Tyler Nubin, "Club 31's" Newest Member, Ready to Bring Play-making Ability to Giants' Defense

Former University of Minnesota Golden Gophers safety Tyler Nubin, the New York Giants’ second-round draft pick this year, is the newest member of a growing, special club.

It’s “Club 31,” the nickname that, according to Minnesota safeties coach/defensive pass game coordinator Danny Collins, came about given the NFL jersey number of choice of former Minnesota safeties like Jordan Howden (Saints) and Antoine Winfield Jr (Tampa Bay).

“It’s a position that we take a lot of pride in,” Collins told the Locked On Giants podcast. “It’s been fun to watch their development, but I think that the thing that separates us from a lot of other people is how we develop them mentally in the classroom--taking everything from the board and then bringing it out to the field." 

As Nubin prepares to join the Giants roster full-time, he comes with an impressive college resume. The Golden Gophers career record holder in interceptions (13), Nubin is the type of player whom the Giants are hoping brings that big-play ability that wasn’t always present on the defensive side of the ball to East Rutherford. 

While we wait to see precisely what new defensive coordinator Shane Bowen has in mind for the defense, Collins is confident that Nubin can handle it. 

“We're a quarters-based defense,” he said. We do a lot of multiple things, but we blitz, we play single-high, and we play Cover 3. So, the safety, especially the free safety, gets to do a lot in our  defense.”

Besides being proud of Nubin’s development as an athlete, Collins lauded Nubin for his growth in the intangibles as a professional and leader.

Nubin, 22 years old, had the perfect role model in Winfield, who, like Nubin, was a second-round draft pick.

In four seasons, Winfield, a 2021 Pro Bowler and a first-team All-Pro last season, has started all 59 games. He has seven career interceptions (a career-high three last year), 11 forced fumbles, and 15 career sacks. 

“Having a guy like Antoine Winfield here and watching his process and how he went about his daily routine throughout a season helped Tyler tremendously,” Collins said.

“Tyler, being the young freshman behind Antoine that 2019 season--that was huge for him to see Antoine's process and then take that process and carry it into the next four years of his life here. And you can see what he did here just in terms of the production and how he improved every year.” 

From a leadership perspective, Nubin had some extra motivation because his younger brother, Jordan, had joined the Golden Gophers as a running back. 

“Yeah, it certainly helps when you have your younger brother there to watch over him and to lead by example,” Collins said. “That's exactly what Tyler did. 

“In terms of the maturity level and when doing what you must do becomes what you want to do, we talk about that all the time in our program. Tyler's a great example of that, and I think it did help with Jordan being here of just that big brother mentality and then carrying that big brother mentality to the whole football team as he got older.”

In all, Collins believes the Giants have a versatile player ready to hit the ground running in doing whatever is asked of him and who will attack his weaknesses the same way he attacks ball carriers on the gridiron.

 “There's nobody who studies more film and watches more game tape than Tyler Nubin,” Collins said. Every week, we always give them tips on 2x2, 3x1, and different formations of what to look for exactly—who's in the slot, who's on the outside quarterback set point. He's awesome at that recognition, and that allows him to play faster.” 

But just like everyone else, there is room for Nubin to grow his game.

“Tackling is something that we always have to work on as defenders, especially at DB when you're coming from space, and you're making tackles in a hard area, pressing the hip, and things like that,” Collins said when asked where Nubin’s game still has room to grow. 

“And then, you know, coverage ability—that's always something that he can work on, too. We didn't do a lot of true man coverage in the slot with him, so that will be a little bit different for him if he has to do that.”

According to Collins, Nubin can’t wait to hit the field for the Giants. 

“Anything you tell Tyler to work on, he's gonna be out there within 30 minutes doing it on the football field,” he said with a smile. He understands his strengths and weaknesses, and he's gonna do everything he can to be the best player that he can possibly be.”