ALBANY — The vision of a general manager in the spring and summer is not always the sight he sees in the fall and winter.
Jerry Reese a year ago believed he assembled enough talent in the secondary to take full advantage of the ferocious pressure he expected up front. By now the injuries, ineptitude and ill-suited direction that degenerated into the 2009 Giants defense is better left to the harsh glare of history.
Reese is trying again. Anyone who has caught a glimpse of training camp can see it, sense it and feel it. There’s a chance the Giants, a season removed from having a horrendous defensive backfield, will come back with one of the best in the league.
“We feel good about the potential we have to put out six or seven really good athletes back there who can make plays on the ball and turn the ball over for us,” Reese said.
The unit is retooled, revitalized and reborn. Antrel Rolle was signed as the new stud free safety. Deon Grant was signed as the new veteran leader at strong safety. Corey Webster is a proven cover corner.
Terrell Thomas in his second season, forced into the starting lineup, “really stepped up last year and played like a second rounder should play for you,” in Reese’s estimation. Cornerback Aaron Ross, limited to only four games because of ongoing hamstring issues, is healthy. Safety Kenny Phillips, limited to only two games before undergoing knee surgery, is making strides on the practice field and is on schedule to be on the field for the season opener.
The assemblage is pure talent and pedigree: Three first-round picks, three second-round picks.
“We have the guys back there who can get the job done,” Reese said. “It looks good right there in training camp, but they have to be out there.”
Phillips and Webster won’t be out there for tomorrow night’s preseason opener against the Jets, but getting them to Sept. 12 and the Panthers is the target. If the gang is all there it could be quite a show. In camp, finding open receivers — even in offense-friendly 7-on-7 drills — is not easy.
The cornerbacks are enjoying new defensive coordinator Perry Fewell’s change of pace — they can keep their eyes on the quarterback longer before dropping into man coverage — and the aura is one of grand expectations.
“There’s definitely just a different feel coming out of that secondary,” defensive tackle Barry Cofield said. “They’re challenging so many more balls, it’s almost like it’s not the same unit.”
It’s not the same unit. Considering how few games Phillips and Ross played and factoring in the additions of Rolle and Grant, four of the top six defensive backs are new. The loss of Phillips was widely regarded as the main reason for the downfall and his absence cannot be overstated, especially considering the shabby play of replacements such as C.C. Brown and Aaron Rouse. The unavailability of Ross, though, was also a crippling blow.
Ross struggled with three separate hamstring tears and at the ripe old age of 27, he has confronted his athletic mortality. He now hits the hot tub before practice, the cold tub (he dreads it) afterward and stretches far more than ever.
“I’m getting a little older now,” Ross acknowledged. “In college, I could go kill myself and go right to the house and go to sleep. Now I know if I take care of my body, my body will take care of me.”
A former first-round pick out of Texas, Ross was a starter on a Super Bowl-winning team. Thomas has supplanted him in the lineup but Ross will be on the field plenty as the nickel back.
“He looks like the player we drafted with the first pick a couple of years ago,” Reese said.
The low moments last season were everywhere, none lower than the 85 points allowed in two losses to the Eagles. Tom Coughlin recounted how Philly would max protect and send only two receivers out.
“They’d throw the ball up in the air, and we had as good of a chance as they did but we weren’t in position to do it,” Coughlin said, shaking his head.
And now?
“With better athletes,” he said, “comes better anticipation, expectation, a little bit more pressure.” The operative word being “better.” Potentially, much better.
paul.schwartz@nypost.com