The New York Giants secondary is considered one of the best in the NFL this year with studs at all positions with an unusual amount of depth. At safety, Big Blue has the enviable pair of Logan Ryan and Jabrill Peppers along with last year’s second-round pick, Alabama star Xavier McKinney.

Their fourth safety, Julian Love, isn’t too shabby, either. The third-year man out of Notre Dame has found his role on this formidable Giants’ defense as an everyman-type and is willing to do what it takes to help this team win.

“DB”,  Love said when asked by reporters this week what his potions was. “Just do whatever they ask me. I’m ready for it all.”

He is. Last year, Love played a major role on the defense playing 66 percent of the snaps, but that was partly due to the fact that McKinney was out for three months with a fracture bone in his foot.

Love is still just 23 and is seen as an ascending player. In 31 career games (11 starts) as a Giant, the Chicago native has racked up 101 tackles (77 solo, six for a loss) with one quarterback hit, two interceptions, six passes defensed and a forced fumble.

Love knows he could see a downtick in playing time now that McKinney is healthy but things can turn on a dime in the NFL. He’s approaching it with the right attitude.

“I think we’re excited to build as a group together. For me personally, this is my first time since I started college with the same D-coordinator two years in a row. I’m excited to work with Coach Graham again. I know we all are just eager to get out there and we’ll see how it goes,” Love said. “It’s going to be very competitive. I think we have a lot of talent. It’s clear to see that. We’re excited. Joe Judge always says, ‘in the Mississippi heat, it takes more than one set of hands to grease the pig.’ So we’re excited just to all work together collectively as a group.”

Love has always been a star and a talent. At Notre Dame he excelled and it was perplexing when he fell to the fourth round in the 2020 NFL draft. He’s still a popular figure in his hometown of Chicago. Earlier this summer, he got to throw out the first pitch at a White Sox game.

“Man, that was some high heat, right? I think somebody clocked it at 96,” he said, obviously exaggerating. “It was a first pitch. I didn’t practice it, so it was fun. I had fun. There was nobody on the field, just the mascot. I’m like, ‘ok, I got to throw it.’ So I sent it, no lob pitches over here. I sent it.”

Love was asked if his pitch was better than that of rapper 50 Cent, whose wildly inept delivery before a Mets game several years ago is now the standard for a first pitch fail.

“Definitely better than 50 Cent. Definitely better. Everyone kept sending me pictures and videos of 50 Cent, so definitely better,” Love said.