New York Giants defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson was one of the first in what became a rather surprising personnel swap between the Tennessee Titans and the Giants. His history with the Titans led to some trepidation when the Giants hired him back in January. That, however, was mitigated by the fact that Wilson coached under John Harbaugh and Super Bowl champion head coach (and former Ravens’ DC) Mike MacDonald in Baltimore.
The hope, and belief, is that Wilson simply didn’t have the talent available at Tennessee to execute what’s becoming known as the “Baltimore 2.0” defense he learned from MacDonald. Likewise, the belief is that the Giants are more talented than their record reflects and he’ll be able to fully implement his vision for that scheme in New York.
And Wilson outlined his vision for that defense on Tuesday.
‘Unpredictable. Dynamic. Decisive. Unapologetic.’
That sums up the four tenets of what Wilson believes in defensively.
“In terms of the structure and where we play, we’re going to be unpredictable,” Wilson said. “We’re going to be unpredictable on how we line up and what we do. We’re going to be dynamic because we have dynamic players, and it’s our job to put those dynamic players in the greatest positions to have success.”
He added that his vision for the defense will be both detail oriented and aggressively physical.
“We’re going to be decisive on what we do and how we do it,” he said. “We’re going to game plan. We’re going to have detailed and educated pressures. And then we’re going to be unapologetic in our approach. Those are the four things that we’re going to do.
“And the unapologetic part of our approach is we’re going to be playing nasty. We’re going to play physical. We’re going to play violent. We’re going to live on the edge and play on the edge, but we’re not going to hurt the team. We’re going to be suffocating to the point that we impose our wills on people. And the players are going to buy into that mindset, and it all starts from a mindset. We’re going to play the New York football brand of football, and that’s violent defense.”
Wilson bringing up unpredictability and and dynamism is an interesting — and promising — starting point. The Giants’ defense was too easily diagnosed over the last two years, while the roster was built for (former Ravens’ DC) Wink Martindale’s aggressive blitzing attack.
The importance of Brian Burns, Abdul Carter
“First of all, both of the young men [Brian Burns and Abdul Carter], they love football,” Wilson said. “They are a problem in terms of the pass rush, it’s hard for people to block them.
“Why? They’re explosive off the ball. They can win on the edge. They have length that they can play underneath the guys, and they have numerous tools in their tool bag. Once you overplay them, they can counter. I love the energy, the effort.
Wilson then circled back to the versatility and dynamic aspects of the defense, and how Burns and Carter will be key to those facets.
“These guys can do it all,” he said. “Plus, they add the versatility. You can move them around. Last year, and even in Penn State, especially with Abdul, you can move him off the ball. He can be the spinner on third downs. You can add a fifth rusher. There’s numerous things you can do with both of the guys, and both of them are smart football players.
“They have a good grasp of conceptual defense. I can’t wait to see what they do extremely well up close in person, and then we’ll build a defense ultimately around the players that we have. We have a scheme, but these two guys are premier players within a scheme that we want to have a lot of success, so we have to put them in positions to have success.”
‘You got to have a very good middle linebacker’
The Giants think they signed one in free agency, adding Tremaine Edmunds.
“I think you got to have a very good middle linebacker or very good linebackers in order to play this game,” Wilson said. “Whether it’s in a pass game or stopping a run. And one of our big objectives this year is to stop the run.
“But when you watch Tremaine play, first of all, he’s a 6’4 guy with length. When he comes downhill, he presses and separates. He’s making a lot of plays at the line of scrimmage. He’s an athletic guy that can run the ball down sideline to sideline. He plays with a high motor.”
Wilson also spoke about how Edmunds could help defend the middle of the field, an area which MacDonald’s Seattle and Baltimore defenses excelled in taking away from the offense.
“He can defend in the middle of the defense, especially in a pass game, especially with what we do,” Wilson said. The Mike Linebacker plays between the hashes a lot. And then he can get in windows.
“So I’m excited for the opportunity. He’s a smart, intelligent young man and he’s still young. He’s been in the league for a extended period of time, but he’s still young, and he still has room to grow. And I can’t wait to see the product.”
‘We’re going to be multiple’
While Wilson spoke at length about the play up front, his background is in the defensive secondary. And perhaps two of the Giants’ most important “under the radar” hires may be cornerbacks coach Addison Lynch and defensive passing coordinator and secondary coach Donald D’Alesio. Lynch coached cornerbacks under Vance Joseph for the Denver Broncos, while D’Alesio coached the Kansas City Chiefs’ secondary for Steve Spagnuolo. Both teams feature aggressive and sound secondaries.
“Mike [MacDonald] had a collaborative approach. You know, I was fortunate enough to go to Baltimore for a year. Mike, his superpower is listening,” Wilson said. “He listens to his coaches, but he has a direction in which he wants to go. If you watch Seattle play, you know, they played, they won up front. They had a very good secondary.”
One of the hallmarks of MacDonald’s “Baltimore 2.0” defense is sophisticated and aggressive “Pattern Matching” rules that often result in corners being in very tight coverage on the outside. That approach to defense has obviously influenced Wilson.
“Their secondary played in sync, in unison,” Wilson said. “Up front, they were able to dominate, and they were able to play the run with less guys in the box. And when you do that, and you can play some split-safety defense and have seven guys in the box, and you try to minimize the explosive perimeter runs and explosive plays down the field in the pass game, and you have the guys that can avalanche the pocket, okay, when teams get in drop-back situations and win one-on-one, and you’re pressing and you’re playing physical outside, there’s no longer a fraction of time for the quarterback to sit back there and pat the ball. We’re trying to go in that direction, but we’re going to be multiple in what we do.”
‘Clean slate’ for Deonte Banks
How the Giants’ defense plays could be a function of their secondary. That, in turn, could depend on the battle across from Paulson Adebo for the second starting cornerback position. Giants’ 2023 first round pick is competing with free agent acquisition (and 2021 first rounder) Greg Newsome II for the starting job.
“You’ve got to know and put them in the best positions and call the right things to allow them to play as fast as they need to play,” Wilson said. “It’s going to be competition at the position, just like everywhere else. I think competitiveness and competition make your team better.
“I know [Deonte] Banks, I remember evaluating him coming out,” he added. “Obviously, he’s a Maryland Terp, and I’m a Maryland Terp, so I had just a little bit of background with him.
“He’s a talented player. He’s big. He can run. He brings an element of physicality, but he’s had an up-and-down career thus far.”
Wilson wouldn’t handicap the competition, but was clear that he appreciates Banks’ athletic profile and was clear that the benched former starter is getting a clean slate with the new coaching staff.
“So for us, he’s coming in with a clean slate, and that’s everybody on his defense. No matter what has been done in the past, where they were drafted, how they were acquired, we’re coming in here as a clean slate, and we’re trying to evaluate the players and see what they do well, and we’re trying to teach them our way in football,” Wilson said.
“I think we have two great DB coaches in Donald and Addison that does an excellent job in teaching DB play,” Wilson said, circling back to Banks. “Footwork technique, eyes, and I think it’s going to be beneficial to all of them. They’ll have the opportunity to go out there and get better. We’re going to put things on its plate.
“We’re going to try to make things as simple as they can be in terms of conceptual teaching, and that’s for everybody. I was raised, and my dad always told me, keep it simple. And we have ways to kind of simplify things to make it all fit, no matter what the call or the structure is.
“So we’re going to give them all the opportunity, and we’re going to see what they all can pick up and how they grasp it, and the best guys are going to [ultimately] play.”
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