Schoen's vision for the upgraded secondary

[MightyGiants]

Q: You started free agency on the other side of the quarterbacks. What drew you to cornerback Paulson Adebo and safety Jevón Holland?

Schoen: "Both of them, instincts and ball skills. The ability to take the ball away is something we struggled with last year in terms of creating turnovers. Both of those guys have a history of taking the ball away and they both have instincts. Obviously, [Tyler] Nubin had 13 interceptions at Minnesota. You've got guys back there now who have really good ball skills. I have a lot of faith in our defensive line that if we can create some leads during the season, those guys can pin their ears back. Then have guys on the back end that can take the ball away, are instinctive, route-savvy, and also good tacklers. The other part of that is Adebo and Holland, Tae Banks, Dru Phillips, Nubin, all those guys are under contract. They will be with each other for the next three years. Tae, as well, if we do his fifth-year option. So, there's a young core, a nucleus, along with Dexter [Lawrence] being under contract for three more years and Burns for four. You're starting to see the continuity part of it come to fruition. And we're at a point that you draft or sign guys, they can be together for an extended period of time, which I think is important."

Q: It's almost like you set up a buddy system there now with a vet and a young player in the secondary.

Schoen: "We were a very young secondary last year, so to sign two guys that we did a lot of work on coming out of college that are wired the right way, have leadership and fit what we were looking for from a character and player standpoint, it was important to add. They can help some of these young guys, Dru, Tae, Nubin, the younger guys who are still learning how to be pros. Those guys will be beneficial to the locker room, too."