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Corey Ballentine’s time with the New York Giants may be over, yet his time in East Rutherford surges on. The New York Jets were awarded the second-year defensive back off waivers on Wednesday, one day after his release from Big Blue.
Despite his struggles this season, Ballentine was somewhat of a hot commodity on the waiver wire. NJ.com’s Art Stapleton reports that the Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens also put in waiver claims for Ballentine, but ultimately the Jets won out, owning the highest priority.
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Giants’ Up & Down 2019 Draft Class
Ballentine, 24, is the latest in a slew of once-promising 2019 draft picks hand-selected by Dave Gettleman to be shown the door just 18 months after their arrival. Ballentine, a sixth-round selection, joins the likes of DeAndre Baker (Rd. 1), Ryan Connelly (Rd. 5), George Asafo-Adjei (Rd. 7) and Chris Slayton (Rd. 7) as players no longer with the team from last year’s draft class.
Players who have stuck around include quarterback Daniel Jones, defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence, outside linebacker Oshane Ximines, defensive back Julian Love and wideout Darius Slayton.
As of today, Lawrence is by far the best of the bunch. After a brilliant rookie campaign, the former Clemson standout has elevated his game in year two, currently holding a career-high 77.3 overall Pro Football Focus grade.
While Lawrence may be the most prolific player of the bunch, Slayton is by far the biggest surprise. Never catching more than 35 passes nor five touchdowns in any collegiate season, Slayton broke onto the scene in 2019, notching 48 receptions for 740 yards and eight touchdowns (t-most by a rookie). Slayton’s stats this season may not be as consistent as fans would have hoped, but that may have more to do with the receiver’s classmate, quarterback Daniel Jones, than it does with Slayton himself.
Julian Love was hyped as New York’s breakout star this offseason, but was instead supplanted by journeyman Adrian Colbert in the team’s starting lineup. Love has seen an uptick in playing time over the past few weeks with Colbert landing on IR, but continues to leave much to be desired for a player that was pegged as the team’s swiss army knife heading into the season.
Oshane Ximines has not played a game since Week 4, where he suffered a shoulder injury that would ultimately land him on IR. Head coach Joe Judge hinted at designating the pass-rusher for return within the next week or so while speaking to members of the media on Wednesday.
As a rookie, Ximines showed glimpses of being a real menace coming off the edge. In 2019, the ex-Old Dominion star tied for second on the team with 4.5 sacks. However, in his four game appearances in 2020, Ximines has failed to record a sack, registering just three QB hits over that span.
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