5 NY Giants breakout candidates for 2026

Abdul Carter | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images While we await the full New York Giants schedule for 2026, let’s scour the team’s roster for potential breakout candidates during the upcoming seasons. S Tyler Nubin The 2024 second-round pick has not been the impact defender that the Giants thought they were drafting. He has just three passes defensed and a forced fumble in 26 NFL games after a college career that saw him intercept 13 passes in 55 games, including five in his senior season at Minnesota.

Nubin has been unable to transfer his play-making ability from college to the NFL, and the lack of athleticism Nubin showed in pre-draft testing has seemed at times to be problematic. Nubin missed an alarming 16. 9% of his tackle attempts and had a passer rating against of 119.

5 during a 2025 season in which he appeared to regress rather than take a step forward. Were Nubin’s shortcomings the real problem in 2025? Or was it the way former defensive coordinator Shane Bowen and defensive backs coach Marquand Manuel used him?

The Giants, of course, chose not to select Ohio State safety Caleb Downs in the 2026 NFL Draft. They will need Nubin to be better, to be at least some semblance of the player they drafted him to be. With John Harbaugh, who is used to high-quality safety play, as head coach and Dennard Wilson as defensive coordinator, Nubin should have an opportunity to play at a higher level.