The New York Giants released the first pass of their 53-man roster on Tuesday and it contains just three safeties. That seems like an odd choice considering new defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s scheme relies so heavily on the safety position.
Xavier McKinney, Julian Love and rookie Dane Belton are the three players the Giants are going to ride with at safety to begin the season. That is, if they don’t add one between now and their season opener in Tennessee on September 11.
McKinney and Love were both named captains by their teammates on Tuesday.
“It means a lot,” said McKinney, a 2020 second-round draft pick. “It’s obviously an honor to be voted by my teammates, the guys that I go to work for every day, the guys that I grind with every day. It’s always meant a lot to me to become a captain. It says a lot about what my teammates think about me as a person and as a player. It’s honoring, I’m happy, but I’ve got to keep going and keep getting better each day.”
Love has gone through a gauntlet of roles since joining the team in 2019 as a fourth round draft pick out of Notre Dame. He has progressively worn his way into the fabric of this Giants’ team with his versatility.
“I’m not going to lie it means an awful lot to me,” said Love. “I’ve never been a captain in my entire life, and to do it for the Giants of all places at the highest level, it’s hard not to get emotional about it. It’s often that I feel like people have always wanted me to be more outspoken, wanted me to be the rah-rah guy, wanted me to be the muscle-head, all that stuff. But this team has appreciated me for staying true to myself. So, I’m extremely grateful.”
Belton, a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft, has been out with a collarbone injury but is expected to be ready for the season opener. McKinney has drawn him close from the day he arrived.
“I said this a little while back — I put him under my wing, I treated him like a little brother when he came in just making sure that he was getting ahead of the game before we even started everything,” McKinney said. “We trained out in Tampa, me, him and (Aaron Robinson). We trained and we watched film together.
“He’s done a great job of just coming in and preparing, asking questions. We’ve all been able to work off each other. It’s been fun having him. I think he’s a very smart player, a really good person, and he’s just continuing to improve and help us out in the DB room.”
