Getty The New York Giants can trade up 13 places to draft a cornerback perfect for Don 'Wink' Martindale's defense.
The New York Giants have ticked most boxes toward improving their roster this offseason, save for cornerback. It’s a position of need, but is the need strong enough for the Giants to trade up 13 places in the 2023 NFL draft to select a “freak” cover man?
It’s the scenario outlined by Bruce Feldman of The Athletic, who has the Houston Texans giving up the 12th-overall pick, a choice the Giants can use to select Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez:
“In a deal to move up 13 spots, the Giants know there’s a run on top corners coming very soon, and they swap first-rounders with Houston (plus some later picks) to grab Gonzalez before Bill Belichick or Mike Tomlin. The 6 feet 1, 197-pounder, who began his career at Colorado, has ideal size and length. Gonzalez is a Freak athlete who ran a 4.38 at the combine, broad jumped 11-1 and vertical jumped 41 1/2 inches. He might not be quite as instinctive as Witherspoon but he’s much bigger, and in a division with A.J. Brown on the top team, that matter.”
Feldman’s mock draft also includes intel from coaches connected to each prospect, either via scouting, having played against them or tutored the players personally. In the case of Gonzalez, the intel credits him as a “freak.”
Significantly, the coaching viewpoint noted this about Gonzalez’s ability to play man coverage: “he’s very physical, good at squeezing guys to the sideline.” The 20-year-old also “played tight, got in bump-and-run.”
Those are qualities sure to endear Gonzalez to Giants’ defensive coordinator Don ‘Wink’ Martindale. Few play-callers rely on man coverage as much as 59-year-old Martindale, who doesn’t mind leaving his corners on an island behind his myriad of blitz pressures.
Lengthy, Man-Coverage Cornerback Would Transform Giants’ Secondary
The Giants need help at cornerback after snatching “just six interceptions last season, tied for the worst total in the league,” per ESPN’s Jordan Reid. Gonzalez would add a much-needed ball-hawking presence to Martindale’s defensive backfield after grabbing four interceptions and breaking up seven other passes last season.
Those instincts for the ball showed up even when Gonzalez was in off coverage. Like for this opportunistic theft highlighted by USA Today’s Doug Farrar, who noted Gonzalez allowed two receptions for 69 yards from nine “passes of 20 or more air yards.”
Christian Gonzalez against passes of 20 or more air yards in 2022: Two catches allowed on nine targets for 69 yards (nice), no touchdowns, and three interceptions. Metrics don’t tell you everything, but if you’re picking off more deep passes than you’re allowing, that’s good.
Having a cornerback this comfortable in deep coverage would be an obvious asset for the Giants. Martindale’s blitz-happy system is vulnerable to getting beat vertically with fewer bodies in coverage behind the rush.
Gonzalez would solve the problem, but there are drawbacks to his game. Notably, the 6’2″, 200-pounder could “be more physical,” according to the coaching intel given to Feldman. The same source also asserted Gonzalez is no true shutdown corner. Specifically, “he’s not Sauce Gardner.”
While he may not compare to the New York Jets star who was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2022, Gonzalez still possesses scheme-suited attributes the Giants can’t ignore. Yet, those traits aren’t enough to justify trading away multiple picks to move up.
Giants Should Resist Trading Up
The better move for general manager Joe Schoen would be to stay put at No. 25 and wait on either another cornerback or one of the remaining wide receivers in a class loaded at the position.
Wideouts as dynamic as TCU vertical threat Quentin Johnston and USC’s burner Jordan Addison should last at least that long, according to Feldman. Meanwhile, the cornerback crop is deep, with Josh Edwards of CBS Sports putting Mississippi State’s Emmanuel Forbes and Utah’s Clark Phillips III in Round 2, while Alabama corner Eli Ricks should be available in the third.
Forbes is a popular pick, with Reid sending the “predominantly Cover 1 scheme corner” to the Giants with the 57th pick. A six-interception season with the Bulldogs in 2022 affirmed Forbes’ credentials as a big-play threat, as does being a pick-six specialist, per NFL Rookie Watch:
Emmanuel Forbes BROKE this man’s ankles 😳
Forbes holds the record for most career pick-sixes in college football with 6.
The Mississippi State CB is the definition of a ball HAWK.
There’s room for a starter-ready cornerback on a depth chart headlined by Adoree’ Jackson, but lacking credible options beyond the veteran. Bobby McCain arrived in free agency, but he told Dan Duggan of The Athletic he’s earmarked for a spot at safety, so the draft looks like the best option to improve the secondary on the outside.
The Giants can stay put and still add more talent where it’s needed. Trading up would only be tempting to fill a void a quarterback or running back, but Schoen ensured that won’t be necessary by finding a way to bring back both Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley.
It leaves the Giants able to sit and wait for the best player available for the picks already at their disposal.
Biggest need is OL to protect DJ and spring Saquon.