Julian Love’s first season in the NFL with the New York Giants didn’t go quite as planned. The fourth round defensive back out of Notre Dame, who many draft analysts labeled a ‘steal’ at the draft, couldn’t get on the field in 2019.
The Giants did not know what to do with Love, who isn’t quick enough to play on the outside and didn’t distinguish himself to the degree where they could play him inside.
It wasn’t until safety Jabrill Peppers fractured bone in his back in late November did the coaches decide to turn to Love. He started the final five games of the season at strong safety (and various other positions). His nine-tackle performance against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 17 was his strongest of the year.
That finish on a high note has led some believe that Love is an ascending player. Pro Football Focus expects Love to make a significant ‘jump’ in 2020.
S JULIAN LOVE, NEW YORK GIANTS
At Notre Dame, Love played the vast majority of his snaps at wide cornerback, and he played well there, too, earning a 92.6 coverage grade across the 2017 and 2018 seasons. His transition to the NFL came with a position change, though, as the Giants asked Love to play safety as a rookie. This season, he split his time between playing in the box (176 snaps), slot corner (129 snaps) and even a little bit of free safety (77 snaps). As the table of his snaps by alignment below shows, that was new territory for the rookie.
Love didn’t see significant playing time until Week 12, but he made a good first impression to close out his rookie season by earning an overall grade of 70.5. The versatility to play safety, slot corner and wide corner — like he showed he was able to in college — serves the Giants well as they head into 2020. At the very least, Love showed that he deserves more playing time next season.
The Giants have brand new coaching staff with a new defensive coordinator in Patrick Graham and a new defensive backs coach in veteran Jerome Henderson, but Love figures to be a key in 2020 no matter who the coaches are.
