A case can be made that the Giants need a starting free safety and they need to find that player in the 2020 NFL Draft. Their starter last season, veteran Antoine Bethea, was released and, even though Bethea in his 14th NFL season did not make much of an impact, he did start every game and play more snaps than any other player on the defense, making his absence something to consider.
At the moment, the Giants on their roster have one proven starter at the safety position, Jabrill Peppers, who finished his first year with the team on injured reserve with a fracture in his back. Peppers was part of the Odell Beckham Jr. trade with the Browns, a player the Giants insisted be put in the package, and the jury is still out as to how significant an NFL safety Peppers — a 2017 first round pick — will be.
After Peppers, it is slim pickings as far as finding his running mate in the secondary. There is an “unless’’ here. It is slim picking unless Julian Love, a 2019 fourth-round pick out of Notre Dame, is the guy. Love did not gain the trust of the previous coaching regime until late in his rookie season and ended up making five starts. Peppers and Love paired together could work, but envisioning that duo as the answer on the back end of the defense takes some rose-colored glasses. The only other possible option on the roster is Sean Chandler. Michael Thomas, the well-respected veteran and a Giants team captain last year, remains unsigned and on the market.
Extracting a safety in this draft is highly likely. The best of the bunch is Xavier McKinney of Alabama, unless the eye-of-the-beholder sees Grant Delpit of LSU as No. 1 this year. One or both of them could be available for the Giants at overall-pick No. 36, early in the second round. Depending on which direction the Giants go in the first round, landing McKinney would be a welcome surprise for them, as he could off the board in the middle of or late in the first round. Five years ago, the Giants took a safety from Alabama in the second round and Landon Collins turned out to be a fine pick, though he was not re-signed after his contract expired and the Redskins gave him a mega-deal.
In the middle rounds, perhaps Ashtyn Davis (California) or Antoine Winfield Jr. (Minnesota) are attractive options, or Geno Stone (Iowa) or K’Von Wallace of Clemson on the third day. Expect the Giants to add a safety at some point.
