There will be competitions for both roster spots and playing time at most positions across the New York Giants roster during training camp. We will go through many of them between now and the first practice in West Virginia on July 29. Safety is one of the most interesting, so let’s start there.
The roster:
Jevon Holland, Tyler Nubin, Jason Pinnock, Ar’Darius Washington, Elijah Campbell, Raheem Layne (cornerback Nic Jones also has some safety flexibility)
The starters (for now)
Holland and Nubin are the incumbent starters.
Neither, though, has played well enough to have locks on full-time starting roles.
Holland was signed to a three-year, $45.3 million contract ($30.3 million guaranteed) last offseason to be a difference-maker in the back of the Giants’ defense. He wasn’t that.
Holland was far from horrendous. He was simply pedestrian. Holland had just one interception and five pass breakups in 512 coverage snaps. His overall Pro Football Focus score was a middling 58.4, 51st out of 65 qualifying safeties. Holland’s Pro Football Impact Score of 76.6 was 38th among 85 qualifiers. PFSN ranked Holland 79th in run support and 54th in playmaking, again among 85 qualifiers.
That is not what the Giants paid for.
The thing is, what Holland did last season is the player he has always been. His PFSN Impact Score rankings have ranged from a career-best of 31st in 2024 to a career-worst of 46th in 2024. Holland has never had more than two interceptions in any of his five NFL seasons, and four turnovers forced (an interception and three fumbles) in 2023 were his career-best.
Defensive pass game coordinator Donald D’Alesio said Holland “knows there were plays that he had last year that he wants back.” D’Alesio said he believes sometimes Holland tries to do too much and “doesn’t end up doing what he’s supposed to do.”
Entering his sixth NFL season at age 26, Holland probably is what he is. He isn’t bad, but he also isn’t a game-changer.
Nubin was drafted in the second round out of Minnesota in 2024 with the hopes that his playmaking (13 interceptions, 11 passes defensed, 3 forced fumbles in 55 collegiate games) would carry over to the NFL.
It has not.
Nubin has no interceptions, one forced fumble, and just three passes defensed, in 26 games — 24 of which were starts. Nubin’s PFSN Impact Score placed him 68th of 85 qualifying safeties.
The lack of elite athleticism, as shown by Nubin’s Relative Athletic Score of 3.67 on a 10-point scale, has at times been exacerbated by poor angles that have led to big plays.
Taking better angles is something the Giants worked on with Nubin last season. Maybe another year of experience will help there. The Giants also have to hope that defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson’s more aggressive scheme will maximize Nubin’s talents.
Between Nubin and Holland, Nubin seems like the most vulnerable when it comes to losing playing time.
The competition
Pinnock, back with the Giants for a second time, and Washington, formerly with the Baltimore Ravens, could push Holland and Nubin for playing time.
Pinnock, 27, had the best year of his career for the Giants in Wink Martindale’s ultra-aggressive defense in 2023. He had two interceptions, six pass breakups, two forced fumbles, and two sacks in 17 games and starts. That season, he was PFSN’s 10th-ranked safety.
After a mediocre 2024, Nubin left the Giants in free agency and was a part-time player for the San Francisco 49ers last season.
Defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson is expected to run an aggressive scheme that employs elements of Martindale’s, and that may suit Pinnock’s athletic, attacking style. He seemed at his playmaking best when he was allowed to attack the line of scrimmage, blitzing a career-high 36 times in 2023. He blitzed only 13 times while playing for defensive coordinator Shane Bowen in 2024.
Washington can play in the slot and at safety, and has familiarity with John Harbaugh, Wilson, and several other coaches after spending five years with the Baltimore Ravens. He started only 11 games in those five seasons, 10 of them in 2024, but did receive some first-team reps at both nickel cornerback and safety during the spring.
“He’s a chess piece,” D’Alesio said. “He’s gonna play safety, he’s gonna play nickel, he can play dime if we need him to.
“That’s the beautiful thing about Ar’Darius. In a pinch, he can go play any position on the back end that we need him to.”
Fighting for a roster spot
If the Giants find space on the roster for a fifth safety, that would likely be Campbell or Layne.
Campbell, entering his seventh season, is primarily a core special teams player. In 68 NFL games, he has started just three times on defense. He played only 16 defensive snaps for the Miami Dolphins last year, and 122 defensive snaps with Miami in 2023 were his career-high.
Layne, 27, entered the league as an undrafted free agent with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2022. He has played just 16 games over four NFL seasons with the Chargers and Giants. In two years with New York, he played in five games with two starts.
Knee injuries in 2023 with the Chargers and 2024 with the Giants, and a groin injury last season, have gotten in Layne’s way.
