The Giants added a young starting cornerback, but how does he fit?
The New York Giants didn’t wait long to make their first move in the 2025 NFL Free Agency period.
It was announced early Monday afternoon that the Giants have agreed to terms with cornerback Paulson Adebo, now formerly of the New Orleans Saints.
Now that he’s a Giant, or at least will be once the contract is able to be signed, how does Adebo fit into the Giants’ defense?
How it could look
We’ll start with alignment, and Adebo is a natural fit with Deonte Banks. While Banks was asked to travel with receivers at times over the course of the 2024 season, he started 11 of his 14 games at right cornerback. Adebo, meanwhile, has been a left cornerback since his time at Stanford.
Adding Adebo allows the Giants to have two young and athletic defenders who can play their natural positions.
The Saints played a relatively even split between Cover 1 (29.5%), Cover 2 (22.1%), and Cover 3 (24.2%) last year. The Giants matched the Saints in Cover 1 usage at 28.3%, but played almost as much Cover 3 (41%) as the Saints played Cover 2 and 3 combined.
The two teams played an almost identical amount of Cover 4, with the Saints at 14.7% of their defensive snaps and the Giants at 14.9%.
The signing of Adebo could be a bit of a tell that the Giants are looking to incorporate more Middle Of Field Open looks in their scheme in 2025.
Banks has historically been a better man coverage corner than a zone corner, though he was Top 5 in separation allowed last year, as well as Top 10 in forcing tight window throws.
Adebo’s athleticism and versatility gives defensive coordinator Shane Bowen the flexibility to play man or zone, as well as disguise his coverages. On that note, the Saints disguised their coverages at a much higher rate than the Giants, 33.1 percent of defensive snaps to 26.3 percent.
Adebo’s impact
If Banks is able to improve his play at the catch point, it will force quarterbacks to test Adebo rather than challenge tight windows against a big and freakishly athletic corner in Banks.
That’s familiar territory for Adebo, as he spent the last two years across from Marshawn Lattimore. Per Sports Info Solutions, Adebo was the most targeted corner in the NFL (before his season-ending injury). Yet he was the top corner in the NFL in terms of EPA allowed per target.
A big reason for that is his aggressiveness and ball skills. Adebo is a HIGHLY aggressive cornerback who excels at taking the ball away from opposing offenses. He has been Top 10 in interceptions since winning the starting job and having a year in 2023. Adebo was fifth in the NFL with 4 interceptions in 2023 and then finished the year eighth in interceptions with 3 in just seven games in 2024.
The Giants’ defensive line exerted a considerable amount of pressure on opposing quarterbacks last year. They finished 13th in pass rush win rate (41%), ninth in total sacks (45), and were fifth in sack rate (8.21%). Those numbers were with Dexter Lawrence II and Kayvon Thibodeaux each missing five games.
Better play at the catch point by Banks and the Giants’ defensive front applying pressure could put Adebo in position to generate turnovers at a very high rate.
What’s next?
The Giants still have work to do, but adding Adebo shores up one of their biggest weaknesses. By adding a young and athletic starter, the Giants also take “cornerback” off their list of needs to potentially be addressed in the draft. They aren’t done yet, and still need to address their defensive front depth, as well as that of their offensive line. And then, of course, is the looming quarterback question.
The Giants will need to get their offense functional if they want their defensive investments to pay off, and that starts at the quarterback position.
But this could be the first step in shoring up the roster, and dealing with the opportunity cost of potentially trading up for a long-term answer at quarterback.
