After all of the drama surrounding Wink Martindale and his departure, the NY Giants finally found his replacement. With plenty of interviews under his belt, Joe Schoen finally narrowed down his choices, picking former Titans defensive coordinator Shane Bowen.
Bowen is an interesting choice, touted by many as a pass-rush specialist and an excellent teacher. While the numbers his defenses produced may not be special, he seemingly did a good job given the talent at hand.
With Bowen joining the Giants, there are a few guys who will benefit more than others under his system. These guys may be good players already, but under Bowen, we could see them flourish even more and make leaps into categories previously unthought.
5. Dane Belton
Toward the end of last season, Dane Belton started to show flashes of stardom with his coverage abilities. Despite this, he still struggled immensely against the run and when making tackles in the open field. Under Bowen, though, we could see these issues be solved considering his history with safeties.
Not only did Bowen coach Kevin Byard, one of the premier safeties in the NFL during his time with the Titans, but more recently, he turned K'Von Wallace into a starting-level player. While he wasn't the best in coverage, the jump Wallace made as a tackler with Bowen was rather significant.
In the seven games he spent with the Cardinals to start the season, Wallace had a PFF tackle grade of 44.4 and missed 17 percent of his attempts. Then, after being released and joining the Titans, his grade rose to 86.7 and he missed just 4.7 percent of his attempts.
If Belton can make a similar jump as a tackler, he very well could become a significant part of the Giants' defense. It may be asking a lot given how Belton has performed thus far in the league, but even if he can become an average tackler, the Giants' defense will benefit a ton.
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