Scouting Primer for New York Giants' Top Offseason Needs: Part 4–Receiver and Cornerback

In this next installment of what to look for in college prospects, Tom Rudawsky takes a look at the top characteristics the Giants might be looking for in receivers and cornerbacks.

In the previous two off-seasons, the Giants have invested heavily on the perimeter, inking cornerbacks James Bradberry, Adoree Jackson, and wide receiver Kenny Golladay to big free-agent deals while also spending their 2021 first-round pick on Kadarius Toney.

To this point, the overall return on investment from those four has been disappointing. With how much running, cutting, and changing directions cornerbacks and wide receivers typically do on a play to play basis, it’s often hard to keep players healthy, placing an extra emphasis on depth.

Over the next few months, the Giants will surely look to acquire more depth at both spots. In our final edition of this scouting primer series, we take a look at what specific traits the Giants will look for and what specifically they need to add to each position group.

Wide Receiver: The Key Traits

Like all positions on the football field, receivers come in all shapes, sizes, and skillsets. In building a complete receiving core, having a nice blend of size, speed, route running, and reliability is the goal. In the NFC Championship this past Sunday, two All-Pro receivers were on display in the Rams Cooper Kupp and the 49ers Deebo Samuel.

These players have very different skills, but they’re both exceptional at what they do. Kupp is an ultra-savvy and smooth route runner with elite hands, consistency, and instincts, whereas Samuel is an explosive, shifty, physical, game-wrecking player with the ball in his hands.

The one trait that all the top receivers in the game possess is the ability to get open and catch the ball consistently. Simply put, if a player can’t separate and catch, it greatly hinders their ceiling. The best route runners have great footwork, body control, and instincts. Every play, they know the route they’re running, but the cornerback does not, giving a receiver with precise feet and body control a distinct advantage.

At breakpoints in routes, a receiver's change of direction, quickness, and burst in short space show up as they try to acquire space between them and the defender to uncover. Receivers like Kupp and Las Vegas’ Hunter Renfrow not only have these skills but also the savvy to sell a different route than they’re running with head fakes, body lean, and footwork.

Receivers that lack top route-running skills, while missing a crucial part of the position, can still have a lot of success in the league due to elite straight-line speed.

On the outside, speed wins, and that’s something that will never change. It seems like every year in the NFL draft, teams pay a premium for speed, and that’s because speed is not something that can be taught or developed to a great extreme. If a player has game-changing speed, such as Kansas City’s Tyreek Hill, it forces the defense to change the way they play coverage, as they must respect the big play over the top.

A 40-yard dash time isn’t the only way to judge speed, however. At almost every position, one of the critical factors that must be evaluated is play speed, which certainly is essential at receiver. Believe it or not, some players have faster play speed than their 40-time would indicate.

Last, there are receivers that make a career in the league because of their size and contested-catch skills. Golladay is one of these players.

His biggest asset is his frame, hands, and skills to play above the rim. Bigger receivers can be such a quarterback-friendly target because of their size and catch radius, being able to haul in passes well outside their frame.

With a receiver like Golladay, there are passes that only he can catch because of the size, and that is the value of a player like him. The top contested-catch receivers in the league also often have the strongest hands.

Cornerbacks are taught to always play the ball, and in 50/50 scenarios, even when the corner tries to jar the ball loose, a receiver that can maintain control and possession to the ground is very valuable.

However, so much of winning contested catches also is focus, body control, and timing, having to adjust to where the ball is thrown and putting themselves in beneficial spots to make the grab.

What the Giants need to add:

Currently, the Giants have a good variety of players with different skill sets at this position with Golladay, Toney, Shepard, and Slayton. However, it’s very important that they continue to seek upgrades with their backups.

One constant among this position group for NYG the last few years has been the inability of their starters to stay healthy. Expecting Golladay, Toney, and Shepard to play all 17 games this season is highly optimistic.

Therefore, adding another outside receiver that they can count on in the event of injuries would be prudent. This is one of the better position groups for the Giants, but more talent is always welcome here.

Nick Falato's NFL Draft Prospect Scouting Reports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Check in daily now through the 2022 draft for a new scouting report.

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Scouting Primer for New York Giants' Top Offseason Needs: Part 3, Tight Ends and Safeties

In this next installment of what to look for in college prospects, former NFL scouting intern Tom Rudawsky takes a look at the top characteristics the Giants may be looking for in tight ends and safeties.

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Scouting Primer for New York Giants' Top Offseason Needs: Part 2, Inside Linebacker and Quarterback / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Scouting Primer for New York Giants' Top Offseason Needs: Part 1, Outside Linebacker and Offensive Line / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Giants have a lot of work to do this off-season to restock key position units. In this article, former NFL scouting intern Tom Rudawsky takes a look at the top characteristics the Giants may be looking for in two critical areas of need: outside linebacker and offensive line.

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Cornerback: The Key Traits

Cornerback is, without a doubt, one of the hardest positions in football to play. Being on an island 1-on-1 against some of the most explosive athletes in the world presents challenges weekly. Even in zone coverage, corners must make split-second decisions and instinctive reactions every play.

It’s a fast-moving position, so athletic traits are placed at the forefront of the evaluation process. There aren’t any slow cornerbacks with poor change of direction in the NFL. The essential athletic skills for a cornerback to succeed are change of direction and fluidity.

Change of direction is relatively self-explanatory, but being able to flip your hips, turn, and stop/start fluidly while also being on balance and under control are skills that make a cornerback stand out on tape.

Oftentimes corners with long legs struggle because they’re “leggy” and rigid getting in and out of breaks, making them slower to close on the receiver. If a corner is fluid and can change directions, it makes them better equipped to stay with receivers as they cut and get in/out of breaks.

Just like play speed is a critical factor at wide receiver, it is too at the cornerback position. The reason speed is so heavily vetted amongst corners is because the ability to stay with a receiver vertically and run with them is a trait all teams covet, allowing them to better defend vertical passing attacks.

Most of the top-tier corners in the league have great explosiveness, allowing them to close on the ball quickly and arrive at the catch point to make a play on the ball. Once at the catch point, length, quick hands, proper body positioning, and concentration determines whether the corner can ultimately break up the pass.

Defending without committing pass interference or holding can be very challenging and is something all secondary coaches preach time and time again. Cornerbacks that are grabby and penalty-prone are hard to like on film, as it’s hard to expect them to ever grow out of those bad habits.

Some teams prioritize different physical traits depending on the scheme they play. The best example of this is Seattle placing emphasis on cornerbacks with size, length, and press coverage skills.

In press, a corner must be able to stay patient and square as the receiver releases off the line of scrimmage and also use their length to stymie the receiver and slow him down, allowing the pass rush more time to get home.

Some teams don’t play as much press, meaning their corners usually start the play with more depth. Playing with more depth places a greater emphasis on eye discipline and good instincts, being able to read the receiver properly, and recognizing how to put themselves in a beneficial position to make a play.

Jalen Ramsey is truly a rare player for many reasons, but one unique trait he possesses is his physicality, tackling, and overall run support value. Any cornerback that can play the run and tackle well is an asset against the run, in addition to the value, they bring to the passing game.

While playing outside corner and slot (or nickel) corner require many of the same traits, there is an emphasis on certain traits when evaluating nickels.

Nickels that stand out are the quick, twitchy players with quick feet and easy, smooth change of direction skills. Every year slot wide receivers are drafted who have game-changing shiftiness and quicks, making it all the more important to find a slot corner who can best mirror these skills and stay in phase throughout the route.

The routes that slot corners are asked to defend are typically shorter routes with more change of direction and movement, which is why their movement skills are placed at such a high priority.

What the Giants need to add:

In James Bradberry and Adoree' Jackson, the Giants have two starting-caliber corners for 2022. Dave Gettleman woefully overpaid for Jackson, who was cut by the Titans because he was due $8 million in 2021. Gettleman then subsequently signed Jackson to a 3-year, $39 million contract.

While he has solid coverage traits, this contract is something the new regime will probably look to get out of, most likely in the 2023 off-season.

Per OverTheCap, cutting him this off-season would cause an $18 million dead cap figure while only saving $3 million, so we might as well keep him for this year. With Aaron Robinson and Darnay Holmes set to compete for snaps at the nickel, New York has a good group on paper.

However, with Bradberry set to hit free agency in 2023, the Giants must have an eye toward the future at this position. You can never have enough quality corners in this league, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see the Giants spend a draft pick or two on another young corner; that way, they can adequately assess what they have on the roster in the way of potential replacements for Bradberry and Jackson after 2022. 

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