Giants Country

Tyler Nubin Among Giants Defense's Best in This Key Stat

The Giants rookie safety has been one of the team's highest producers in one important category.

Stephen Lebitsch

Oct 6, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; New York Giants safety Tyler Nubin (31) celebrates after recovering a Seattle Seahawks fumble during the second half at Lumen Field.
Oct 6, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; New York Giants safety Tyler Nubin (31) celebrates after recovering a Seattle Seahawks fumble during the second half at Lumen Field. / Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
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When the New York Giants selected safety Tyler Nubin in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft, the pick carried a lot of upside for a guy expected to fill the void left by Xavier McKinney. That potential is starting to show out in a big way for Shane Bowen’s defense.

Nubin, the 23-year-old strong safety, has been an immense bright spot for this year’s draft class and the Giants defense, playing in the second-most 359 defensive snaps, including all of them in five of his first six games.

The novice ballhawk has wasted no time getting after it with his time on the field, posting an impressive eight or more combined tackles in the Giants' last three games while adding a forced fumble and recovery to his resume in that same span. 

Nubin’s run on tackles continued this past Sunday night with another nine takedowns (five solo), including one for a loss, in the 17-7 primetime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. It helped the unit keep the Bengals passing offense in check, ending in not giving up more than 77 yards to any of the opponent’s talented wide receivers. 

With these outings, the rookie has isolated himself from the rest of the secondary and now pushed himself to the top of New York’s leaderboard in total stops, where he is currently positioned with 39 heading into Week 7’s matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles. 

The early stretch has seen Nubin be one of the Giants’ crispest tacklers, with a second-best 5.1 percent missed tackle rate in both zone coverage and the run. He has shown a ton of aggressiveness, and despite giving up completions on all nine targets against him, he has only allowed 83 yards and 23 after the catch, which is top-10 on the defense as well. 

If there is a fault to his game thus far, it’s been his lack of true pressures in the backfield to notch a sack or force an interception, for which he led the Minnesota Golden Gophers in his final collegiate season. 

Nubin has made up for that by slamming the door shut on select rushing plays this year, often starting from the second or third level and bursting through the front line to secure the negative play. 

A perfect example of this impact came in the second quarter of Sunday’s loss, when Nubin flew into the backfield from 12 yards deep, evading a poor block by receiver Ja’Marr Chase to completely blow up a quick pitch-and-run attempt by running back Chase Brown on 2nd-and-3.

The play fell back two yards and helped the Giants defense suspend the Bengals drive on the next play, resulting in just five plays and 33 yards to keep the affair at 7-0 and silence Joe Burrow and company for the fourth straight time in the first half.

Dating back to his All-American days at Minnesota, the Giants targeted Nubin as a high-volume player who could offer the same production McKinney did for four seasons as the team’s leading safety. 

In a five-year stint with the school, Nubin compiled 140 total tackles, 11 pass deflections, 13 interceptions, two sacks, and three forced fumbles and was never less than the fourth-highest defensive producer on their roster. 

The Giants nabbed the stud safety with the 47th overall pick in April and immediately threw him into the mix with fellow veteran teammate Jason Pinnock for very positive results. Both players have compiled top-5 stat sheets for Bowen’s group, including 67 tackles, five for loss, and three interceptions to each earn run prevention grades of 62.3 and 66.9 per PFF.

Nubin had a slow preseason due to very limited reps but has since emerged as one of the most active contributors with 53 or more snaps and five or more tackles in every game except Week 3 against the Browns. 

He has had to worry about some of the best deep threats in football but has fared modestly, not allowing any of them to burn the Giants for more than 28 yards, respectively.

While the secondary has dealt with a high number of injuries, Nubin has fulfilled his role with near perfection and remains the highest-graded tackler on the defense through six weeks. 

He is now starting to mold into the form we saw from McKinney in all phases, with the only element left to mirror being the rookie's completion percentage, which was as low as 30 percent at the college level.

If he can start to improve that stat, the Giants could have their next leader in the deep field for years to come. For now, they have a reliable lifeline that complements the pass-rushing work of their crew up front and is helping the team pace the top part of the league in defensive efficiency.

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Stephen Lebitsch
STEPHEN LEBITSCH

“Stephen Lebitsch is a graduate of Fordham University, Class of 2021, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Communications (with a minor in Sports Journalism) and spent three years as a staff writer for The Fordham Ram. With his education and immense passion for the space, he is looking to transfer his knowledge and talents into a career in the sports media industry. Along with his work for the FanNation network and Giants Country, Stephen’s stops include Minute Media and Talking Points Sports.

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