10 things to watch on Monday Night Football

We are only seven games into the season, but the Giants taking Dru Phillips in the third round of this year’s draft already appears to be a steal. The slot cornerback is coming off yet another strong outing in last week’s loss to the Eagles. Phillips registered two tackles for loss while allowing just one reception for negative two yards in coverage, despite being matched up against either DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown for most of the game.

Phillips has had success in coverage throughout the entire season. The 22-year-old left the Week 3 win over the Browns early and missed the following week against the Cowboys. In his 5+ games, the slot corner has surrendered only 11 receptions for 46 yards on 114 coverage snaps, with the highest yardage total he has given up in a game this season being 14 yards. This has helped him earn a passer rating against of 76.0, while also landing at No. 4 on PFF’s ranking of this year’s top rookies.

Phillips isn’t the only rookie defensive back to get his NFL career off to a strong start. Seven games into the season, Tyler Nubin leads the Giants with 48 total tackles, the most among all rookies across the league. He has also added two tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. The rookie safety has recorded nine total tackles in each of the last three games, which led the team in each of those games, while his eight total tackles in Week 4 tied for the team-lead.

Nubin has been on the field for 254 coverage snaps so far this season, and according to PFF, the 23-year-old has surrendered just 10 receptions for 88 yards across the seven games. In last week’s loss to the Eagles, he allowed only one reception for five yards. While his coverage has been good, his tackling has been even better, as Nubin has missed just 4.2 percent of the tackles he’s attempted. This has helped him join Phillips and Nabers on PFF’s ranking of the top 15 rookies across the league.

Malik Nabers returned to the field last Sunday. The rookie wide receiver finished with four receptions for 41 yards, both of which were the lowest of his young NFL career. However, Nabers was on the field for 93 percent of the team’s offensive snaps, an encouraging sign after the 21-year-old missed the last two games due to a concussion. Overall, his 2.25 yards per route run this year ranks 13^th among qualifying wide receivers.

“We’ve just got to stay on track and communicate,” Nabers said Friday about the offense. “Like I said, stay off of third downs, create some explosives and help our defense hold them down. Our defense has been doing a great job. So, when we get back out on the field, we’ve got to give our defense a break. We’ve got to stay on the field a little bit longer instead of going three and out.”

Nabers is likely to see a lot of Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. on Monday night. It’s been an up and down season for the second-year corner, as he has surrendered 17 receptions for 218 yards and a touchdown thus far this season, according to Pro Football Focus. However, in last week’s matchup against the Jets, Porter did a great job against Garrett Wilson and Davante Adams. Across 40 coverage snaps, Porter was targeted three times as the nearest defender in coverage and allowed just one reception for nine yards, according to Next Gen Stats.

“They’ve got a pretty good defense,” said the rookie wideout. “They have T.J. Watt on the outside, he’s going to wreak havoc. They’ve got some good corners, long corners. They have a good guy in the secondary at the top, safety. They’ve got a lot of guys on their defense.”

Nabers added, “They create turnovers well. They punch the ball out well. They’re very energetic. They fly around.”

Coach Brian Daboll told the media Thursday that the coaching staff would use the full week of practices before making a final determination about the starting offensive line for Monday night. However, he did mention Josh Ezeudu would get the first practice reps at left tackle, so for the sake of this piece, let’s assume the Giants will use the same starting line as last week, which would make Jermaine Eluemunor a key player to watch.

Heading into Week 8, the veteran tackle has been credited with just one sack allowed on the season. Eluemunor has been on the field for every offensive snap this year, totaling 474 offensive snaps and 304 pass block snaps, both of which rank second in the league among offensive tackles. The 29-year-old missed Friday’s practice due to a groin injury, and although Daboll said he’s “hopeful” Eluemunor will be able to play, his situation will need to be monitored. But if he is out there on the field Monday night, Eluemunor would face what could be his toughest test to date.

If he’s is out there at right tackle, then Eluemunor will be matched up against All-Pro edge rusher T.J. Watt for essentially the entire game, as the former Defensive Player of the Year almost exclusively lines up across the right tackle. Watt has 4.5 sacks and 12 quarterback hits on the season with three forced fumbles. The 30-year-old has led the NFL in sacks three different seasons, including last year when he racked up 19.5 sacks.

“You watch his tape and all the turnovers that he has and the style that he plays with,” coach Brian Daboll said about Watt. “I mean, he’s one of the best players in the league. He creates issues in the run game. He creates issues in the pass game. He bats balls down. He jumps up and intercepts balls that you’d never think you could be intercepted. He’s got hustle, chase. He’s a dynamic football player. He’s one of the better defensive players in the league. He’s a problem.”

*Malik Nabers needs one catch in Week 8 to become the third player in the Super Bowl era with 40+ receptions in his first six career games. He would join Puka Nacua (50 receptions, 2023) and Saquon Barkley (40 receptions, 2018).

*Pittsburgh’s .679 winning percentage on Monday Night Football is the highest in the NFL (minimum 50 games).

*Wan’Dale Robinson is one of five players with five or more catches in six or more games this season. Robinson has five or more catches in eight of his past nine games & aims for his sixth game in row with at least five receptions.

*Brian Burns has a sack in four of his past five games, while Azeez Ojulari has at least one sack in back-to-back games and a total of three over the last two weeks.

*Tyler Nubin leads all rookies in total tackles.