Yes, the New York Giants' secondary struggled last season, But don’t let the lack of top-end talent—or a few easy narratives—convince you this group was a total dud.
While it’s not the most accurate stat for gauging the competence of the pass defense, the G-Men did only allow 210.6 passing yards per game—good enough for eighth in the league. The poor play narrative was likely fueled by Deonte Banks' second-year struggles, Xavier McKinney's success in Green Bay, and the fact that their top-two playmakers were rookies (Dru Phillips and Tyler Nubin), which is fair... to an extent.
Sure, that's not ideal, but it'd be less ideal if no one had stepped up at all. Still, Joe Schoen made it his mission this past offseason to upgrade the room, which he did admirably. In free agency, Schoen spent big on Paulson Adebo and Jevón Holland. And in the draft, he snagged Korie Black late in the seventh round, and even added a surprise undrafted talent in O'Donnell Fortune, who could become a nice depth piece if he sticks. Not to mention, they brought in Marquand Manuel to serve as their new DBs coach. Things are looking up.
They’re not world beaters yet—but they’re nowhere near bottom of the barrel either. So you could imagine why it was pretty shocking to see them sit at 24th in John Kosko's 2025 secondary rankings for Pro Football Focus.
PFF completely ignores Giants' secondary upgrades in latest position rankings
Kosko misses the mark pretty big here. Again, not saying they're top 10, but top 20 as of this moment makes sense. He even seemed like he was talking himself into putting New York higher on the list, but didn't for some reason:
"The Giants' two highest-graded secondary players in 2024 were rookies: cornerback Andru Phillips and safety Tyler Nubin," Kosko wrote. "To bolster a secondary that has struggled for several years, the team signed safety Jevon Holland and cornerback Paulson Adebo this offseason. If the young players continue to develop and the new additions maintain their strong play, this unit could emerge as a surprise in 2025."
The logic falls apart mid-explanation. So if the Giants continue their development (which they should) and their new guys maintain their strong play (which they can), then they could be a surprise. Interesting. The ranking doesn't reflect it.
The additions aren't even the whole story, either. Deonte Banks struggled in his second season after showing promising signs as a rookie. He's had a strong offseason and should be back in competition for the top corner role. Banks isn't the only one turning heads, though. Dane Belton has been a man on a mission as well. Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen has been impressed with his playmaking and has been on record saying they need to find ways to get him on the field.
Of course, this unit hasn't exactly proven anything yet, but 24th position feels like capitalizing on low-hanging fruit—somewhat of a theme for Big Blue these past few seasons. Fortunately, they'll have every chance to prove these rankings were a joke.
So no, the Giants might not have the best secondary in football. But they do have a better one—deeper, more experienced, and more flexible than it was a year ago. The fact that those upgrades didn’t move the needle for PFF is what's frustrating. It was more than a critique of last year’s flaws—it was a brush-off of the progress they’ve made to fix them.
And if that doesn’t light a fire under this group, nothing will.