Where Giants Stand Ahead of Draft at Safety

We wrap up our pre-draft Giants position breakdown series with a look at the safety position.

With only one experienced starting safety currently on the roster, it's one of the Giants' thinner position groups. Come draft day, the Giants might have to decide on their free safety spot, between rolling with a young project or adding a young prospect.

On The Roster

Jabrill Peppers, Sean Chandler, Julian Love (corner hybrid), Nate Ebner (mainly a special teams player who is listed as a safety)

Off The Roster

Antoine Bethea (cut), Michael Thomas (unsigned)

The Breakdown

Of all the Giants position groups on defense, safety offers the least to talk about.

Jabrill Peppers is the lead man in a thin safety unit, as the only Giants safety with any real experience starting at the position.

Peppers showed progress in his first season in New York, as he was on track to surpass his career mark in tackles and interceptions before a transverse process fracture against the Bears in week 12 ended his season prematurely. 

The Giants should count on Peppers to fill in at strong safety in 2020, but if he suffers another injury, then the defense doesn't have many options to replace him. A draft pick in the middle-to-later rounds might demand the selection of a backup for Peppers.

At free safety, the Giants don't have a player with a substantial degree of experience. Out of the players on the current roster, the early favorite to emerge in that spot is Julian Love, drafted as a cornerback out of Notre Dame.

Love is listed as a cornerback on the Giants' roster, but saw playing time at safety in 2019 and might have the skill set to translate to the free safety spot in defensive coordinator Patrick Graham's defense.

Love saw substantially more playing time after Peppers went down last year and shined when he was tasked with transitioning to play a position he wasn't drafted for.

The backend combination of Peppers and Love should be the favorite to fill the two main safety spots heading into 2020.

Sean Chandler hasn't started a game since being signed as an undrafted free agent in 2018, but he has made a handful of plays as a backup with the Giants.

If general manager Dave Gettleman doesn't address safety in the draft, then Chandler could end up being just one injury away from getting significant playing time. If Gettleman does bring in more safeties, then Chandler might not be a lock to make the roster.

Draft Options

The Giants certainly can't afford to use their fourth-overall pick on a safety. By the time they pick 36th overall in the second round, LSU's Grant Delpit might tempt Gettleman, but taking a safety there deprives the Giants from using that pick on a greater need at either offensive line or edge rusher, depending on what they do in the first round.

Realistically the Giants probably wouldn't invest any higher than their 99th overall pick in the bottom of the third round on a safety. One of the draft's more intriguing prospects might be available at 99 in Southern Illinois' Jeremy Chinn.

Chinn possesses a similar skill set to that of Peppers but with a higher ceiling in ball skills. Chinn could also potentially be a long-term replacement for Peppers if Gettleman declines to exercise Peppers' rookie contract option.

California's Ashtyn Davis is also a high-upside and high-character prospect that appears to fit Joe Judge's coaching mentality. He also brings value as a core special teamer.

Minnesota's Antoine Winfield Jr. would bring ball-hawking instincts to the Giants' secondary, but a lack of size and length could ultimately hold him back from starring at the NFL level.