What Giants Are Getting in New Defensive Coordinator Shane Bowen
The New York Giants' defense in 2024 and beyond will look very different under new coordinator Shane Bowen than it did under Wink Martindale.
Oh, sure, it will still be a 3-4 base. But if you're looking for a continuation of Martindale's blitz-happy schemes, be prepared for a letdown.
"I think the big thing for Giants fans is you're going to see a defense that wants to do different things," said Tyler Rowland, host of the Locked On Titans podcast, during an appearance on the Locked On Giants podcast.
"It's no secret that Wink Martindale had his pressure packages. He wanted to get a lot of blitz pressures up there. He wanted to play a lot of Cover 1 in the back end. And it'll be interesting for Giants fans to track because Shane Bowen wants to do different things on defense. And that'll require different skill sets from the players. So I think there will be a big philosophical change on the defense."
Rowland consistently opined that Bowen is a "good but not great" defensive coordinator, questioning how much of an influence Mike Vrabel, the former Titans head coach during Bowen's time with the team, had on the defense.
"It's hard to say because Vrabel only had one year as defensive coordinator, but I think Mike Vrabel, through what we've learned anecdotally and through stories about his time there, he wants to be a more varied guy, wants to be more multiple in the coverages that he runs," Rowland said.
"While it may not be Mike Vrabel's philosophy on what to do and when to do it because I think Vrabel was a run this now, run this next third down, I think Shane Bowen having some freedom may be a better thing. I don't really have a lot of faith in Vrabel as a defensive coordinator, and I think the examples that we have proved that. So I would be more optimistic about Shane Bowen as a defensive coordinator away from under the thumb of Vrabel because it'll give him the ability to do more of what he wants to do, and I think he's got a better idea of what to do than Vrabel does.
Rowland believes that once Bowen had more of a say in the defense, there were notable changes that he'll likely look to bring to the Giants.
"I think it's interesting because the Titans, over the last five years, have done so many different things. You go back to, like, 2021--they were much more of a man
coverage team. Most teams in the NFL are playing zone more often than not.
But when it was money downtime, the Titans would be man," Rowland said.
"And we've seen recently, in the past couple of years, that the Titans have gone to much more Cover 4 and Cover 2 in some of those situations."
Catch the full interview with Tyler Rowland of Locked On Titans to learn more about what the Giants are getting in their new defensive coordinator hire.
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