Former New York Giant Victor Cruz sat down with rookie CB Deandre Baker to discuss how he’s handled the transition to the NFL.
New York Giants rookie Deandre Baker struggled in his rookie year. He graded out as one of the worst cornerbacks in the NFL in 2019. That said, he made strides late in the season that showed promise.
He may not be the exciting rookie Giants fans wanted, but he could be a solid CB. Year two is always the turning point for young players. They need to show some level of improvement to keep the hype up.
So it’s important to know how Baker views himself on the field. With that in mind, Victor Cruz sat down with him for an interview to recap Baker’s rookie season.
Baker talked about how he struggled with film early in the season. The mental part of the game was the part he worked on most in his rookie season. He pointed to veteran safety Antoine Bethea as someone who mentored him.
It’s good to know that Baker has been working on the mental parts of the game, but that wasn’t his biggest issue. He never mentioned his lack of effort or how he plans to overcome his lack of athleticism in the video. Those were bigger issues then the mental side of the game.
He then moved to ask Victor Cruz about how he prepared for CBs and what he looked for on the field. Cruz told Baker how he used to look at what CBs looked at. He wanted to see if CBs were following his head or his hips and revealed that’s how he knew how to beat them off the snap.
Cruz also talked about how he used to fake out CBs by giving them what they wanted to see to get them to bite. The mental stuff that gave him an advantage on the field.
The interview was illuminating. It’s not often that one gets to hear a CB and WR exchange words about how they would prepare against one another. It’s certainly worth the watch.
