The Index · Live

Rico Payton New York Giants · #36

Cornerback · 6' 0", 182 lbs · St. Louis, MO · Age 27

Rico Payton is a Cornerback for the New York Giants, an undrafted signing. In 2025 he recorded 12 tackles.

New York Giants roster More Cornerbacks

CornerbackUndrafted2-yr veteran

⚖ Quick compare

Analysis by Beau Thoutt · Balladex

◆ Rated

New York Giants · #36 · Cornerback

Rico Payton

Season avg12 tkl · 0 sacks · 0 int

Career avg23 tkl · 0 sacks · 0 int

Live win probabilitySeason

No scheduled game — showing season pace. Illustrative.

Tonight's projectionmodel

12tkl

0sacks

0int

LADDER#1686 in the Balladex MVP raceIMPACTBalladex Impact 50 — Rotation piece tierINDEXRico Payton · New York GiantsLADDER#1686 in the Balladex MVP raceIMPACTBalladex Impact 50 — Rotation piece tierINDEXRico Payton · New York Giants

Scouting report

Rico Payton — the report card

Read his whole game at a glance, then dive into any skill. Grades are percentiles vs every active player at his position.

Cornerback · Rotation piece · Impact 50

Rico Payton is a Cornerback for the New York Giants, an undrafted signing. In 2025 he recorded 12 tackles.

C+

Coverage

Ball skills

Run support

C+

Coverage

Solid · defense

tap for the data ↓

Ball skills

Solid · defense

tap for the data ↓

C-

Tackling

Average · defense

tap for the data ↓

Splash plays

Solid · defense

tap for the data ↓

C+

Blitz

Solid · defense

tap for the data ↓

Act II

Where Rico Payton stands

Live ladders from the Balladex models, and what he's chasing. Rankings recompute nightly from real production, accolades, and search demand.

The laddersmodel · recomputes nightly

Jared Goff Detroit Lions▬

29%

Bryce Young Carolina Panthers▬

23%

Brock Purdy San Francisco 49ers▬

22%

Tyler Shough New Orleans Saints▬

11%

Kirk Cousins Las Vegas Raiders▬

✦ Balladex Consensus: #1077 of 1982 — a blend of the Impact index, current production, career résumé and live search demand. Recomputes as the data does.

Futures & chases

—MVP odds

50Impact index

12Star score

Career scoring average0.0 ppg

Seasons in the index0

Accolades on file0

Stat explorer

Rico Payton — every number, three levels deep

Headline → metric → the raw history behind it. Real career data; tracking-only metrics labeled.

A+

Tackling

12 TKL

drill in ↓

C+

Pass rush

0.0 SACK

drill in ↓

Coverage

1 PD

drill in ↓

Splash

0 FF

drill in ↓

The engine

How the model sees Rico Payton

Projection = recency-weighted per-season production, nudged along a position aging curve, banded by his year-to-year volatility. No black box — every number shows its work.

Projected 2026 modeled

1–1

int

0–0

tackles

11–12

0–0

games

9–14

Bands widen as confidence drops. Derived live from the real 2-season history below.

What moves the pd line vs last season

Last season 1 → projected 1 pd

Baseline (recency-weighted)

+0.0

Age curve

+0.0

Net vs last season+0.0 pd

Everything it reads

📊

2 seasons of real box production

every game line, verified

real

⚖

Recency × games weight

recent, healthy years anchor the baseline

auto

📈

Year-over-year trend

his own trajectory, season to season

+dev

🕰

Position aging curve

age 27 — applied to the projection

curve

🏈

Role & usage context

target / carry share and snaps fold in

+ctx

🏥

Availability signal

games last 3: 16 / 9

health

The real history it trains onsource: Pro-Football-Reference / ESPN · verified

Rico Payton career stats, season by season

Career stats by season
Season	G	Tkl	PD	Sack
2024	16	11	1	0
2025	9	12	1	0
Career	25	23	2	0.0

Source: Pro-Football-Reference. Backtested against completed player-seasons in the index. The same engine powers the report-card percentiles and the DNA radar — one model, asked different questions. Illustrative.

Act III

The Lab

Every number, live and interactive. Real career data; models labeled.

Gold = award / milestone season · hover any bar. Real season totals.

Player DNA + compssimilarity model

Closest comps

Greedy Vance 100%Alex Austin 99%Darrell Luter Jr. 99%Shaun Wade 99%Alijah Clark 99%D'Angelo Ross 99%

⚖ Overlay a rival →

Context

Are the New York Giants built to win?

Team projection rolled up from the roster + last-season baselines — and what it means for his role.

10–7proj record

97off index

65def index

+28net

76%playoff odds

60roster

Roster delta · what changed

Offense grades A+ (97), defense C (65) by our position-percentile roster model. QB play indexes at 96, pass rush 30, coverage 99.

How his role moves

Projected 10–7 on a 17-game slate — modeled from the current roster's production percentiles, not a calibrated Vegas line. His snaps, target/carry share and usage move with roster health.

Balladex Impact

50 of 99

Rotation piece tier.

Rarity

◆ Rated

Collectible tier.

Résumé

0 accolades

Career honors on file.

Act IV

The Ballad of Rico Payton

Birth to now — the making of a legend, narrated and scored.

1999-11-28

The beginning

Rico Payton is a Cornerback for the New York Giants, in his 3rd NFL season.

true

Rico Payton is a New York Giants cornerback, an undrafted find.

Chapter

Across 2 seasons (2024–2025) he has recorded 23 tackles, 0 sacks and 0 interceptions.

Chapter

Most recently he posted 12 tackles, 0 sacks and 0 interceptions in 2025.

Where things stand

Where Payton goes from here.

▶

Payton's story

The documentary, narrated

Highlights

▶ Highlights landing soon

Off the field

Measurables

Active

Height: 6' 0"
Weight: 182 lbs
Born: St. Louis, MO
Age: 27
Jersey: #36

Background

Rico Payton is from St. Louis, MO and is 27 years old. He entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent and plays cornerback at 6' 0", 182 lbs.

Over 2 seasons (2024–2025) he has recorded 23 tackles, 0 sacks and 0 interceptions. Payton is currently on the New York Giants roster.

The person

Rico Payton is a depth and special-teams defensive back who has recorded 23 tackles with 0 interceptions and 2 passes defensed across 2 seasons (2024–2025).

Coverage production0 career interceptions and 2 passes defensed.

Tackling23 career tackles from the secondary.

UndraftedEarned a roster spot after going undrafted.

Verified profiles & sources

ESPN ESPN ESPN

FAQ

Rico Payton — frequently asked

The questions people ask most about Rico Payton, answered.

What position does Rico Payton play?

Rico Payton is a Cornerback for the New York Giants.

When was Rico Payton drafted?

Rico Payton entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent.

How many seasons has Rico Payton played?

2 (2024–2025).

What are Rico Payton's career stats?

He has recorded 23 tackles, 0 sacks and 0 interceptions.

Rico Payton career stats & accolades are real, and team projections and recent-game home/away splits are computed from real production. DNA ratings, grades, tonight's projection, ladders, live win probability and simulator outputs are Balladex model output. Not affiliated with the NBA.

Rico Payton New York Giants · #36

Rico Payton — the report card

Where Rico Payton stands

Rico Payton — every number, three levels deep

How the model sees Rico Payton

Rico Payton career stats, season by season

The Lab

Are the New York Giants built to win?

The Ballad of Rico Payton

The beginning

true

Chapter

Chapter

Where things stand

Off the field

Rico Payton — frequently asked

Injury history

More New York Giants players

Other Cornerbacks to compare