One of the many competitions set to take place at New York Giants training camp this summer will occur at nickel corner, where cornerbacks Darnay Holmes and Cor’Dale Flott are set to square off.
During OTAs and minicamp, the pair rotated at the position with the first team, setting up what should be an interesting battle when training camp begins on July 26.
“It’s an open competition, but I’ll just let that be when I get on the field,” Flott said to Ryan Dunleavy of the New Post recently. “I got a little taste of everything. The transition helped me be able to attack the nickel but not be too surprised if I have to move out there again.”
Flott, who was billed as versatile coming out of LSU, indeed saw a little bit of everything in his rookie season, with the third-round pick seeing time outside, in the slot, and even in the box during his rookie campaign.
However, he worked mostly on the perimeter with the team in need of bodies on the outside due to injury. Flott also dealt with injury, missing six games.
A 2020 fourth-round pick of the Giants, Holmes was the team’s top slot cornerback last season, appearing in a career-high 15 games. Like Flott, Holmes is well aware of what’s in front of him.
“It’s a battle each year for me,” Holmes said. “It’s always an opportunity to present myself to be one of the 32 best nickels [in the NFL]. I’m never a guy who shies away from competition, so I’m excited. We’re ready to get each other better and do what’s best for the team.”
As far as what he’s tried to improve this offseason, Flott, who looks bigger this offseason, mentioned his tackling and how “gaining a little extra” will help.
“Mostly my tackling — and that just comes with body composition and gaining a little extra,” Flott said. “With my quickness and my length, there aren’t too many 6-foot-2 people that move like a shifty guy, so I take pride in that and I’m ready to play it.”
Meanwhile, among Holmes’ offseason focuses was being better with his hands in order to avoid committing penalties.
“I want to be penalty-free — not as handsy,” Holmes explained. “People don’t understand nickel is a profound position and you can’t really focus on what the critics are saying. There are things my coach wanted me to work on, things I knew I needed to work on, and once I heard from their mouth that it was something I was already crafting on, I had peace with the situation.”
Also expected to be in the mix for the slot corner job is second-year corner, Zyon Gilbert, but make no mistake: this is very much a two-man race between Flott and Holmes.
