Judge’s ‘D’ overhaul to get test from Ben

Logan Ryan’s late summer signing means a great deal for the Giants, and not just because he is versatile enough to play both corner and safety. “We’re going to play him in different packages all over the field,” Joe Judge said after successfully recruiting his former Patriots player to the Big Apple

Ryan, 29, also represents Judge’s sweeping and ongoing overhaul of the back half of the Giants’ defense, which was in shambles when he took over and faces an enormous Week 1 test on Monday Night Football against the visiting Steelers.

“They have one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game,” Judge said Wednesday of Ben Roethlisberger, 38, who is healthy coming off right elbow surgery. “They throw the ball at will.”

The second level of the Giants’ defense has been the picture of the franchise’s most recent dysfunction, frankly.

DeAndre Baker’s offseason arrest and recent release is the lowest point and has created the greatest void at outside corner.

But even the Giants’ 2019 on-field lowlights frequently included opposing pass-catchers sprinting wide open for big gains, sometimes without a defender in the same area code.

It’s often popular to scapegoat an outgoing coaching staff for players performing poorly, as some have done with defensive coordinator James

Bettcher — especially when an organization fires its coaches and retains its GM, as the Giants did.

But if the players weren’t part of the problem, they would still be here. And that is far from the case this year. The numbers, in fact, are staggering

Ten of the Giants’ 14 active roster players at safety, corner and inside linebacker are new to the team in 2020. Only Julian Love, Jabrill Peppers, Corey Ballentine and Devante Downs are holdovers. Four of the Giants’ top five defensive players in 2019 snaps are gone: Antoine Bethea, Baker, Janoris Jenkins and Alec Ogletree. Only Markus Golden (third) remains.

Dave Gettleman’s big payday for free-agent corner James Bradberry, his former Carolina Panthers draft pick, reflected an organization-wide urgency to improve the personnel at one of the game’s most important positions. So did a fourth-round selection of UCLA corner Darnay Holmes, who projects to contribute in the slot.

And at linebacker, the Giants signed Blake Martinez and drafted Tae Crowder and T.J. Brunson in the late rounds to get faster in the middle. But that won’t be enough. Gettleman’s enormous miss on his trade up in the 2019 draft for Baker, especially — and Sam Beal’s opt out, and a 2019 roster stacked with backups — left the Giants scrambling in August for a corner to play the outside opposite Bradberry.

The Giants could have released Baker earlier but didn’t.

Judge was asked about the late timing of Baker’s release and interestingly said on Wednesday: “I’ll go ahead and defer that to Dave (Gettleman) or John (Mara) if they ever want to answer that. I’m going to focus on the guys on the roster. But I appreciate the question.”

Ryan’s signing really was motivated by rookie Xavier McKinney’s left foot fracture that will sideline the Alabama product at least until November .

McKinney, a second-round pick, was slotted to be the Giants’ jack-of-all-trades, safety/ slot corner playing alongside Love and Peppers. Ryan can now step into that role and also be a reliable veteran whose familiarity with defensive coordinator Pat Graham (from New England) and this system can accelerate his acclimation.

But also, if the Giants truly can’t find someone to consistently lock down the outside corner position, Ryan can play it, even if he doesn’t have the straightaway speed perhaps to play it as he once did.

Judge’s plan for replacing Baker is still a work in progress at best. The Giants dealt a seventh-round pick to the Broncos for Isaac Yiadom just last week. They appear prepared to give Ballentine a crack at it after he had a tough camp. But there is no defined starter, and there might not be for a while.