in Green Bay, with two All-Pro nods to show for it. He's been every bit the game-changing playmaker the team envisioned when they signed him to a four-year, $67 million contract. His presence as a respected leader in the locker room has also been felt (and missed in New York), being elected as a captain twice.
Note: Advanced metrics courtesy of Fantasy Points' data suite 2.0 ($).
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