The Giants may not need to circle a safety in the 2027 NFL Draft just yet, but Koi Perich is the kind of name that could make that conversation a lot more serious if things break the right way.
Perich is now at Oregon after the first two years of his college career at Minnesota, where he stepped into the role Tyler Nubin left behind once Nubin was drafted by the Giants. He made his mark there as a ball-hawking defensive back, and now he gets a bigger stage with the Ducks. On the Consensus Big Board, he sits 50th overall as a mid-second-round prospect, and this season gives him a real chance to separate from the pack.
At 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, Perich brings the kind of frame teams like at safety. The bigger draw, though, is the athletic profile.
He has very good long speed, fluid hips and quick feet, and that shows up in coverage. He can rotate post-snap, get to the right spot in a hurry and handle the back end like a center fielder.
His range lets him cover a lot of ground, and his movement skills give him the ability to match up in coverage without looking stiff.
He’s also already shown a knack for making plays on the ball. Over the last two seasons, Perich has 6 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles.
That kind of production travels, and it gives Oregon a defender who could feast if opponents keep throwing to keep pace with the Ducks’ offense. With Oregon’s defensive front returning experience and talent, there should be chances for Perich to capitalize.
He looks most natural when the picture is clear in front of him. Whether he’s aligned in two-deep or single-high, he processes quickly and reacts well to route concepts and misdirection. That quick trigger helps him play faster than his timed speed might suggest.
There’s special teams value here, too. Perich was a core special teams player at Minnesota, logging 174 snaps there in 2024 and 164 in 2025.
He also handled kickoffs and punts, with 35 kick-off returns over the last two years for a 23.6-yard average and 38 punt returns at 8.1 yards per return. He even has coverage-team experience, though that role was more limited in 2024 as his defensive workload grew.
The area that still needs the most work is his play closer to the line of scrimmage. Perich played more than twice as many box snaps in 2025, with 338, as he did in 2024, when he had 144, but he was more impactful as a free safety.
He will hit and he will take on tight end blocks, but the run defense has not been clean enough. His missed tackle rate last season was 21.5 percent, and that is a number he has to bring down.
He could also be more aggressive when fighting through blocks, using his hands better to get leverage and create separation. Right now, those blocks can stick to him, and adding strength would help him shed them and finish plays with less extra yardage. In shallow coverage, he doesn’t trigger downhill as quickly or as confidently as he does when he’s seeing the field from deep.
That’s why this season is such a fascinating one for him. The expectation is that he’ll replace Dillon Thieneman in Oregon’s secondary, and how the Ducks use him will matter.
Thieneman was a strong deep safety before transferring to Oregon, but his athleticism led to box usage. Perich may not be the same level of athlete, though that will be clearer after the Combine, but he’s a very good athlete in his own right.
If Oregon leans into his strengths as a free safety, he has breakout potential.
With Oregon expected to be one of the favorites to win the National Championship, Perich will be under the microscope all year. If he sharpens his run defense and shows he can hold up against the best of the Big 10, he could work himself into high second-round, or even first-round, territory.
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