Unit Review | Upgrades Needed at Safety

In the beginning, it all looked so promising.

But then the games started and the organized, fiery play and well-orchestrated of the projected starting safeties—Jabrill Peppers and Antoine Bethea—fell apart at the seams.

And if ever there was a position group where a combination of talent and scheme were at fault, this was it.

First, the good. Jabrill Peppers, the young veteran acquired in the Odell Beckham Jr trade, might not have had the same numbers as Landon Collins, who departed via free agency to Washington. However, Peppers was still very much what this defense needs: a physical and aggressive tackler who is tailor-made for the strong safety role.

When asked to play down by the box, Peppers was solid in run support. Showing instinct and the speed to get himself into proximity to the ball carrier. And not once did he ever shy away from contact for that matter, showing a swagger and fearlessness that this defense needed.

What about coverage? Peppers was better than Collins, but the fact remains that his short stature is a problem, and that problem showed up when defending tight ends over the middle where his wingspan just wasn’t enough to disrupt the flight of the ball.

Unfortunately, there’s not much Peppers can do in terms of growing taller at this point. Still, hopefully, the coaching by new defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson might enlighten Peppers to a trick or two, resulting in his ability to improve his angles against tight ends when he’s asked to cover them. (Better yet, maybe the new coaching staff won’t ask him to cover much.)

Peppers might not have been about the big plays, but before suffering a season-ending neck injury, he certainly made a lot of little ones that reinforced the notion that he belonged out there.

On the flip side, veteran Antoine Bethea proved to be a greater liability in overage than his predecessor, Curtis Riley, a converted cornerback who was trying to learn safety.

Bethea finished with 110 tackles and was out there for all but four defensive snaps, but when it came to coverage, it wasn’t pretty. Bethea might have known former defensive coordinator James Bettcher’s system inside and out, but his slow reactions, slow foot speed, and poor angles to the ball made for some ugly and, at times, embarrassing play.

When Peppers was lost to his injury, the Giants inserted Julian Love at safety—why he wasn’t inserted for Bethea long before that is one of the greatest mysteries of the 2019 season.

Love proved that his preseason performance wasn’t just a flash in the pan as he brought much better instincts and awareness to the game. Granted, Love was used more in the strong safety role, which isn’t a good fit for his talents, and when he was asked to cover, he was hit and miss.

But there is little doubt that Love, who would probably benefit from some additional muscle mass, did enough to warrant a long look this off-season as a potential starter somewhere in that defensive backfield.

Veteran Michael Thomas is more of a spot duty safety whose primary role is on special teams, where he excels. Thomas had a bit of an off-year in 2019, getting torched at times in coverage and committing some ill-timed penalties on special teams. With that said, Thomas is a good locker room presence and a calming veteran voice in what’s an otherwise young defensive backs room who shouldn’t be too expensive to retain for another year or two

Where Do They Go From Here?

Regardless if new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham plays sides, the Giants need a legitimate free safety who can cover. Most of what they have are box safety types who, when asked to cover, are hit and miss.

It’s time to stop taking the band-aid approach at that spot and to finally get a bonafide deep center fielder who can help stop the bleeding on a pass defense that finished in the top 5 of deep passes allowed.

The Bottom Line

The Giants did their young cornerbacks no favors by not having safeties capable of providing the deep help. This needs to be addressed at some point as an upgrade of speed is imperative on the back end of the defense.