New York Giants safety Julian Love has made a huge impact on defense over the past few seasons. He is a Notre Dame guy who is a student of the game.
In a recent piece on the website The 33rd Team. Love listed his top five all-time Giants defenders.
Julian Love lists his top five #Giants defensive players of 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 💪
New York fans, agree or disagree? pic.twitter.com/82WBk1HBOL
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) February 24, 2023
As a person who has covered this team for the past quarter century and has been an ardent fan and follower for more than 55 years, I find this list to be dead-on.
Lawrence Taylor, Michael Strahan, and Harry Carson are Hall of Famers in the Super Bowl era, which is a special accomplishment so they all belong on the list. Carl Banks and Jessie Armstead were among the best at their positions while they played, so I have no issue with them being on this list as well.
Some honorable mentions in my book from the Super Bowl era: Brad Van Pelt, Leonard Marshall, Mark Haynes, John Mendenhall, Spider Lockhart, Osi Umenyiora, and Justin Tuck.
It’s difficult to compare eras and for someone to be listed from the ’round ball’ era would be a tough call.
That being said, here is a quick list of some players from the previous era that deserve mentioning: Sam Huff, Emlen Tunnell, Andy Robustelli, Jimmy Patton, and Erich Barnes.
