Giants Bobby McCain Eyes Starting Safety Role

McCain is ready to compete for the Giants' vacant starting strong safety role.

Author:
Andrew Parsaud
Publish date:
Mar 23, 2023 4:00 PM EDT

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New York Giants safety Bobby McCain has one goal in mind for the upcoming season, and that's to compete to earn the starting safety position left vacant when Julian Love departed last week to Seattle.

“I’ll be playing safety here," McCain said Thursday. "I’ll be looking to be the guy. I’m coming here to play. I’m coming here to compete. And I’m coming here to win.”

McCain, who spent two seasons in Washington, has some familiarity with the Giants. In Week 18 of the 2021 season, he grabbed two interceptions against the Giants in Washington’s 22-7 victory.

McCain had 16 tackles and one forced fumble against the Giants last season, but it wasn’t the same team he faced in 2021.

“We knew the games were going to be tough every time we played the Giants, especially this past year. You could tell things were a little bit different. Especially this past year, things were different. I’m excited to just be here and compete. You can feel the competitive nature when you walk into the building, so I’m excited to be here.”

“It’s kind of just the energy the guys were playing with, the play calling. It just felt different playing from two years prior.”

McCain immediately becomes the oldest player in the Giants secondary at 29 years old. Despite that, the veteran defensive back shows no signs of slowing down, coming off his best statistical season with 73 tackles in 17 games.

McCain was brought in to be a safety, but he has experience playing all over, including slot cornerback for a good portion of last season. McCain’s excited for the challenge to be the oldest veteran in an ultimately young Giants defensive backs room.

“I just see it as an opportunity. I’m just going to come in and be myself, be who I am – the guy that I am. Just being yourself will take you a long way, and the guys will respect it in the locker room,” he said.

One of the young players he’ll be playing with is Xavier McKinney. McKinney has superstar potential and has the chance to be even better in defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s scheme for a second season. McCain acknowledged that he and McKinney can only make each other better.

“There are things that we can both help each other with – whether it’s via on the field, via off the field. I know he’s a really good player. He’s going to continue being a good player in this league. And just us being able to communicate, we’ve already been in contact and been in touch. And us being able to communicate will help each other, and it’ll help us go a long way.”

Speaking of Martindale, that was a big reason why McCain decided to sign with the Giants. Martindale is not afraid to load up on defensive backs on the field at one time. He sometimes rushed four and had seven defensive backs on the field to try and switch up his looks.

“Just his scheme and watching him over the years, being here or Baltimore. And just understanding what he likes to do, what he likes – to bring pressure – how he does it. He plays with DBs on the field. You can’t complain if you’re a DB in this defense.”

McCain is also excited to do the one thing Martindale does best: blitz.

“Yeah, I like to blitz. I can do it all. I can cover, blitz. You name it, I can do it.”