Countdown to Camp: Can Darnay Holmes Win the No. 2 Cornerback Job?

The availability of cornerback DeAndre Baker for the Giants this year is far from certain--the team, remember, told Baker to focus on his legal issues stemming from a mid-May incident in which Baker allegedly committed armed robbery and aggravated assault.

So with Baker having missed so much of the off-season virtual program and the likelihood of him landing on an exemption list being high, the Giants have an opening opposite of James Bradberry on the perimeter.

The two names that have been mostly linked to the open starting slot on the outside are 2019 sixth-round pick Corey Ballentine and 2018 supplemental third-round selection Sam Beal.

The former showed some positive signs as a tackler with a chaotic start to his NFL season that resulted in him missing most of his rookie training camp and preseason. One can surmise that he can grow and improve with a year under his belt and a non-injured offseason, albeit this 2020 offseason has been challenging.

Beal, on the other hand, has struggled to stay healthy. He suffered a shoulder injury that sidelined him for his entire rookie season in 2018, and then he dealt with a nagging hamstring injury in 2019 that resulted in him being put on injured reserve for most of the season.

He played in six games, mostly on the boundary, and surrendered a 70% reception rate. He seemed to struggle in man coverage with decisiveness and was a bit slow to react to cuts while being susceptible to double moves, which Ballentine struggled with when playing the slot.

Both of these players should have a realistic chance at earning the open starting perimeter role opposite of Bradberry, but there is one name that seems to be left out of the discussion: fourth-round pick, Darnay Holmes.

Holmes is a former 5-star recruit who played exceptionally well at UCLA in 2018 and supposedly played through the injury in 2019, his play declining. That was painfully evident in the 2019 game against Washington State, where Holmes surrendered three touchdowns.

Holmes has a record of playing on the boundary and doing it well while healthy, but many feel given his smallish size that he will compete for slot snaps, a position that the Giants also need to fill.

But to say Holmes is likely to be just in the mix at the slot position is not doing him a solid. For the first time in a few years, the competition at the slot seems to be loaded.

There is also the idea that with the Giants likely to roll out a three-safety set, which they can finally do with some confidence, that perhaps even one of the projected safeties (Jabrill Peppers, Xavier McKinney, or Julian Love) will be utilized in the slot.

Otherwise, the other candidates for the slot would include incumbent Grant Haley, who is great in run support, but a liability in the vertical passing game; Ballentine, who struggled in the role last year as a rookie; and possibly seventh-round pick Chris Williamson, who excelled for the Golden Gophers.

Holmes? His skill set, athletic ability, fluid hips, and quickness all translate well to playing the slot, yet I’m not comfortable excluding his name from the boundary competition. He has a lot of pedigree, yet he gets labeled a slot player because of his size.

But that label isn't fair, and here's why.

There have been several smaller cornerbacks who have excelled as boundary corners in the NFL. Sure, we can go back to Mark McMillan of the Chiefs or Antonie Winfield Sr, but it’s even more recent.

Players like Alterraun Verner, Malcolm Butler, and Brent Grimes have all had successful careers as undersized cornerbacks that play the boundary. None of those guys have been considered "big" in size (though certainly, they have played bigger than their physical measurements, which at the end of the day is what you want from any player, regardless of his physical size).

Darnay Holmes is 5’10, 195 pounds. Verner and Grimes are the same height, but a little lighter than Holmes and Butler is slightly taller but still slightly lighter than Holmes. Byron Murphy, the 33rd pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, is a hair taller than Holmes, just like players who have been in the NFL for a while like Kareem Jackson. All of these players were good outside cornerbacks at one point in their careers, so why are we omitting Holmes’ name from the equation?

I believe height bias is necessary for outside cornerbacks, but if a smaller corner excels with technique, it should be overlooked. Holmes showed quality technique at UCLA in 2018, which was also helped by his superior athletic ability. Still, the injuries didn’t allow him to maximize his athletic gifts in 2019, which obviously, and naturally, hurt his effectiveness.

The problematic aspect of Holmes playing boundary in the NFL is the differential in NFL athletic ability between wide receivers and cornerbacks. It may hinder Holmes’ ability to succeed, as opposed to him playing against lesser athletes in the PAC-12.

That doesn’t concern me as much as his arm length. Holmes measured at the combine with a 29½” arm length (69¾” wingspan), which undoubtedly help lead to his slide to the top of Day 3 in the draft.

His arm length is even shorter than Haley’s 29¾”. That’s in the second percentile range for cornerbacks that have measured at the combine. For reference, Verner had 31” Butler 31 ½” Murphy 30 ⅛” and Jackson 30”. Winfield was the one player that was over an inch shorter than Holmes but only had slightly longer arms at 29 ¾” coming out of Ohio State back in 1999.

Holmes' arm length is concernedly short, which poses a problem when a player like Holmes has to face someone like Julio Jones in jam type techniques at the line of scrimmage.

I think it’s a valid argument against Holmes, yet I still say Holmes’ name should be thrown into consideration for the spot opposite of Bradberry.

Ballentine is 5’11, 196 pounds, with 31⅝” arms, while possessing underrated athletic ability, but hasn’t necessarily shown it on Sundays for a few different possible reasons.

Beal is 6’1, 177 pounds, has struggled to stay healthy, and has 31” arms (73” wingspan). Their measurables easily overcome Holmes', but if there’s an open position to be had and three unproven assets--one of whom played successfully on the boundary in a Power-5 conference--shouldn’t all three be considered for the position?

In my estimation, Ballentine or Beal will more than likely be the favorite to win this job, if, as is believed, Baker is not on the roster this year. But Holmes, who spent part of the off-season training with Jabrill Peppers in Northern New Jersey, is hungry, and he shouldn’t be denied an opportunity to earn the role.

Smaller cornerbacks have had success in recent NFL history on the outside, albeit Holmes’ arm length poses real concerns and question marks. Nevertheless, an open battle should ensue in camp, and I would not be surprised if Holmes makes what is currently thought to be a two-person race into a three-person competition.

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