New York Giants: Interesting Stories Arising From Camp

This is the most exciting time of the year for those players who are having to prove themselves to get playing time in the fall. What stems from this are guys that are standing out even among the established veterans.

Bryan Kehl has been playing more with the starting group at the weak side linebacker spot. He is doing well thus far but is still splitting time in the first group with Gerris Wilkinson and Chase Blackburn.

If he wants to win the job, however, he will have to improve his physicality. In one of the biggest hits in camp so far, Madison Hedgecock cleaned Kehl's clock with a punishing blow that forced Kehl off his heels.

It set the tone for the rest of a practice that saw heated arguments, aggravated pushing, and even some failed punch attempts.

They are professionals about it, though, and Hedgecock and Kehl were seen smiling with each other the next morning.

Some Giants writers (you know who you are) have been saying all along that Derek Hagan is no one to just throw under the table and forget about. Well guys, he's proving you right.

Hagan has been the most impressive wideout at camp so far, catching everything thrown his way, save for one bobbled pass on Sunday. He is definitely making his case for the job.

The Arizona State stud played three seasons with the Dolphins before being released in November of 2008. He landed with the Giants in December and made his debut on special teams in the playoff game with the Eagles.

“It helped out a lot,” Hagan said of coming to the team in December. “Just being able to get a look at the playbook ahead of time has really helped. Also, it helped to get to know Eli Manning and the other quarterbacks a little bit. My time here so far has been great.”

Fred Robbins was activated from the physically unable to perform list, and participated in his first workout on Sunday. This is good news since he is certainly going to compete for the starting job, and at the very least he will be a prominent player in the defensive line rotation the team will use during the year.

The defensive line has been a work-in-progress for the coaches, and some of the lineups have fans very excited. One such formation had Osi Umenyiora, Mathias Kiwanuka, and Justin Tuck on the field at the same time with Tuck playing inside, the same formation that worked so well when Michael Strahan was on the team.

Eli Manning gave an account of training camp to this point, and his analysis is that the team is progressing at an impressive rate.

"The guys are doing well," Manning said. "We're throwing a lot at them. They’re getting reps.

"We’re going to make mistakes, that’s part of learning, but we’re not repeating the same mistakes and that’s a good thing. We’re getting different looks, different coverages, and different reads, and they’re making plays. They’re hitting a lot of big plays.

"There are some mistakes we’ve got to fix, but that’s why you go to training camp and that’s why we’ve had all these practices, to work out all the kinks."

Eli is certainly going to be under a significant amount of scrutiny this season, and will be looking to prove himself worthy of the generous contract he just received.

If you ask me, he's already well worth it and will prove that to be the case in the coming years.

Keep checking in for more updates, as well as following on www.Giants.com