New York Giants 6 Training Camp Battles To Watch

Free Safety

The Giants made a gross overestimate last season when they allowed all of the veteran safeties on their roster to leave as a free agent. Antrel Rolle wasn’t retained along with Quintin Demps and Stevie Brown, leaving the Giants with no experience at the position. They went all in for Devin McCourty, but he returned to the New England Patriots and the Giants had no backup plan in place.

As a result, safety play was rough, to say the least, last season for the Giants. They brought in players such as Brandon Meriweather and Craig Dahl off the street and put them right into the lineup. Rookie Landon Collins struggled mightily in coverage, as he was asked to do things outside his comfort zone and was exposed.

The Giants have the same problem this season, as they once again failed to add a veteran to the mix to help bring their younger players along. Despite being in only his second season, Collins has by far the most playing experience of any safety currently on the roster and has more tackles, 112, than the other seven combined, who have 29 combined.

Collins is locked into playing time as the strong safety. Now the Giants just have to find someone capable of being a playmaker next to him playing the centerfield and coverage role. Rookie Darian Thompson showed excellent ball skills at Boise State, and could win the free safety job in training camp. Nat Berhe is another player to keep an eye on, as he was the favorite last season before suffering an injury.

Next: Ranking New York Giants Positional Groups

Berhe, along with Justin Currie, Bennett Jackson and Mykelle Thompson, all missed the 2015 season. So in other words, this competition is wide open. No one truly has a leg up on the other, as they are all basically starting from scratch.