{"id":271310,"date":"2025-08-08T09:37:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T09:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/271310\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T09:37:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T09:37:14","slug":"giants-overlooked-new-pieces-already-making-impact-in-secondary-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/271310\/","title":{"rendered":"Giants\u2019 \u2018overlooked\u2019 new pieces already making impact in secondary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Access the Giants like never before <\/p>\n

Get texts from Paul Schwartz with all the latest Giants news and insights, exclusive to Sports+ subscribers.<\/p>\n

tRY IT NOW <\/a><\/p>\n

What do you call a secondary made up of two high-priced free agents and four premium draft picks?<\/p>\n

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On some teams, you might say that\u2019s the \u201cbackbone of the defense.\u201d On the Giants, you can call them \u201coverlooked.\u201d<\/p>\n

With all the hype about the possibilities for the pass rush, it\u2019s easy to forget that the Giants invested $99 million to sign safety Jevon Holland and cornerback Paulson Adebo as the finishing pieces to join safety Tyler Nubin (2024 second-rounder), and cornerbacks Deonte Banks (2023 first-rounder), Dru Phillips (2024 third-rounder) and Cor\u2019Dale Flott (2022 third-rounder).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re cool, man,\u201d Nubin said. \u201cWe know what we\u2019ve got, so we don\u2019t need too many people talking about us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Safety<\/p>\n

Safety Tyler Nubin makes an interception during Giants\u2019 training camp on Aug. 1, 2025. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n

The basic assignment is to cover receivers long enough to allow Abdul Carter, Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Dexter Lawrence to harass quarterbacks.<\/p>\n

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That requires around-the-horn communication, though it might not be on display Saturday if starters sit out against the Bills.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just takes time around people,\u201d Phillips said, \u201cbut a lot of times now we\u2019re just flowing, and we know what to call.\u201d<\/p>\n

The more complex ask is disrupting games \u2014 Holland and Adebo have 15 combined interceptions over their matching four-year careers \u2014 after the Giants set the NFL record by going 11 straight games without a pick last season.<\/p>\n

The starting defense has intercepted quarterback Russell Wilson six times during training camp.<\/p>\n

\"Cornerback<\/p>\n

Cornerback Dru Phillips defends against wide receiver Wan\u2019Dale Robinson during Giants\u2019 training camp on Aug. 2, 2025. Noah K. Murray-NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we need more. I always think we need more,\u201d defensive coordinator Shane Bowen said. \u201cBut you see the emphasis on being able to punch the ball out [for fumbles]. Whether we pick them or not, we\u2019ve gotten our hands on a lot of passes. Big area we need to improve on this upcoming season.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The best view of the new-look secondary might belong to the receivers who have faced it in 13 training-camp practices.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt starts with Holland and Nubin,\u201d Darius Slayton said. \u201cNubes is a pit bull. He\u2019s physical, but he\u2019s also rangy. Holland has added a good dimension of range to our defense. He\u2019s also a willing tackler, but it\u2019s stood out his ability to cover sideline to sideline, and also track and catch the deep ball. It\u2019s something that he\u2019s flashed a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jevon<\/p>\n

Jevon Holland waves to the fans during practice at the Giants training facility. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

Banks has pulled ahead of the injured Flott in the race to be the No. 2 starting cornerback, but Flott\u2019s versatility should allow him to be the top backup on the outside and inside (for Phillips). Flott led the Giants in pass break-ups from spring workouts through the early part of camp, in Bowen\u2019s estimation.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTae has taken a step and raised his level a bit from previous years,\u201d Slayton said. \u201cFlott is a good football player, too, and has grown himself. Adebo has shown himself to be a good pickup for us. I think when he plays his best ball, he plays at the line [of scrimmage].\u201d<\/p>\n

Is there an identity forming?<\/p>\n

\u201cI see a bunch of guys that are hungry and guys that want it,\u201d Nubin said. \u201cWhatever you think that\u2019s going to turn into.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Access the Giants like never before Get texts from Paul Schwartz with all the latest Giants news and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2067],"tags":[291,1483,6653,13603,1489,14959,7,519,3924,755,1917,56,2321,2469,6,9273,572,1799,8896,7786],"class_list":{"0":"post-271310","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-giants","8":"tag-abdul-carter","9":"tag-brian-burns","10":"tag-darius-slayton","11":"tag-deonte-banks","12":"tag-dexter-lawrence","13":"tag-dru-phillips","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-giants","16":"tag-jevon-holland","17":"tag-kayvon-thibodeaux","18":"tag-new-york","19":"tag-new-york-giants","20":"tag-newyork","21":"tag-newyorkgiants","22":"tag-nfl","23":"tag-paulson-adebo","24":"tag-russell-wilson","25":"tag-the-giants","26":"tag-training-camp","27":"tag-tyler-nubin"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114992477018102253","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}