NFL analyst surprisingly bullish on breakout for New York Giants defender | Sporting News

New York Giants cornerback Cor’Dale Flott isn’t a household name, but he’ll have the chance to make that happen in 2024.

The former third-round pick will get the first crack at the starting boundary role opposite Deonte Banks when the team arrives for training camp in two weeks — a pretty significant development for his career.

It’s pretty much unknown how Flott will fare in switching from the slot to the boundary in the defense brought over by new defensive coordinator Shane Bowen.

So it was a bit of a surprise to see Flott’s name on the 2024 All-Breakout Team from Josh Edwards of CBS Sports.

Flott would have been a member of my better than team coming into the draft had I written one, so there is some bias at play here. The reality is that a slot cornerback was needed for this team and the honorable mention cornerbacks and safety profiled more in other roles. Flott is worth a flier as he takes on an expanded role.

There is a lot riding on Flott working as the starting boundary cornerback. The Giants didn’t make any major additions to the cornerback room outside of draft Andru Phillips in the third round.

However, the Giants have made it clear they want Phillips to begin working as the nickel defender to begin his career.

According to Pro Football Focus, Flott had nearly equal snaps in man and zone coverage in 2023. He fared better in man coverage, allowing a 69.5 passer rating on 23 targets compared to a 99.6 passer rating on 28 targets in zone.

Bowen’s scheme will feature much more zone coverage than Wink Martindale’s did, and Flott only played 45 snaps as a boundary cornerback, according to PFF.

We’ll see how Flott fares after the position change, but a breakout season would mean a great deal for the Giants defense.