Tyler Nubin Tabbed as Giants' Breakout Candidate by PFF Amid Safety Competition

After a disappointing second season, New York Giants safety Tyler Nubin is in a battle for his starting job.

Offseason additions Ar'Darius Washington and Jason Pinnock have been making strong cases to overtake Nubin, earning attention from head coach John Harbaugh in recent weeks.

Pro Football Focus writer Gordon McGuinness isn't concerned about the mounting pressure on Nubin, having named Nubin as the Giants' top breakout candidate for 2026, citing the safety’s slight improvement in his PFF coverage grade from 58.1 in his rookie season to 60.0 in his second year.

“Entering his third NFL season, don’t be surprised if Nubin generates more buzz, particularly if he can recapture the level of run defense he showed as a rookie," McGuinness concluded.

With 98 tackles and a forced fumble in just 13 games in his rookie season, Nubin looked like a long-term starter for the Giants. Big Blue tried to cover up his coverage deficiencies by using him as a box defender on nearly half of his snaps.

Those strengths were much less apparent in his second season. Nubin missed 16.9% of his tackles (up from 9.4% as a rookie) and made 78 tackles despite playing more snaps. He was part of the problem in the Giants' run defense, which ranked near the bottom of the league.

Nubin will have to adjust his game to thrive in new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson's system. The safety was much stronger in man coverage than in zone coverage last season. He earned a PFF grade of 64.5 in man and a grade of 54.1 in zone.

Wilson is anticipated to use zone coverage at a significantly higher rate than previous coordinator Shane Bowen did. Last season, his Tennessee Titans ran zone coverage on 75% of their snaps, while the Giants were down at 63.6%, near the bottom of the league.

Wilson has been encouraged by Nubin's progress this offseason.

"Tyler Nubin is getting better,” he said recently. “His biggest challenge right now is just looking at the right things. When he consistently looks at the right things, he makes plays. So, that's been his focus, but he's flashed.”

Before naming Nubin for a breakout campaign, he needs to secure the Giants' starting strong safety role. If he can make the adjustments that Wilson's system requires, he'll be set up for the breakout that McGuinness projects.

If not, his time as a starter may be limited.

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