New DC James Bettcher and his impact on the New York Giants defense

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – NOVEMBER 19: Janoris Jenkins (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /

Secondary

Switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4 has little to no effect on the secondary but here’s how the Giants secondary would compare to that of the Cardinals.

No. 1 Cornerback: Janoris Jenkins

New Giants general manager Dave Gettleman isn’t big on investing in cornerbacks, as evidenced by him removing the franchise tag from Josh Norman while he was in Carolina. This might have worried some Giants fans about Janoris Jenkins’s future.

Not to worry folks. James Bettcher enjoyed having a shutdown corner in Patrick Peterson during his time in Arizona and he’ll surely fight to keep “Jackrabbit” around.

Peterson and Jenkins are both top-10 corners in this league and Bettcher will likely assign Jenkins to shut down the opposing team’s No. 1 wide receiver, much like he did with Peterson.

No. 2 Cornerback: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie/Eli Apple

The Giants No. 2 corner in 2018 is tough to predict. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie could be a cap casualty and Eli Apple is likely one more issue away from getting cut.

If both are on the roster, I think the nod has to go to DRC unless Apple really improves this offseason.

Either way, Bettcher will have a much more talented second cornerback to work with than he ever had in Arizona. The weakness for the Cardinals secondary has long been the corner opposite of Peterson. During Bettcher’s tenure, it was a combination of Jerraud Powers, Marcus Cooper, Brandon Williams, and Justin Bethel.

DRC and Apple are more talented than all of those corners so Bettcher could potentially have an even better pass defense in New York, even though his Cardinal pass defense never ranked worse than 14th.

Free Safety: Darian Thompson

Darian Thompson had an up and down 2017 after missing just about all of his rookie season in 2016. Thompson did finish with 75 total tackles this past season but he’ll have to start playing like he did at Boise State to impress James Bettcher.

Bettcher’s free safety in Arizona was none other than the Honey Badger himself, Tyrann Mathieu. Mathieu’s best NFL season came in his first year under Bettcher. In 2015, Mathieu totaled 89 tackles, 17 pass defenses, and five interceptions on his way to First-Team All-Pro.

Thompson has the ballhawk trait in him. He broke Eric Weddle’s Mountain West Conference record for career interceptions with 19 while at Boise State.

Hopefully, Bettcher can unlock Thompson’s potential in 2018.

Strong Safety: Andrew Adams

If the Giants overhaul their linebackers and don’t try Landon Collins in a Deone Bucannon role, then Collins will be the starting strong safety. If Bettcher makes my Collins-linebacker dream come true, however, Andrew Adams will take over.

After starting 13 games as an undrafted rookie in 2016, Adams went back to a reserve role in 2017, though he did log four starts.

Adams has had a solid career thus far and is certainly a better starting option than Nat Berhe.

Bettcher had plenty of talent at strong safety in Arizona with Rashad Johnson, Tony Jefferson, Tyvon Branch, Antoine Bethea, and Budda Baker.

Of course, if Collins starts here, then the talent continues. But if Bettcher wants to experiment, Adams could hold down the fort.

Next: New York Giants 3-round mock draft

I’m excited about the James Bettcher hire. He’ll bring a new defensive scheme with him but the New York Giants have some players already on the roster who fit the personnel. They’ll also have an entire offseason to fill out the rest of the depth chart.

Bettcher led some very successful defenses with the Arizona Cardinals and hopefully, he’ll get Big Blue back to having a dominant defense year in and year out.

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