Preseason has started and the New York Giants are cautiously optimistic after a victory over the Detroit Lions showed improvement on both sides of the ball.
Still, teams are in the midst of training camp trying to figure out which players land on the final 53-man roster. One of the players looking to earn time on the field this season is rookie safety Tyler Nubin.
Nubin was selected in the second round after playing five years at Minnesota. After practice on Monday, the rookie was asked about the difference between college football and the NFL.
His answer was legendary.
Giants rookie safety Tyler Nubin with a great quote on the difference from college to NFL: “It’s definitely more of a matchup based league than college. Formations will tell you a lot, but if you’ve got Justin Jefferson over there at the X, the formation’s not telling you shit.”… pic.twitter.com/iNuFV09zIe
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) August 12, 2024
“First off, the spacing of everything, that’s totally different than college. Obviously, the hashes are different. It’s definitely more of a matchup-based league than college,” Nubin explained. “Formations will tell you a lot, but if you’ve got Justin Jefferson over there at the X, the formation’s not telling you (expletive).
“If Justin Jefferson’s at the X, the formation does not matter. You know the ball is going over there. That’s one of the biggest things that’s a lot different than college. You have to pay attention to everything, you know, who’s around you, who the matchups are, who’s on the field.”
Obviously, it’s never a 100 percent guarantee that the ball is going Jefferson’s way when the Giants face the Vikings in Week 1. But it’s probably not a bad gamble to assume that it is, either.
