5 Surprising Developments from the New York Giants' Offseason Program

The New York Giants “prep-cation” is on, with the best still yet to come for head coach Ben McAdoo and company.

Of course, that still remains to be seen as championships are not crowned in June. Still, the Giants managed to get in some quality practice and team bonding time as McAdoo and his staff look to right the ship and get this franchise back to its winning ways.

In getting to this point, there have been some twists and turns, some of which have been surprising to the point where it’s concerning, and some of which have been a pleasant surprise.

So let’s rewind the tape on the offseason program and look at the biggest surprises to emerge, both good and bad.

Rookie Darian Thompson Takes a Big Lead in the Free Safety Competition

Mel Evans/Associated Press

Supposedly, the starting free safety position was going to be a highlighted battle at training camp this year.

Instead, it looks as though the battle is over before it even had a chance to start. More importantly, it looks as though the winner is going to be Darian Thompson, which, coming on the heels of Landon Collins starting as a rookie last season, would give the Giants a young starting safety tandem.

“He has been working with Landon quite a bit. That kind of probably says a lot that he is up there with those guys,” said defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

”I said this before, he is still doing it, he is assertive, he is vocal, he is not afraid to make a mistake. I think the first thing that you need to do at that position when we ask you to make calls is not to be afraid of making a mistake and to be vocal. If he continues to do that, he will learn the defense.”  

Things could change once the team gets into the preseason, but right now, Thompson seems to be miles ahead of Nat Berhe, his primary competition for the job and a player who had to miss some of the minicamp.

No Major Injuries

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

You read that headline correctly: For the first time since 2011, the Giants did not, repeat, did not have any key players suffer a major injury during the offseason.

In case you have forgotten, the list from past years includes receiver Hakeem Nicks (broken foot, 2012), fullback Henry Hynoski (knee, 2013), linebacker Jon Beason (broken toe, 2014) and left tackle Will Beatty (pectoral, 2015).  

In each case, the injuries had more than just a ripple effect on the team. Nicks was never the same receiver despite coming back. The running game struggled somewhat without Hynoski leading the way.

Beason’s absence removed the best linebacker from a group that was not very good to begin with. And Beatty’s injury forced them to throw Ereck Flowers head first into the deep end while counting on journeyman Marshall Newhouse at right tackle.

Injuries are going to happen, and the Giants didn’t exactly come out of the spring with a clean bill of health. However, those injuries they did suffer don’t appear to be serious or long-term, at least according to what little information McAdoo shared.

Still, the proof will be in the pudding when the team reports to camp on July 28 and the media gets its first look at who’s doing the conditioning drills and who is not. But for now, the Giants seem to be in the best shape health-wise at this time of year in a long while.

The Offensive Line Still Isn't Settled

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

Despite the votes of confidence from Justin Pugh and Weston Richburg regarding the current configuration of the offensive line, the Giants still need to add some depth at tackle.

Currently, the starters are Marshall Newhouse on the right side and Flowers on the left, with Bobby Hart as the primary backup. If an injury should strike down any of those three, the team’s depth becomes scary thin.

It’s not that the Giants haven’t tried to add offensive line help at tackle; it’s just that they have been rebuked. The problem is that the guys they have targeted such as Russell Okung, per Jordan Raanan of NJ Advance Media, and, more recently Eugene Monroe, haven’t been interested in playing right tackle, according to B/R's Jason Cole (h/t Rotoworld).

The Giants seem to be sticking to their guns regarding leaving Flowers at left tackle. However if they continue to come up short in their quest to add depth, it will be interesting to see if they would be willing to move Flowers to the other side if just for a year, or if they will stick with what they have.

Eli Apple Still Doesn't Have a "Home" Yet

Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

When a team has a top-10 draft pick, such as what the Giants had this year, it would be reasonable to expect the team has a specific role in mind for that player to where he can contribute right away.

Thus far, that does not seem to be the case with cornerback Eli Apple. The Giants, remember, spent $62.5 million to acquire Janoris Jenkins in free agency.

Jenkins, whose cap number this year is $8 million, will line up opposite of Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, whose 2016 cap number is also $8 million.

If Jenkins and Rodgers-Cromartie are the starters, then where exactly does Apple fit in? The assumption is that he’s being groomed to be the slot cornerback, but what’s interesting is throughout the spring, he spent just as much, if not more, time rotating outside with Rodgers-Cromartie than he did working the slot.

That raised a question of defensive coordinator Spagnuolo if they have a natural fit for the slot cornerback.

“We are trying to find that out right now,” Spagnuolo said. “We have played a lot of guys in there in the OTAs. Let’s find out which guy plays best in there and then go from there because we know they can all pretty much play outside and have played outside.”

If for some reason Apple does move to the slot and struggles, that’s not going to be a good look for the Giants, who right now need all the playmakers they can find on the field.

Victor Cruz Took Practice Reps

William Hauser-USA TODAY Sports

Throughout most of the spring, McAdoo reiterated that training camp was the target date onlookers could expect to see receiver Victor Cruz back working with the team.

So imagine everyone’s surprise when on the first day of the minicamp, there was Cruz getting some work during the individual unit drills plus three snaps during offense versus defense drills (albeit at a walk-through pace).

“We felt it was time to take the next step,” McAdoo said when asked what changed from the original diagnosis.

So how did Cruz look to the head coach after his first on-field work with the team in almost a year?

“He ran a couple routes versus air, versus man-to-man, stuck his foot in the ground and looked like he could get some separation,” McAdoo said.

Cruz’s early return was surprising only because last year, he was itching to get back on the field after suffering a torn patellar tendon in his right knee that in retrospect, it looked like he rushed back before he was ready.

Even earlier in the spring, McAdoo said the team would be cautious with the 29-year-old receiver, who has not played a game since October 2014. Apparently, Cruz’s progress was far enough along to where the trainers felt comfortable enough letting him work against air.

The next step will be for Cruz to run with the weight of the pads on and against live contact, something he’s obviously yet to do this year.

Whether he gets the full green light to do that when the team reports to training camp on July 28 remains to be seen, but certainly Cruz and the rest of the Giants have to be happy that he has taken this major step forward in his quest to return to the field.

Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Salary figures are from Over the Cap.

Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.