Giants select Tyler Nubin with second-round NFL draft pick to address major safety need

The second round turned out to be the right spot for the Giants to address a major need Friday night as they selected safety Tyler Nubin from Minnesota with the No. 47 pick in the NFL draft.

It came as no surprise that the Giants addressed a spot where they needed help in their defensive backfield, that it was a safety, and not a cornerback, was interesting. 

Nubin was considered the top safety in this class, a three-year starter for the Golden Gophers who has ideal size, range and ball-hawking ability — he had five interceptions in 2023.

The Giants did not re-sign Xavier McKinney, who played every snap on defense last season, and so clearly that was a position that required a replacement. 

McKinney signed with the Packers.

McKinney was a second-round draft pick, and now the Giants used another second-round pick on a safety.

Perhaps the Giants were targeting a cornerback but a run on that position took several top corner prospects off the board.

Only three cornerbacks were taken in the first round and the run at that position in the second round started at pick No. 40, when the Eagles traded up to get Cooper DeJean from Iowa.

At 41, the Saints traded up for Kool-Aid McKinstry (Alabama).

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At 42, the Texans made it three straight corners, selecting Kamari Lassiter from Georgia and the Cardinals made it four in a row with Max Melton from Rutgers.

The Giants saw all this and went with a safety.

This pick, No. 47 overall, was the one the Giants acquired in the trade with the Seahawks that sent defensive tackle Leonard Williams to Seattle. 

The Giants’ own pick in the second round, No, 39, was shipped to the Panthers in the Brian Burns trade. 

The Panthers, on the clock, traded that pick to the Rams.