Chris Canty knows defense wins championships after he helped the 2011 New York Giants win a Super Bowl, so it’s worth listening when the former NFL defensive tackle names Big Blue’s current budding star on that side of the ball.
Speaking to his ESPN colleague Jordan Raanan on the “Breaking Big Blue” podcast, Canty called 2025 free-agent acquisition Jevon Holland a “budding star in this league at the safety position.”
When pressed by Raanan about Holland’s mediocre final season with the Miami Dolphins in 2024, Canty admitted that while he’s “not exactly sure what happened last year,” he still believes Holland has the “ball skills that you would want a DB in today’s game to have. I think he can be an impact player on all three levels. He’s shown the ability to be able to blitz and get after the quarterback. He’s not a liability in coverage like a lot of other safeties in this league have proven to be.”
Canty views Holland as a true “modern-day safety,” prompting Raanan to allude to a potential dynamic partnership with last season’s rookie find Tyler Nubin. Holland and Nubin will feast if the Giants can recreate the kind of deep and relentless pass-rush rotation Canty was part of at his title-winning peak.
Fortunately, the Giants have already signed up the key new arrival set to generate more pressure along a potentially dominant defensive line.
Jevon Holland Can Revive Career With Giants
Canty is a fan, but not everybody was positive about general manager Joe Schoen bringing Holland to the Giants. The critics pointed to Holland getting a deal worth $45.3 million, mere months after needing hand surgery and also dealing with knee problems in 2023.
Those are valid concerns, but Holland is a legitimate playmaker when fully healthy. He’s a “joker” a smart defensive coordinator can line up anywhere and ask to do multiple things.
The Dolphins asked Holland to do a lot, but he did his best work in coverage, grading “5th among all safeties since 2021,” per PFF NY Giants.
While he’s an asset in space, Holland can also impact games playing downhill, particularly on the blitz. The 25-year-old has blitzed 94 times, generating 16 pressures and five sacks, since entering the league as a second-round pick four years ago, according to Pro Football Reference.
Holland’s range will increase the looks Giants DC Shane Bowen gets to show offenses. The new arrival will also help promising youngsters like Nubin and an undrafted defensive MVP reach their full potential.
This trio will keep the defensive backfield strong, but the Giants are relying on some studs up front to power a marauding unit. Canty knows how well this can work.
Chris Canty Predicts Smothering Giants Front Four
When the Giants last won a Super Bowl, they did it behind an active line featuring Canty, Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul. This quartet did most of the damage, but rother linemen like nose tackle Linval Joseph and edge Mathias Kiwanuka helped establish a deep rotation.
Canty explained the value of such depth to Raanan: “When you’re giving max effort rushing the passer, you can get gassed. Two or three pass-rushes, after that, you’re not going to be the best version of yourself.”
Being able to “wear down offensive lines, being able to wear down opposing quarterbacks. When your pass rush can come at you in waves, I think it creates an advantage for the defense.”
Canty loves what today’s Giants are building up front. It starts with using the third-overall pick to select Abdul Carter in the 2025 NFL draft.
He’s a preternatural edge-rusher with awesome versatility, talents the Giants paid $45,255,180 to secure for the next four years on Thursday, May 22, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
#Giants No. 3 overall pick Abdul Carter has signed his 4-year, fully guaranteed contract worth $45,255,180, per agents Drew Rosenhaus, Robert Bailey and Jason Rosenhaus.
Carter joins bookend edge-rushers Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux, but Canty isn’t worried about the Giants finding reps for everyone, including free-agent arrival Chauncey Golston, another flexible defensive end.
Canty urged Raanan to “think about it in these terms, and it’s not apples to apples, but it’s a similar comparison. It’s like a lineup wearing down an opposing pitcher by putting together quality at bats. Yeah, everybody might not hit a home run, but if you get a bunch of pitches on that pitcher, eventually he’s gonna make a mistake and then somebody is going to capitalize. It’s the same thing with pass-rushing. If you can come at the opposing quarterback in waves, there’s a cumulative effect.”
The Giants will have no problem reviving what worked in Canty’s day with their new edge-rushers and imposing All-Pro nose tackle Dexter Lawrence II. They can boss the trenches and make it easier for Holland to thrive on the back end.
