Giants Now: PFF’s Sam Monson tabs Tyler Nubin as ‘great value pick’

PFF’s Sam Monson tabs Tyler Nubin as ‘great value pick’

The Giants received high marks from members of the media for their six-person draft class.

While there are reasons to be excited for each player in the draft class, today we’re going to focus on second-round pick Tyler Nubin.

Pro Football Focus’ Sam Monson recently appeared on NFL Network, where he broke down some of the top value picks of the draft. Included on his list was the Giants’ selection of the Minnesota safety with the No. 47 pick.

“Tyler Nubin, the only reason he’s not a first-round player is his 40-time,” Monson told NFL Network. “I think if this guy ran a 4.4 flat, we would be talking about him as a first-round player because the production, the grading, is there. An 89.2 PFF grade last season, a grade above 90 in coverage. He hits extremely hard, he’s usually in the right position at the right time, has incredible eyes when it comes to balancing looking at the quarterback and looking at the routes developing, as well. He’s a fantastic player who slipped into the second round simply because he doesn’t run as fast as NFL teams would like him to.”

Nubin played in 55 games for Minnesota and set a program-record with his 13 interceptions, including 12 across the last three years, and also registered over 50 total tackles in each of the last three seasons.

PFF awarded Nubin a 90.1 coverage grade in 2023, which was the highest mark among all Power Five safeties. He also held opposing quarterbacks to a 39.6 passer rating last season.

The 6-foot-1, 199-pound safety was named Second-Team All-American and First-Team All-Big Ten for his 2023 performance. His five interceptions that season were tied for the sixth-most in the FBS.

“Tyler Nubin was the top-ranked safety on PFF’s big board (31st overall), coming off three consecutive seasons with a PFF grade of at least 70.0 on 500-plus defensive snaps,” PFF’s Ben Linsey wrote over the weekend. “He should fit well in Shane Bowen’s new defense, which will allow him to move around in different roles. Safety was a clear area of need after Xavier McKinney departed in free agency, and bringing in Nubin here is a reasonable way to address that.”

The selection of Nubin in the second round and cornerback Dru Phillips in the third led to Linsey naming the Giants’ secondary as one of the league’s most improved units from the draft.