Micah McFadden didn’t shy away from the proclamation.
The Giants’ inside linebacker agrees he is playing by far his best football as a pro.
“Without a doubt,” McFadden told The Post after practice Thursday afternoon. “It’s Year 2. I made some plays Year 1, but I don’t think I was playing to the standard that this team needed me to or the standard that I wanted to play to. Definitely making some strides.”
Beyond his own personal best, McFadden, drafted in the fifth round last year, is delivering some of the best performances the Giants have seen at the position in years.
He earned an elite 89.8 overall grade from Pro Football Focus for the Giants’ Week 7 win over the Commanders last Sunday, which was the highest among all linebackers across the NFL.
McFadden recorded five total tackles, two quarterback hits and a half-sack.
Just one week prior, McFadden earned an 87.9 overall grade from PFF in a loss to the Bills — he recovered a Buffalo fumble and recorded an interception.
It was his best of the season, and career, by a large margin, until he improved on it last week.
“He’s playing with a lot more confidence this year, and the game slowed down for him,” defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said. “He learned a lot last year, got his nose bloodied a little bit, and he’s come back, and I think he’s playing really well.”
McFadden — along with Bobby Okereke, who was the Giants’ most-expensive free-agent signing this past offseason — have helped solidify a position that had emerged as a glaring weakness since Antonio Pierce retired in 2009.
Okereke punched the ball out on the fumble that McFadden recovered against the Bills and later deflected the pass that McFadden intercepted.
Okereke’s game has elevated next to McFadden’s, delivering two of his best performances the past two weeks.
Together, they’ve been one of the biggest catalysts in the defense’s recent dominance, holding the Bills to 14 points and the Commanders to seven.
“Ever since I got here, he was the guy that I probably leaned on the most, just for understanding the playbook,” Okereke told The Post. “His playing time last year and being in this system helped just getting me acclimated, getting me comfortable. He is so smart, and he plays so quick and decisive that it really reflects on me.”
“Understanding where you are in the defense and what everybody else is doing, rather than just thinking about your job the entire time, that’s a huge difference,” McFadden said. “Being able to play instinctive and not think too much when I’m on the field.”
McFadden still knows he has a ton of room to grow, particularly in coverage.
But he also knows he’s playing faster and more confident, a byproduct of his knowledge of Martindale’s unique system.
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