There are no more dots left to connect the Giants to Logan Ryan, but it’s still a puzzle.
It made sense for the Giants to pursue Ryan …
Early in free agency, when he was a cornerback after a year in his career, able to fill a major need, with playing experience under coach Joe Judge and a chance to return home to the New Jersey …
In May, when DeAndre Baker was arrested, and again in July, when Baker was put on the commissioner’s exemption list …
Earlier this month, when Sam Beal exercised the COVID-19 exclusion clause, taking a second cornerback.
Next, it was revealed that Ryan’s agent markets his client to the Teams as an elite security. Well, after a brief moment of understanding why not to unite, it makes sense again for the Giants to go after Ryan as safety Xavier McKinney has undergone foot surgery that could put him on the sidelines until in November.
It’s not that the Giants don’t recognize the need for a secondary assist: since a deal broke with veteran cornerback Ross Cockrell early in camp, the Giants have signed Prince Smith and are expected to add Brandon Williams .
This is equivalent to shopping at Dollar General instead of Target, which puts a lot of pressure on defensive coordinator Patrick Graham to repeat the in-season improvement he created with the young Miami Dolphins last season.
But the results of Friday’s scrum were encouraging – just two passes completed for 12 yards in the first half – and high school’s best friend could be the fierce passing rush provided by Lorenzo Carter, Markus Golden and Leonard Williams.
“I saw [Graham] play with the practice team players and bring them to the NFL level, players on the field on game day and beat us, ”said Judge, referring to the Patriots losing to the Dolphins last December. . “Its important to me.”
The roster includes just three cornerbacks with NFL playing experience, two of which (Corey Ballentine and Grant Haley) remain to be proven. Four safeties have playing experience, but it’s a similar boat for Julian Love, Watch Hartage and Sean Chandler.
In other words, after James Bradberry and Jabrill Peppers, the Giants’ high school is a collection of first, second, and third year players who entered the league as an end-of-round pick or not.
“It all depends on what you do in the future and how we can develop you and get the most out of you,” Judge said. “We have a lot of young guys who are all working hard. They develop and progress through competition. We let the training camp process develop for us every day.
Starting in an 85-game career, Ryan played 395 special teams shots in his first three years with Judge as a special teams coach for the Patriots. The judge favors cross-practice positions, and Ryan, 29, can play in the box, move deep, or lock in a one-on-one slots game.
The Giants’ reasoning for staying alert makes sense: With the NFL salary cap potentially dropping 11.6% to $ 175 million per team in 2021, it pays to roll over the unused space from 2020 (currently 25.6%). million dollars) to soften the blow when the team is more competitive. Ryan was willing to take on a one-year, $ 10 million contract to return to the Tennessee Titans and initially wanted at least that annual salary to switch teams.
If the Rutgers product – one of two NFL players, along with Tyrann Mathieu, who has over 60 defended passes, 15 interceptions and five sacks since 2013 – is (generously) worth a wins or two, the Giants probably aren’t. always not. an elimination team. This is not the case with a suitor who stretches to get over it.
But the Giants risk misreading their fans’ patience and repeating a familiar mistake. It was obvious last summer that high school was under-talented, but the Giants stuck to a plan.
Dak Prescott had a perfect passer rating and four touchdowns in Week 1 against the Giants, setting the tone for the fifth-worst passing defense in the NFL. Now, a season’s value invested in development could be wasted if Baker and Beal never play for the Giants again.
“I don’t care if it’s a freshman or a 10th year player,” said Judge. “We are looking for good players who can help build this program. To answer this question fairly directly, is it a priority to have a veteran? No it is not.”
Changing songs in week 2 might be too late. Again.
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