Early last season, the Giants scrapped a training camp plan that had Adoree’ Jackson shifting to the slot to accommodate fast-rising rookie Tre Hawkins. The team is also considering deviating from its offseason setup this year.
Not re-signing Jackson, the Giants moved Cor’Dale Flott from the slot to the boundary. The 2022 third-round pick has been the favorite to start opposite Deonte Banks on the outside for months. Flott’s lead has narrowed. Nick McCloud, a former Bills UDFA who joined the Giants via waiver claim ahead of the Joe Schoen–Brian Daboll duo’s first season, is pushing the third-year defender for the starting gig.
McCloud has begun to take first-team reps this week, with the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy indicating this foray into the starting lineup came after Flott blew multiple coverages at a practice. Flott, who has been New York’s primary slot defender over the past two seasons, has seen his status yo-yo since being a Day 2 draftee. He was not an immediate regular last year. The Giants used a Banks-Hawkins-Jackson setup to start the season and made Flott a healthy scratch early, but the LSU alum regained a role by Week 4.
Flott impressed Giants coaches this offseason and ran with the starters throughout that program and into training camp, but McCloud has closed the gap. The former Bills UDFA started eight Giants games in 2022 and three last year, though he saw his snap percentage drop from 57 to 28. McCloud and Hawkins entered camp as the next men up if Flott faltered, and it appears the more experienced player is the one providing the challenge. Neither DB saw action in the Giants’ preseason opener; the team sat Flott due to a quad injury and parked McCloud after he had warmed up.
Third-round pick Dru Phillips remains the frontrunner for the Giants’ slot job, as mid-offseason addition Tre Herndon looms as a challenger, per the Post’s Paul Schwartz. The longtime Jaguars slot man intercepted a pass Thursday night but has no guarantees in his veteran-minimum contract. The Giants’ second-round pick, however, has seen his status change during camp. Tyler Nubin no longer appears a frontrunner to start alongside Jason Pinnock at safety. Nubin is behind Dane Belton for the job, Schwartz adds.
A calf injury cost the Minnesota alum the first week of camp, and Belton fared well in the rookie’s absence. A former fourth-round pick, Belton has primarily worked as a spot starter in the pros. The Iowa product has made seven starts in two seasons, but after Julian Love and Xavier McKinney respectively defected during the past two free agency periods, the Giants have needed to keep making changes on their back line. Although Belton has a limited first-string track record through two seasons, he already has four career INTs.
DC Shane Bowen (via The Athletic’s Dan Duggan) went as far as to say the job is Belton’s to lose. Belton would seemingly be a transitional piece while Nubin — the Giants’ backup plan after Kamari Lassiter and Kool-Aid McKinstry went off the board early in Round 2 — readies, but for now, the ex-Day 3 investment appears more likely to begin the season with the starters.
Oops! It looks like I arrived here too early. I was expecting to find a comment by Jacksson claiming “Every McCloud has a silver lining”.