Giants CB Korie Black Opens Up on Embracing NFL Transition

When it comes to making a name for oneself in the NFL, especially for a late-round draft selection like New York Giants cornerback Korie Black, it often requires relying on the wisdom of players who once walked in their shoes to get there.

For the Giants’ seventh-round pick out of Oklahoma State, that reality is acknowledged after making it into the highest level of football. He quickly praised his alma mater program for providing the tools and hard-working mentality to prepare him for this big moment.

However, having the ability to grind and put in the work will only get one so far in this game. The league is the closest thing to a rite of passage in sports, where Black and his fellow rookies must earn every chance they get while finding ways to learn how to gain an edge from the competition. 

So, as he begins that process while arriving in East Rutherford for rookie minicamp, Black said he knows he’s joining a team game where everyone is working towards a common goal rather than pursuing individual interests. Thus, he will rely on the guidance of his veteran teammates to help him achieve those goals.

“Just really understanding that now this is a profession, and this is a team now, and I'm just a part of it,” Black said about treating his teammates like mentors instead of people he simply admires.

“So, I'm just ready to learn and work with these guys. And like you said, guys like Russell and things like that. They got experience, so they can really guide me, and that's what I look forward to: just learning from those guys and being able to get experience from them and work with them.”

Black mentioned that new Giants quarterback Russell Wilson was the first player from the organization to pay him a surprise video call after he was drafted 246th overall on April 26th. Wilson has tried to do this with each incoming rookie to establish that close camaraderie and leadership early on. 

While the two don’t share the same position group, it was a meaningful moment for Black that he’ll remember as he looks for the same connection with the veterans of the secondary that he’ll soon meet when the team convenes for OTAs in the coming weeks. 

Despite his youthful age, the funny thing is Black won’t have to feel like he’s the only odd man with little experience in the cornerbacks room. The Giants’ group comprises several players who’ve been in the league for less than four seasons, and two of them were rookies who were thrust into the fire of the starting defense from the jump last season. 

That means the “veterans” are really just players with a couple of years of service under their belts. They managed to learn the tricks to adjusting to the new elements of the NFL and making big plays to become a staple of the Giants' defense early on. 

From asking them how to get comfortable with the confined spacing to answering an opposing offense's attack in the middle of the field, Black intends to use his common ground to make the learning process easier for himself. He believes the Giants have a talented core of ballhawks and will be able to gel quickly as they prepare to be a force this fall. 

“I'm just ready to get in there with the guys and learn from them. They do have experience. They're also talented, so I'm just ready to get in there and learn from them and get as much information as I can from those guys.”

The one positive for Black in his initial days acclimating to the team is that they run a very similar scheme to the one he saw in college, Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo. The only change has been the terminology, but that’s not a huge difference for him to pick up on the basic concepts and responsibilities that Shane Bowen will ask him. 

In his last three years with the Cowboys, Black played in at least 643 total snaps, 276 or more of those in coverage, and posted a grade as high as 74.5 by the end of his senior season. He bounced from the perimeter to the slot and even into some big and free safety reps, but allowed little damage after the catch while forcing four interceptions and 19 pass deflections. 

If he can continue to pick up on things in his new system with ease, Black could become a solid rotational player for the Giants' secondary and put to rest any doubts surrounding what was an unexpected day 3 haul by the team, taking on a guy who should have gone earlier than he did. 

But if things do pick up as the rest of the locker room arrives and the heat gets turned up a notch with how complex a defense the Giants want to run in 2025, Black will not fear taking on some new challenges in learning the playbook or weekly game plans. 

That is because he knows he has a proven learning process to bank on, and that is watching and relying on his teammates, who will help him better understand the information being thrown at him by Daboll and the coaching staff. They’ve been there and found out how to make the life of an NFL cornerback seem like clockwork, something Black will covet as he intends to make his name in the big leagues.

“I've been told by lots of people, my friends that are in the league, find a vet or just find somebody that's been there and just learn from them, and not just learn from them, but pick up on how they do things and how it's easier for them. And then just pick out parts of what could help me and how I feel like I learn the best,” Black said.

“But so far, I've been just putting things together from college. This is similar; there is just different terminology and thinking like that. With the older guys, I'm just trying to find somebody, find a vet, and pick up their schedule on how they learn.”

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