The New York Giants have reportedly hired Patrick Graham to fill their vacant defensive coordinator position.
With one of the first moves of his young head-coaching career, Joe Judge has reportedly hired Patrick Graham of the Dolphins to be the new defensive coordinator of the New York Giants. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero was the first to report the news.
The #Giants are hiring Patrick Graham as their defensive coordinator, source said.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 12, 2020
The 40-year-old will now hold his second position with New York. He was the Giants defensive line coach from 2016-17. The former campaign was the year the Giants had one of the top defenses in the league and finished 11-5. Big Blue has not returned to this stature since.
This will also mark the second time Judge and Graham will coach together. They both spent time on the Patriots from 2012-2015.
Graham will look to improve a group that finished 25th in total defense (377.3 yards allowed-per-game) and 30th in scoring (28.2 points allowed-per-game) this past season. This will not be an easy job, but it’s the right time for Graham to take the reigns. The Giants will have a ton of cap space ahead of the 2020 campaign.
The Giants had the fifth-least amount of money invested in their defense this past year. With a predicted amount of nearly $62 million in cap space this offseason, New York will likely elect to spend a good amount in that area. The Giants additionally have a number of early draft picks that they may use to bolster the defense as well.
Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that Graham will have his work cut out for him. He currently has the majority of his team within their first five years in the league. Thus, it’s a group that must be developed moving forward.
It will be up to the Yale graduate to groom his youth so that the Giants defense can once again compete.
