NY Giants Unit Review: Defensive Backs Have a Solid Showing vs. Jets

The deployed a great deal of Cover 1 and Cover 3 against the Jets, with some quarters and Cover 2 coverage sprinkled in. No Jets defender completed more than 57.1% of his pass attempts, that being Arian Martinez, who had the most tries.

Overall, the Jets quarterbacks finished with a 51.3% completion percentage, with one turnover-worthy play and three dropped passes. The quarterbacks were also under pressure seven times throughout, which was a solid showing by the Giants' defensive backs.

Paulson Adebo

This veteran corner has been everything the coaches could have wanted as a free agent plug-and-play CB1 on a defense desperate for secondary help.

Adebo blanketed the Jets’ Garrett Wilson on an early third-down out pattern to force a punt. He also contributed with two assists plus other top-notch coverage snaps.

He played the entire first half with the ones and stood out.

Cor’Dale Flott

In his fight for CB2 with Deonte Banks, Flott was healthy this week (his health being his biggest challenge).

Flott also made a big play against the Jets’ Wilson, tightly covering a slant and knocking the third-down pass away to force a field goal.

Flott played most of the first half with the ones and was solid, reliable, and aggressive, everything he needs to be to win this job. But will he win it? We suspect he’s behind Banks, who didn’t play this week, in this competition.

Dru Phillips

Getting his expected snaps with the starters in the slot, Phillips smothered an early receiver screen into an incompletion and covered well on several other short routes.

Oddly enough, the defender with the best nose for the football on this team did not get his name onto this week’s stat sheet, though he played a solid game with the snaps he was given.

Nic Jones

Getting plenty of snaps with the backups in the slot, Jones continues to show a smart feel for the defense when it comes to playing angles and cutting off the field.

However, finishing his tackles is a big problem for Jones as he lacks the size and strength to wrap up.

He did get in on two tackles while also getting home on a blitz, hurrying the quarterback into an incompletion with a nice hit.

We like Jones’ feel for the game, but we have our doubts as to whether he has all the physical goods to play it at this level.

Art Green

Blessed with size, straight line speed, and physicality, Green is a classic zone corner who lacks the feet to play any kind of press. Even in zone, he is slow to react and prefers to play a safer, keep-it-in-front-of-you style.

He finished this week with three total tackles and one near-deflection, but he also allowed several too-easy receptions in his zone that needed to be more aggressively defended.

Dee Williams

Getting some late-game snaps at press corner, Williams did well to stay with a deep route and knock away the ball.

Alas, though Williams has plenty of speed, he lacks the size and the top-end athleticism to play regular-season corner in this league.

Korie Black

Getting his first taste of NFL action, albeit pre-season, Black got some early snaps on an island, and though he kept everything in front of him, his coverage was a bit soft and too rounded to stay with top-notch NFL route runners.

Physically, he looked the part with enough size to play the position, but it’s much too early to tell if he can develop his natural abilities to play this game at its highest level.

T.J. Moore

Getting a heavy dosage of playing time, nearly as much as last week’s even heavier dose, Moore once again showed that he also lacks the type of NFL athleticism that is needed to play this game.

Moore’s attitude is great; we like his aggressiveness, but he lacks size and speed. His edge force on a wide run was woefully inadequate early on as he simply allowed the back to get around him on a play that begged for the corner on that side to close the edge.

He could not. And yet, Moore accrued five tackles. The ball finds him as much as he finds the ball. He’s got spunk–we will give him that.

Jevon Holland

Getting the start, Holland played deep safety and did not flash, but he looked healthy and ready to open the season. He assisted on one of the Jets’ early running plays, but that was it.

Dane Belton

With Tyler Nubin inactive, Belton got tonight’s start at safety and led the defense with six total tackles. Belton has a big body for a safety, which he uses well between the tackles, but we do not trust him making plays in space.

He’s one of the defense’s worst tacklers. It’s not a strength issue; it’s an athleticism issue. Belton is strong but stiff while breaking down, which is where he loses the battle, in the lower body. He’s not quick in short spaces.

To his credit, he makes most of his tackles near the line of scrimmage, where he is most comfortable and effective. Six tackles are nothing to sneeze at.

Though he has a good nose for the football, he cannot be trusted to play the deep zone because he lacks the foot speed and agility. Belton has a place on this team and in this league, but it’s not as a full-time starter.

Raheem Layne

Getting another heavy dose of playing time as he did last week, it looked like Layne was active in coverage, but not as successful in finding the ball against the numerous runs that the Jets threw at the defense. He finished with just two tackles despite the heavy workload.

Makari Paige

Getting lots of second-half snaps with the ones, Paige made a big play with a diving interception on a broken play, and made several nice reads against the run to show a feel for playing team defense.

However, Paige was badly beaten in the corner of the end zone when he was caught in man coverage against a receiver in the red zone. It was a tough match-up for the rookie, who looked lost on the play.

He managed to get in on two tackles, but his slight build makes it tough for him to play safety in this league.

The rookie is not making this team, but he has a chance for a spot on the practice squad.

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