Replacing Xavier McKinney won’t be easy for the New York Giants, but versatile veteran Julian Blackmon is a natural fit because of his ability to be a playmaking safety at various levels of a defense.
Blackmon is seen as a good fit for the Giants, who are in need of help at the position left by McKinney’s departure, according to The 33rd Team’s Dan Pizzuta. McKinney’s flexibility and performance will be missed after he signed a four-year contract worth $68 million with the Green Bay Packers.
McKinney got top-tier safety money to leave the Giants, who can’t afford a like-for-like replacement. Fortunately, Pizzuta explained why Blackmon would be a late bargain in 2024 NFL free agency: “Given the current safety market, he wouldn't be expensive and could easily outperform whatever deal he gets because of his versatility.”
A team-friendly deal should be attractive to Giants’ general manager Joe Schoen, who still has $8,793,700 of cap space remaining, per Spotrac.com. Schoen has already added former Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots defensive back Jalen Mills, and despite his ability to play cornerback and safety, he may not have the same impact as Blackmon.
Julian Blackmon Has the Range Giants Require at Safety
What the Giants need to adequately replace McKinney is a true safety who can be an asset close to the line of scrimmage and in deep coverage. Blackmon fits the bill having “spent his first two seasons as a single-high safety in the Indianapolis Colts’ defense. He then played the slot 41 percent of the time in 2022 and moved back deep but played more split safety in 2023,” according to Pizzuta.
That level of flexibility should appeal to new Giants’ defensive coordinator Shane Bowen. He prefers Patriots-style, team-specific gameplans, so Bowen would enjoy moving Blackmon across formations to disguise coverage and pressure, as well as create matchups against opponents’ best weapons.
Bowen is likely to call a less riskier scheme than this blitz-happy predecessor Don ‘Wink’ Martindale. That might mean a lot of two-deep coverage, a zone shell in which Blackmon excels thanks to his ability to read quarterbacks and track the football.
It’s what he did for this interception of Deshaun Watson against the Cleveland Browns in Week 7.
Blackmon’s ball-hawk skills would replace McKinney’s nose for the football. The latter snatched three interceptions during 17 starts at free safety in 2023.
The 24-year-old also made himself a factor in the box, but Blackmon has developed his game in the same area in recent years.
Giants Need Box Safety to Help Replace Xavier McKinney
Blackmon’s improvements as a box safety have been detailed by Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus: “Almost half of his snaps were down in the box in 2023. Blackmon appears to be a better fit near the line of scrimmage due to his average recovery speed, but his plus lateral movement and solid ball skills from his days as a cornerback show up more often when closer to the line of scrimmage. Blackmon’s 30 defensive stops in 2023 were more than his career total before this season, and he missed a career-low 7.4% of tackle opportunities.”
A safety who can help stop the opponent's running game would be valuable for the Giants’ defense that allowed 4.7 yards per carry last season and 5.2 yards a rush in 2022. Blackmon isn’t the largest safety at 6 feet and 202 pounds, but the 25-year-old isn’t afraid to challenge some of the league’s most powerful running backs.
He did so to tackle bruising Derrick Henry for a loss against the Tennessee Titans in 2020, on a play highlighted by ESPN’s Matt Bowen.
As Spielberger pointed out, Blackmon rarely missed tackles last season. He also became more involved in pressure packages, blitzing 18 times, according to Pro Football Reference. Safety blitz was a significant strategy for the Giants last season, when McKinney was sent on the rush 42 times.
Replacing McKinney with Blackmon and teaming the newcomer with Jason Pinnock would give the Giants two adaptable safeties capable of thwarting offenses in various ways. It’s a good move for Schoen to offer Blackmon a contract to establish that partnership.
