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New York Giants Defender Seems to Have Lost His Starting Job
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- New York Giants Defender Seems to Have Lost His Starting Job
(Amber Searls-Imagn Images)
The New York Giants ' defense has definitely been a bit inconsistent through five games this season. At times, the unit has looked tremendous, but then there have been stretches where it has looked like Swiss cheese.
At the very least, the Giants have largely gotten stops when they've needed them, which is why they're sitting at 3-1-1 and at the top of the NFC East heading into Week 6.
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However, one New York defender seems to have lost his grip on his starting job: safety Tyler Nubin .
Dan Duggan of The Athletic has reported that if Jason Pinnock — who missed last Sunday due to a concussion — is back against the New Orleans Saints this weekend, he appears to be on track to supplant Nubin in the secondary.
This should not come as much of a surprise to anyone.
Nubin was on very shaky ground heading into the campaign after a couple of very disappointing seasons to begin his NFL career.
A second-round pick back in 2024, the hope was that Nubin could compensate for the loss of Xavier McKinney. And given the Giants' rich history of drafting good safeties (Kenny Phillips, Landon Collins and McKinney, just to name a few), there was hope that Nubin could slide right in and perform.
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Obviously, that has not been the case, and when New York signed both Pinnock and Ar'Darius Washington in free agency, the writing was on the wall for Nubin.
Nubin actually played a very strong game in the season opener against the Dallas Cowboys, but since then, his stock has plummeted.
The 25-year-old owns an atrocious overall grade of 46.2 at Pro Football Focus and a 45.9 coverage grade, both the worst of his career to date.
Jevon Holland has certainly helped mask Nubin's deficiencies thus far in 2026, and Deonte Banks' breakout has also helped hide the struggling safety.
But the Giants can't compensate for Nubin much longer.
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Pinnock is now in his second stint with New York and was passable throughout much of his first go-around with the ballclub between 2022 and 2024, but he still won't be anyone's favorite option at the position.
I'm actually more curious to see what Washington could do in a starting role, although The Giants seem to like his versatility a bit too much to pin him down into one position.
Regardless, it appears we may have seen the last of Nubin as a starter for Big Blue.
