New York Giants News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

New York Giants cornerback Paulson Adebo (21) warms up during day one of the New York Giants training camp at Quest Diagnostics Giants Training Center in East Rutherford on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

How the NY Giants Can Unlock Paulson Adebo's Best

Originally posted on New York Giants on SI
By Brandon Olsen | Last updated Aug 15, 2025 2:00 PM ET

The New York Giants' cornerback room has been a mess for the better part of a decade, from top to bottom.

Part of the explanation is due to a lack of serious investment in the position, as evidenced by Deonte Banks in 2023, who was the first Giants pick in the top two rounds since DeAndre Baker in 2019.

Another reason the room has struggled is due to poor draft evaluations, inadequate development, or poor injury luck–sometimes even a combination of all three.

This past offseason, the Giants chose to add a veteran to invest in the position with the signing of Paulson Adebo from the New Orleans Saints.

Adebo signed a three-year deal worth $54 million with $34.75 million guaranteed at signing, making him the sixth-highest-paid Giant in 2025.

The Circumstance

Adebo’s 2024 was hot and cold for the first two months of the season before a broken femur ended his season and tenure with the Saints.

During his time with the Saints, but especially in 2024, Adebo was playing almost exclusively on the left side of the defense.

In his 381 snaps as an outside cornerback in 2024, 374 of them were on the left side of the defense.

During the 2023 season, that number was even more egregious: 842 of his 847 snaps at outside cornerback were on the left side.

That’s not a rare thing in modern defense, especially those that are zone-heavy, so that there are fewer opportunities to be exposed through miscommunication.

In 2024, the Saints were about as zone-heavy as the Giants were, but the zones that they played and the way they executed them were vastly different.

Getting the Best from Adebo

Yannick Peterhans / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

For a player like Adebo, he’s always been known as a ball-hawking defender who thrives making plays downfield.

The Saints played more Cover 2 than almost every other team in the NFL in 2024, meaning that Adebo spent much of his time operating around the line of scrimmage.

With the Giants, Adebo will be given more opportunities to play vertically, as they played significantly more Cover 3.

It’s not to say that Cover 2 is bad for Adebo, especially with his ability to be physical in the run game, but there are better ways to deploy his talents.

Using Adebo optimally helps the entire Giants defense perform at a higher level. Adebo has proven himself to be capable in press-man coverage, something Deonte Banks has been known for throughout his career.

The ability for both cornerbacks to play press-man and get vertical should help the entire defense capitalize on an elite pass-rush.

In zone coverage, the Giants employed Cover 3 and Cover 4, which allowed cornerbacks to get vertical with their eyes in position to make a play, but they failed to execute.

Adebo’s unlocking involves his change of scheme and scenery more than needing to adapt to him.

There should also be times when Adebo shadows the opposing offense's top wide receiver, which we saw during joint practices with the New York Jets. Adebo did a good job of thwarting pass attempts to Wilson.

Thankfully, it does sound as though there are plans by the Giants to let Adebo travel with the opponent’s top receiver rather than have him stay on just one side.

What happens next with the NY Giants? Find out! Follow and like us on Facebook. Visit our YouTube channelfor the latest videos. Want to send a question in for our mailbag? You can do so here.

This article first appeared on New York Giants on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: