James Bradberry Named PFF's Week 2 Defensive Player of the Week

Pro Football Focus has crowned James Bradberry as the highest-graded defensive player in Week 2.

Giants veteran cornerback James Bradberry was named Pro Football Focus' Defensive Player of the Week for his Week 2 performance against the Chicago Bears.

Bradberry hauled in his first interception as a Giant and held Bears wide receiver Allen Robinson to just three receptions for 33 yards. Here is what else PFF had to say in naming the Giants No. 1 cornerback as its defensive POTW and to its Week 2 Team of the Week:

Bradberry had the best game of his five-year NFL career on Sunday against the Bears en route to a 93.1 coverage grade. On his 33 coverage snaps, Bradberry saw six targets come his way and allowed just one catch for 14 yards while intercepting one and breaking up another three. He shadowed Chicago’s WR1 Allen Robinson II and effectively shut him down (all of the production above came against Robinson). I wouldn’t really bank on Bradberry sustaining this lockdown play, as he has had one game similar to this one in each season of his career, but it’s still an impressive performance and the easy winner of the Week 2 PFF Defensive MVP.

Bradberry's PFF grade of 91.6 is the best single-game grade of his career. He was targeted six times and only allowed one catch for 14 yards. Not only did he have an interception of his own, but one of his three pass deflections helped create the Giants' other interception to safety Julian Love. 

Bradberry signed a three-year $45 million contract with the Giants this offseason, played all 65 snaps for the Giants on Sunday, making several critical plays on third down. 

He holds the league's highest forced incompletion percentage at 39%, tied with Jacksonville's C.J. Henderson.

With all the questions surrounding the Giants' secondary heading into the season, Bradberry's presence has been arguably among the most important on the team and one of the better signings of general manager Dave Gettleman's tenure. 

Gettleman originally drafted Bradberry during his time as the Carolina Panthers general manager. As the Panthers' No. 1 cornerback from 2017-19, Bradberry typically drew the assignment to guard the opponent's best receiver on the opposing team. 

And in the NFC South, that means guarding the best receivers in the league twice a year, like Michael Thomas (Saints), Mike Evans (Bucs), and Julio Jones (Falcons).

That level of competition seems to have sharpened Bradberry's ability as a corner and has made matchups with the likes of Robinson seem routine. 

The Giants will be looking to lean heavily on Bradberry as a defensive centerpiece throughout the season. His history suggests they will be able to count on him to take the field just as much as they can count on him to play at a high level, considering Bradberry has now started 62 of 66 games in his career.