How The Giants Are Cross Training Their Defensive Backs

Just as was the case last year, the Giants defensive secondary is one of the team’s most significant question marks.

That uncertainty is due in part to the subtraction of two young players who had starting experience for the unit last year, cornerbacks DeAndre Baker and Sam Beal.

While the Giants did add experience in the form of James Bradberry, they added more youth to the group, including safety Xavier McKinney, and corners Darnay Holmes and Chris Williamson.

Though the Giants do have some experience in the defensive backfield like James Bradberry, Grant Haley, Corey Ballentine, and Julian Love, defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson is still trying to identify what each player does best as he cross-trains them.

"If you watch this system of defense, you’ll see that the parts are really interchangeable in the secondary," Henderson said.

"You’ll have safeties sometimes moving down and playing corner. You’ll have corners sometimes moving back to play safety. We’re asking all those guys to be versatile. We’re asking them to learn multiple positions."

If last year was any indication, putting too much on the plate of some of the younger talent could prove a recipe for disaster. Too often, the young defensive backs looked confused and were making the same mistakes late in the season they were making earlier.

But with Henderson now heading that group, those youngsters will benefit from a former NFL defensive back who can offer some insight at a whole different level.

“A lot of the things I’m coaching, I’ve been in that situation before,” Henderson said. “I always want to be a coach who can help my guys find answers and teach them on, ‘Tell me what you were thinking right there. Maybe you can pick up in a different way.’ So, I try to be that coach who is going to provide answers and give them things that they can to do help themselves.”

To take some of the pressure off the defensive backs as they cross-train, Henderson revealed no depth chart in place; rather, the coaches have what they call an alignment chart indicating where each player lines up in a particular subpackage.

"Right now, we're working all of our players in terms of understanding our zone concepts, so they understand how we're trying to play with the spacing on the field and reaction time," head coach Joe Judge said. "We're trying to train them all the best man techniques within their own skillset in our schemes."

While the goal is for all the players to benefit from the increased opportunity, one player who could be very busy this fall playing multiple roles is safety Jabrill Peppers.

Peppers was selected in the first round of the 2017 draft by the Browns. He was traded to the Giants along with two draft picks for receiver Odell Beckham Jr in 2019 after making his NFL mark for his ability to play near the line of scrimmage.

But with Graham promising a multiple defense that will take advantage of everyone’s talents—and Peppers has many he can contribute on the football field—the sky could be the limit for the 24-year-old.

RELATED: Is Jabrill Peppers a Legitimate Option at Cornerback?

According to Pro Football Focus’ snap breakdowns, Peppers played 92 snaps in the slot and 16 snaps at wide corner last year. Those numbers are expected to increase in Graham’s system as the defensive coordinator looks to win his various chess matches against the opposing offenses.

Another young player expected to thrive as he’s cross-trained is McKinney, the Giants' second-round pick in this year's draft out of Alabama. McKinney played a variety of roles in Nick Saban’s defense and held his own against slot receivers and tight ends.

The addition of McKinney to a group that includes Peppers and Love could very well give the Giants their first legitimate three-safety set since the 2011 season when the Giants had Antrel Rolle, Deon Grant, and Kenny Phillips.

RELATED: How the Giants Could Deploy the 3-High Safety Set

With the Giants finally moving into Phase 3 of training camp, which allows for contact, Henderson and all the coaches will get the opportunity to evaluate how much each player has absorbed during the virtual meetings in which schemes and various responsibilities were disseminated.

From there, the coaches' expectation will whittle down what works and what doesn’t to unleash a much-improved defense when the curtain rises on the 2020 campaign September 14.

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