“I’m an empty cup. They are filling it up.”

Whatever he learned from those Giants greats, the 30-year-old Ryan has spent the past few months trying to teach it to his current defensive back mates, in the hopes of turning this loaded unit into one of the best defensive backs corps in the league. He even held a DB summit down in Florida in mid-May, gathering most of the Giants defensive backs to train together for several weeks instead of attending the Giants voluntary offseason team activities (OTAs).

It was meticulously planned and similarly styled to the passing camps that many NFL quarterbacks hold nowadays – including Daniel Jones, who worked out this offseason with some of his receivers in both North Carolina and Arizona. And the Giants’ defensive backs all bought in. From veteran James Bradberry to newcomer Adoree’ Jackson to young players like Xavier McKinney and Julian Love, when Ryan called, most of them showed up.

“(It’s) just something I've seen for years,” Ryan said. “Great leaders, a lot of quarterbacks in the league, get their guys and receivers together for timing and what Daniel did in Arizona, I was out there for that. I really just wanted to bring the guys down and just have some time to ourselves.

“It was tough last year, joining the team so late and not really having an opportunity to bond with the guys. So I just think those guys got to see how I work day-to-day, and we got to talk a lot about how we would play things.”

It wasn’t all on-field work, either. They took a fishing trip together while they were in Florida, where they shared more football insights and continued their bonding. That bonding could be huge because, on paper, they have plenty of talent with Bradberry and Jackson at corner and Ryan, McKinney and Jabrill Peppers at safety. The key to their success might be their chemistry and how they work together when they’re on the field.

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