We are now 1 week removed from the NFL draft, and the Giants roster still has many holes.
A position that I keep hearing that needs to be addressed is safety. Right now the position consists of rising star Xavier McKinney, new 4th round draft pick Dane Belton, and…. Julian Love. Love is entering his 4th season as a Giant, after being selected in the 4th round of the 2019 NFL draft out of Notre Dame. Now, understandably only having 3 safeties on the roster is a problem as you would like to have more bodies, but I feel as though there has been an unwarranted amount of disrespect shown towards Julian Love this offseason.
If Julian Love is a starting safety in 2022, that is far from the Giants biggest problem.
The last 2 years, the Giants safety position has been a position of strength, but this past offseason the Giants lost Jabrill Peppers and Logan Ryan. That left McKinney and Love as the last 2 standing of a once deep positon group. Hopefully, Dane Belton can help make the safety group a position of strength once again, but he doesn’t need to start right away. Love has been a very valuable piece for this Giants defense through his first 3 seasons in the league. He has played outside corner, slot corner, in the box, and deep safety during his tenure earning the nickname “Duct Tape” from former Giants Head Coach Joe Judge. He has also missed just 1 game through his first 3 seasons. Is he someone that looks like he has the potential of a guy like McKinney? No, but he is a veryyyyy solid piece of this defense. This is a Giants team that has started the likes of Brandon Merriweather, Craig Dahl, Antoine Bethea and Curtis Riley at safety over the past decade. No disrespect to any of those guys, but Love is a major upgrade over any of those guys and has played well! Now, can it be argued that he may be more valuable as a backup because of his versatility? Sure, you can make that argument, but I would counter that by saying he can also grow into a very solid player next to McKinney. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I am very comfortable with Julian Love starting at safety.
The Giants don’t have one of the strongest rosters on this team. That’s no secret, but this roster has far bigger question marks then the safety spot. The position needs more depth, but a starting safety duo of Xavier McKinney and Julian Love is probably one of the stronger starting positions on this team.
Let’s put some respect on J-Love’s name.
(Photo: giantswire.usatoday.com)
