Jason Pinnock hasn’t reacquired his old No. 27 jersey number from his former protégé Tyler Nubin, but he has begun to steal away some starting safety snaps.
A surprising — and somewhat awkward — position battle at cornerback is developing at Giants training camp, where Nubin, a 2024 second-round pick and two-year starter, is rotating on the first-team defense with Pinnock and Ar’Darius Washington.
“I think it’s a credit to how well those guys are playing,” head coach John Harbaugh said after Wednesday’s practice. “They have played like starters for quite a number of reps. So, let’s take a look at them with that group. It’s good to see everybody in different circumstances and situations. I think that’s part of camp.”
Pinnock mentored a rookie Nubin in the Giants starting safety tandem before he took a one-year free agent detour to the 49ers. The Giants paired Nubin with Jevón Holland in 2025 but brought back Pinnock this offseason, so he will slide back into the familiar uniform (albeit No. 25) Saturday against the Vikings in the preseason.
“Just truthfully, I’m an East Coast baby,” said Pinnock, who grew up in Connecticut. “So, man, I’m home. I couldn’t control [leaving the Giants] too, too much, you know? But everybody’s got their own journey.”
Pinnock and Nubin are close enough friends that they are invited to each other’s baby showers — and Nubin to Pinnock’s upcoming wedding — but that doesn’t mean the battle for playing time is not intense. Quite the opposite, actually.
The Giants listed Nubin and Holland as starters and Pinnock and Washington as backups on their first unofficial depth chart. Holland’s place is secure, while Nubin has gone from the beneficiary of early quiet praise from Harbaugh to rocky footing.
“That’s my brother,” Pinnock said, “[but] this is what comes with the sport. We’re on each other. We’re probably each other’s biggest competitor, and we’re on each other’s ass. It just is what it is.”
Washington is a wild card because he has history with Harbaugh from the Ravens and the versatility to play safety or challenge slot cornerback Dru Phillips — sidelined by a knee injury — as a starter.
Pinnock has history with the Giants and sort of history with new coordinator Dennard Wilson’s scheme, which he likens to that of former Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale. Pinnock started 37 games for the Giants — 21 under Martindale — from 2022-24, totaling two interceptions and three forced fumbles.
“Opportunity arises, I just rose to the occasion,” Pinnock said. “Every time you throw me in there, I’m [going to] ball. This is a new regime, so it doesn’t matter that ’22 to ’24. It’s about ’26.”
The hard-hitting Nubin dropped 8 pounds in the offseason as a way to get faster and address a habit that developed last season when he couldn’t chase down ball carriers after taking one wrong step. But he has given up big plays in training camp, whether against Xavier Gipson’s speed or letting JuJu Smith-Schuster pick a touchdown catch off the top of his helmet when he didn’t turn his head around.
“I think you always got to have urgency in this league because you never know when your last snap is going to be,” Nubin said. “It doesn’t matter who you are or where you were drafted. So, my urgency’s always at a top level.”
Nubin left college with a reputation for ball hawking after setting Minnesota’s record with 13 career interceptions. He has zero in 26 career NFL games, so he welcomes Wilson’s scheme and the possibility of “a couple packages where I’m going to be moving around a little bit.”
“It gives you a lot of opportunity to make plays,” Nubin said. “You have your eyes on the quarterback, and I think that’s something that I do very well, something I’m really comfortable with, something I did a lot in college.
“I think [Wilson] always has opportunistic defenses because they attack the football, and they make the offense think, gets them on their heels a little bit — whether that’s with the disguises or how we’re playing certain concepts. So, I think it’s definitely going to give me a really good opportunity, for sure.”
From the outside, the secondary is considered the weak link in a potentially dominant defense. Both starting cornerback jobs are up for grabs.
The secondary is going to push back against the narrative that no one has claimed starting jobs — at least until the results start.
“This is just full of starters,” Pinnock said. “Like, it’s going to be tough, you know? It’s going to be however the cards are dealt. Best man win type of thing.”
