Tyler Nubin has played two NFL seasons at safety for the Giants without recording an interception. He enters 2026, his third season, as the cost-controlled half of a safety room the team just spent $45.3 million to headline.
Jevon Holland got the money and the spotlight. Nubin, the 47th pick in 2024, is the one whose development will decide whether new coordinator Dennard Wilson’s deep third holds up, and the Giants still need the ball production they drafted him to provide.
The takeaways never showed up
tyler nubin, NFL: San Francisco 49ers at New York Giants
Credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images
Nubin has zero interceptions in two NFL seasons, a jarring number for a player who arrived from Minnesota with a reputation as a center-field ball hawk. His PFF coverage grade of 60.0 in 2025 ranked 51st among 98 qualified safeties, respectable but a long way from the splash the Giants expected, and he broke up just two passes all year. The instincts that made him a second-round pick have not translated into the plays that swing games.
Year 2 was a step back, not a leap
Tyler Nubin, NFL: New York Giants at New England Patriots
Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Nubin’s overall PFF grade fell from 65.6 as a rookie to 57.2 in 2025, 78th among 98 qualified safeties, after PFF had tabbed him a preseason breakout candidate. His run-defense grade collapsed to 47.1, 95th at the position, and missed tackles came in damaging clusters, including five across a two-game stretch. The tackling reliability that carried his rookie tape wobbled in the season he was supposed to consolidate it.
Season Tackles INT PFF overall
2024 98 0 65.6
2025 78 0 57.2
Two seasons of volume tackling, zero takeaways, and a grade moving in the wrong direction as the competition around him increased.
The money and competition around him raise the bar
Holland carries an $18.5 million cap hit in 2026 on the three-year, $45.3 million deal he signed in 2025, per Spotrac, and his own first Giants season underwhelmed at a 58.4 PFF grade with one interception and a 93.9 passer rating allowed in coverage. The tandem the Giants are paying premium safety rates for combined for a single interception in 2025. Nubin’s rookie contract is the cheap end of that bet, which is exactly why his third-year jump carries so much weight: the Giants can absorb one safety underperforming his contract, not both underperforming at once.
Tyler Nubin, NFL: Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants
Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
But the Giants have also hedged their bet with Nubin by adding some valuable safety depth this offseason. They signed Ar’Darius Washington to a one-year deal: a safety who has familiarity with John Harbaugh from his last five seasons in Baltimore. Washington played in only four games in 2025 due to injuries but was beginning to establish himself as one of the top safeties in football in 2024. Staying healthy has been his struggle, but if Nubin continues to underperform and Washington is healthy, he could push for the starting job opposite Holland.
Year 3 is the tell
Wilson inherits a back end that needs a genuine free safety, and Nubin has the range and the tackling floor to be it if the ball skills finally arrive. He held up as a rookie before an ankle injury cost him the final four games of 2024, and the raw coverage snaps have never been the problem. Turning those snaps into turnovers is.
The Giants drafted Nubin to take the ball away. Two years in, they are still waiting.
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Anthony Rivardo is the COO of Empire Sports Media and the host of Fireside Giants, a New York Giants ... More about Anthony Rivardo