Shane Bown must deliver better results in his second season as defensive coordinator for the New York Giants, but he won’t do it by relying on a star-studded group of pass-rushers, according to a Super Bowl champion.
Instead of leaning on dynamic edge defenders like 2025 third-overall draft pick Abdul Carter, Bowen should focus on getting creative in the secondary. That’s according to former NFL defensive back Jason McCourty, who lifted the Lombardi Trophy with the 2018 New England Patriots.
McCourty explained to NorthJersey.com’s Art Stapleton why the embarrassment of riches the Giants boast up front means Bowen needs a better a coverage plan. The 37-year-old told Stapleton, “If I was Shane Bowen and I had the front I have this year, with what I’ve added on the back end, the goal should be to make the quarterback hold the ball an extra second. Because if he does, we’re getting home and wrecking the game.”
It’s a good argument from somebody who knows what it takes to play championship defense. McCourty’s advice hits at the chicken and egg relationship between pressure and coverage, and which is more important.
The Giants have put the onus on pressure by compiling a fascinating array of roving disruptors along the front seven, but McCourty knows how the secondary can be just as interesting.
Giants Have Just as Many Moving Parts in the Secondary
Bowen’s stars are along the defensive line, but there’s no shortage of “joker” style hybrid talents on the back end. Those talents include marquee safety Jevon Holland, a high-priced free agent general manager Joe Schoen defied the critics to acquire.
Holland has a flair for the big play, while second-year slot cornerback Dru Phillips brings some brute force to his coverage matchups. McCourty described how the Giants could use both players in a devious scheme to fool quarterbacks.
Here’s how it would work: “Say Dru Phillips is our nickel, we have what it looks like to be a single high set with Jevon Holland standing in the middle of the field at safety and you have Phillips down on the slot receiver. But at the snap of the ball, Dru runs out to the middle part of the field and Jevon shifts. Basically, we have the nickel and the safety switch roles, Dru is the safety and Jevon is the nickel, and it’s still Cover 2 for us. For a quarterback, you see single-high safety before the snap and at the snap of the ball it changes. Looks like a complex scheme, but for us, it’s just simply Cover 2.”
This is the kind of sly, post-snap shift McCourty ran in New England. Most famously, when his designed post-snap adjustment surprised Jared Goff, Brandin Cooks and the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl 53, per NFL Films Turning Point (h/t ESPN’s Mike Reiss).
Great insight from NFL “Turning Point” show on how Jason McCourty’s TD-saving play in Super Bowl LIII was a result, in part, of an in-game adjustment from a prior play that wasn’t covered well.
These kinds of rotations are all part of the “disguise and creativity” blueprint McCourty thinks the Giants should follow in coverage: “Can my guys in the secondary shift and move after the snap? So when the quarterback gets the ball and looks up, the picture is changed and he has to get from what he thought was his first read to his second and third reads. That gives my guys an extra half-second to get home, and if the Giants get that, there are going to be problems for everyone they play.”
McCourty has mapped out a more subtle and sophisticated way for the Giants to defend the pass. More than the simple, passive zone shells Bowen often favored in 2024, and more than the man-heavy coverage his predecessor Don ‘Wink’ Martindale called behind relentless blitzing.
The Giants can put the McCourty plan into action, provided things settle at cornerback. Former first-round pick Deonte Banks has admitted to inconsistent effort, while new arrival Paulson Adebo has shutdown traits, but he’s struggled to stay healthy.
Unheralded third-year pro Cor’Dale Flott is vying for starting reps ahead of Banks, but the Giants need more from every member of the depth chart. Even with that something extra, those flexible pass-rushers will still earn most of the headlines.
Pass Rush Will Get All the Attention
No matter what happens in the secondary, all eyes will be on the Giants’ edge-rushers for good reason. Carter is a preternatural athlete who is a demon rushing the passer and can also make plays from anywhere on the field.
Bowen’s plan for unleashing the former Penn State stud will be a nightmare for offenses. So will a new strategy for Carter’s fellow edge defender Brian Burns, a gifted veteran who can improve on a solid first season with the Giants.
Burns, Carter, rush end Kayvon Thibodeaux and All-Pro nose tackle Dexter Lawrence II have the star power to generate highlights and headlines, but Bowen’s secondary needs to be just as versatile to ensure all that pressure doesn’t go to waste.
