A new coaching staff and new defensive system aren’t paying the immediate dividends that New York Giants defensive back Tyler Nubin likely envisioned.
Nubin, a 2024 second-round pick from Minnesota, struggled to recover from poor reads last season. He's reportedly battled the same problems throughout training camp, with the New York Post's Ryan Dunleavy specifically pointing out interactions with Xavier Gipson and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
With respect to both receivers, they’re not exactly Randy Moss and Terrell Owens, and Nubin’s coverage failures come as he’s battling Jason Pinnock and Ar’Darius Washington for starting safety reps.
Although Nubin said that he dropped roughly eight pounds during the offseason, his slightly new look isn’t helping much.
“I think you always got to have urgency in this league because you never know when your last snap is going to be,” Nubin said. “It doesn’t matter who you are or where you were drafted. So, my urgency’s always at a top level.”
The New York Giants should prepare for Tyler Nubin to come off the bench
Considering that he's still only 25 and is under contract through the end of next season, it might be too early to move on from Nubin. That’s not to say he should be untouchable, especially not if his age and contract situation appeal to a team needing safety help.
Nubin stuffed the sheet in his first two seasons, racking up 176 tackles, three pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, and 11 TFLs. So the potential to make plays, especially behind the line of scrimmage, is certainly there.
But how much can John Harbaugh and Dennard Wilson trust Nubin if he hasn’t improved on his biggest weakness? They’re not married to him by any means. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have brought back Pinnock, who played his first four seasons with the Giants but spent last year in San Francisco.
Washington played his first four seasons for Harbaugh in Baltimore and followed him to New York this spring. ESPN's Jordan Raanan recently reported that Washington “looks natural” and could potentially play both slot cornerback and safety.
Nubin tallied a Minnesota-record 13 interceptions while in college, and he has high hopes for what he could accomplish if given an opportunity in Wilson’s defense.
“I think [Wilson] always has opportunistic defenses because they attack the football, and they make the offense think, gets them on their heels a little bit,” Nubin said, “whether that’s with the disguises or how we’re playing certain concepts.”
It is unclear how much Nubin will play against the Vikings on Saturday. The Giants listed him as the starting strong safety on the unofficial depth chart they released on Wednesday.
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