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Breaking Down the Secondary

I hate articles about 53-man roster breakdowns. I hate them in August as training camp ends. And I certainly hate them in June. Barring injury, ninety percent of the roster is already set and the final spots projected in these articles are based on nothing more than what the author thinks the front office and coaching staff is thinking. Than again, some decisions will have nothing to do with competition, like will we keep a Fullback or a 3rd QB. And then there are the few surprises no one sees coming . . . which is why we call them surprises. Plus, with Gettleman, there is always waiver wire fishing season. I prefer to wait and see.

But this year seems different. There has been fundamental overhaul of the roster since Gettleman arrived 18 months ago. Certain key position groups have gone from super thin -- where we eagerly watch training camp, hoping some UDFA both emerges and doesn't stink if/when forced into action -- to deep enough that we have to worry about too many guys at the positions and whether or not we can slip a few thru to the practice squad.

And so we arrive at the Secondary in 2019. Whereas a typical roster includes 5 CBs and 4 safeties (8-10 secondary players in total), we have far more interesting guys competing for a spot.

We cannot forget that we are only a year removed from having to "rely" on the unreliable Eli Apple at starting CB, from bringing in a cast of thousands to compete for roles over the summer, and then eschewing those guys (except B.W. Webb) in favor of a few waiver wire pickups before Week 1.

The Giants are also the team that lined up the following not quite Hall of Famers alongside Landon Collins during his tenure in New York:

- converted, bad CB and not-a-safety Curtis Riley;

- injured and failed 3rd Rd pick Darian Thompson;

- Andrew Adams as a rookie UDFA;

- Coty Sensabaugh, whom we picked up off waivers after the Rams cut him 4 games into his 3 year, $15 million contract (yikes!);

- physical specimen and unproductive Cooper Taylor;

- annual spring fan favorite, The Injured Nat Berhe;

- surprise draft pick, The Injured Mykkele Thompson;

- author of Willy Wonka, Craig Dahl; and

- aged strong safety Brandon Meriweather, who was lined up with rookie strong safety Collins (yes, that's two strong safeties and zero free safeties for those counting at home).

If I missed anyone, I apologize. No doubt they were not too memorable or very good. It's also possible Berhe and Mykkele Thompson were never healthy enough to actually lineup alongside Collins.

But those days appear to be over. Now we may have too many guys competing for spots on the roster. Let's hope they all stay healthy . . . I am certainly not complaining about the "high class problem" of too many guys!

Our 90 man roster includes the following CBs (10): Janoris Jenkins, Sam Beal, DeAndre Baker, Grant Haley, Julian Love, Corey Ballentine, Antonio Hamilton, Tony Lippett, ex-Arizona Cardinal practice squader Ronald Zamort, and former AAF player, Henre Toliver.

At Safety, veteran Antoine Bethea (filling the aforementioned blackhole at FS . . . it is criminal that the Giants failed to solve the FS problem for so many years), Jabrill Peppers, Sean Chandler, Michael Thomas, ex-CFL standout Kenny Ladler (where he played as an undersized LB for all you Bettcher Boys), Kamrin Moore, a Saints 6th Round pick in 2018 and one of the players acquired off waivers before Week 1 last year, along with UDFA ex-CBs Tenny Adewusi and Jack Carlock who are listed as S and the vague "DB," respectively.

At CB, 1st Round pick Baker (1) is the frontrunner to start alongside Jenkins (2), though Beal (3) is expected to push for playing time. Last year's UDFA Grant Haley (4) looks to keep his starting role in the slot after sporting a 69.3 grade from PFF (a very nice score for a rookie UDFA practice squad call-up thrust into the starting lineup), but he'll have to hold off the loser of the Beal/Baker competition and 4th Rounder Julian Love (5), who may be groomed as Bethea's successor. Love splitting time at safety may help Haley's cause but certainly doesn't alter our total count. Antonio Hamilton's (6) special teams value cannot be understated. He's back for another season despite rarely (if ever) seeing the field as a defender and he may be competing for a roster spot against the likes of WR Russell Shepard and S Michael Thomas more than the other CBs. Perhaps they can stash 6th Rounder Corey Ballentine (7) on the practice squad, but that's always a risk. Hey, there's always the Victor Cruz mysterious IR designation route. And we haven't even arrived at the former Dolphin starter Lippett, whose 6'3 size and length intrigues the front office so much they gave him a season to work his way back from an Achilles injury. If he's running like he used to, he may work himself into the mix. Ex-Cardinal Zamort may have Bettcher's eye, but he and Tolliver have their work cut out for them and may be auditioning for the other 31 teams or a spot on the practice squad, if eligible.

While the safety position appears anchored by FS Bethea (1) and SS Peppers (2), we should remember that Bettcher likes to use 3 safety sets a lot. Peppers will not merely slide into Collins' SS role, instead, expect Peppers to be utilized more creatively. Special teams Pro Bowler and solid backup Michael Thomas (3) appears to be assured a spot. 2018 UDFA Chandler needs to show some improvement -€” but if he does, he will make himself a tough final cut. Kamrin Moore was around last season and the coaching staff thought enough of him to bring him back. Ex-LB Ladler, ex-CB Adewusi and 6'3, 225 ex-CB Carlock all bring hybrid skill sets to the table. Don't be surprised if one or more of these guys ticketed for the practice squad for some seasoning.

Barring injury, by my count that's 7 CBs whom the Giants will want on the final roster. Maybe they view it as 6, with Hamilton as a special teamer. At safety, they may have to go with 3 and double-count Love as a safety too. Maybe they try to stash Ballentine and Chandler on practice squad. No idea what they do if someone like Lippett or Carlock pops in training camp out of nowhere. Then again, maybe we get hit with an injury bug and all these high-class problems go away.

Hard to see how the numbers works -- and that's a good thing.


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