Coming out of Boise State, Darian Thompson had a reputation as a ball-hawking safety, his great instincts contributed to his ability to haul in 19 passes from quarterbacks during his college career. After spending the offseason scrubbing their memories of watching Brandon Meriweather attempt to play safety, Giants fans were understandably giddy at the prospect of watching Thompson play as the last line of defense in the Giants secondary.

Unfortunately, Thompson's freshman year was cut short by injury, he played in the Giants first two games and only saw the field for 88 snaps. Did those snaps reveal anything that can give fans hope he can contribute in 2017?

Before we take a look, I do recognize how challenging it is to grade defensive backs. Without knowing the defensive call and understanding the responsibilities each player has, we run into the possibility of grading players poorly on plays where it appears they got beat, when that necessarily may not be the case. Having said that, let's take a look at what the film reveals about Thompson.

Week 1 @ Dallas: Thompson takes down Witten in the flat.

Week 1 @ Dallas: Thompson picks up Williams across the middle of field.

Week 1 @ Dallas: Thompson helps break up the sideline pass to Dez Bryant.

Week 2 vs. Saints: The Saints split the safeties for a touchdown.

The Giants look to be in cover 2, both Eli Apple and Jenkins immediately face the QB after the snap. The Saints run the perfect cover 2 beater, their receivers run verticals to help split the safeties and it works to perfection, Snead catches the touchdown pass right between Collins and Thompson. At first glance, it might appear that Thompson was late getting over, but if you pause the video at the :03 mark, you'll notice Thompson is in a lose-lose position, he either commits and covers Snead, which leaves Cooks open, or commits to Cooks which leaves Snead wide open. Sheppard appears to do a terrible job or redirecting Snead off the line of scrimmage and then appears to pass him off to cover Cooks. These are the types of plays that can be hard to grade given we don't know what the defensive call was, but after watching this a few times, I'd argue Sheppard's inability to ride the receiver up the middle of the field was the main reason the Saints were able to complete a pass for a touchdown.

Week 2 vs. Saints: Thompson displays strong coverage skills.

Week 2 vs. Saints: Brees completes a deep sideline pass on Thompson's side of the field.

In limited playing time, Thompson displayed the coverage skills and instincts that got Giants fans excited about his potential. Thompson could become a key member of the Giants defense, he would bring back fond memories of the days the Giants were able to play roll three safeties (Rolle, Phillips and Grant) on passing downs. I know Giants fans will be watching Thompson closely this training camp.