Predicting the Winner of the New York Giants' Biggest Training-Camp Battles

Last week, I outlined what I thought were the biggest upcoming training-camp battles about to take place for the New York Giants.

In this analysis, I go on the hot seat in trying to forecast how each battle will end.

Now before I get things started with my predictions, I am basing my opinions on one key factor other than performance: player health.

Injuries, as Giants fans know, always wreak havoc with this team and oftentimes force the coaching staff to make decisions they otherwise might not have made had they had a full array of healthy bodies.

With that said, here are my predictions. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment.

Starting Safeties

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

What’s at Stake?

The Giants decided to pass on re-signing Antrel Rolle, their starting strong safety last season, and Quintin Demps, who played at free safety. They also couldn’t come to terms with Stevie Brown on another contract.

As a result, the team now has both starting safety spots up for grabs.

The Candidates/Experience

Landon Collins (R), Cooper Taylor (three), Nat Berhe (two), Jeromy Miles (five), Mykkele Thompson (R) and Bennett Jackson (one)

The Projected Winners

It would be hard to fathom Landon Collins, the team’s second-round draft pick this year and the top safety in the NFL draft, not emerging as one of the two starters.

Collins worked with the starting defense for the duration of the spring and even defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo praised the young man for progressing by leaps and bounds after working with him just two days during the team’s rookie minicamp in May.

The second safety spot is a bit trickier to call. Coming into the spring, Nat Berhe was penciled in to work with the starters alongside Collins.

Unfortunately, a calf injury forced him to miss the entire spring, the period when the foundation of the new defensive system was being installed.

Bennett Jackson might have an uphill battle to make the roster thanks to the addition of Jeromy Miles. Jackson, remember, missed most of last season, a year in which he was on the Giants practice squad, due to a knee injury.

This year he has been trying to convert from cornerback to safety, a process that doesn’t happen overnight. Considering Jackson has yet to get any NFL snaps, he could be looking at another stint on the practice squad, where he can continue his development.

That leaves either Miles or Cooper Taylor, the latter of whom worked with the starters during the spring while Berhe was shelved.

Miles might be walking into the defensive system cold, but he has NFL experience, he has worked with Spagnuolo before when the two were in Baltimore, and he was likely signed to provide a stopgap solution to buy more time while Berhe, Jackson and Taylor gain more experience.

The bottom line is, it’s highly unlikely that the coaches are going to field two rookies at the safety position, no matter how talented they might be.

That’s why Miles is the projected winner to start alongside of Collins in the Giants defensive backfield this season.

Slot Cornerback

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

What’s at Stake?

New York lost cornerback Walter Thurmond III, who only played in two games for them last season as their slot cornerback, to free agency. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo admitted earlier this spring that while the team has guys they could try at the position, the nickelback position was “one we’re trying to feel through.”

The Candidates/Experience

Trumaine McBride (eight), Mike Harris (four), Jayron Hosley (four), Chykie Brown (five) and Josh Gordy (five)

The Projected Winner

If statistics were the deciding factor, then Harris should be the winner, as was argued in this analysis.

However, when a team has a new coordinator, what was done or not done in previous years is erased so that everyone gets a clean slate.

With that said, McBride worked at the slot cornerback position throughout most of the spring and appears to be the incumbent heading into camp.

With the team looking to pull itself out of its three-year tailspin, and with a rookie safety (Landon Collins) already likely to be starting in the defensive backfield, if the performances are equal, Spagnuolo will probably go with the more experienced player, McBride.

Why McBride over Brown, who was with Spagnuolo in Baltimore (and waived by Baltimore)?

Per Pro Football Focus, while there is a whisper of a difference separating McBride from Brown in terms of their NFL Rating, McBride trumped Brown in yards allowed per cover snap.

Tight Ends

Alex Menendez/Getty Images

What’s at Stake?

The Giants re-signed veteran tight end Daniel Fells in the offseason, a move that reunited the three tight ends who were on the roster last season—Larry Donnell and Adrien Robinson being the other two.

However, the team also added some intriguing young talent to the mix that is expected to push Fells and perhaps Adrien Robinson for their roster spots.

The Candidates/Experience

The young tight ends include Matt LaCosse (R), Jerome Cunningham (one) and Will Tye (R)

The Projected Winners

Despite missing most of the spring with Achilles tendonitis, Donnell should be the starter this season.

As for Robinson and Fells, Robinson was the better pass-blocker of the two, according to Pro Football Focus, but Fells was the best of the three when it came to run blocking.

With that said, Fells’ hold on a roster spot is probably less secure than Robinson’s. Fells will be 32 by the time the upcoming season ends, and the Giants might want to look to get younger at that spot.

During the spring, LaCosse and Cunningham, the latter of whom received first-team reps with Donnell sidelined, both stood out in the passing game. The concern with Cunningham, who at 6’3”, 250 pounds is the smallest of the tight ends currently on the roster, is that despite his chiseled physique, he might have trouble moving defensive ends who outweigh him by 30-40 pounds.

“That would be his only limitation because he’s tough as nails, and he will stick his nose up in the air, and he’ll give you everything he has on every play,” tight ends coach Kevin M. Gilbride told me for Inside Football.

“Size is a factor—it’s always a factor, so it would strictly be based on his size when he wouldn’t be able to move somebody.”

If size were indeed a factor in the minds of the coaching staff, then it probably wouldn’t be a stretch to project LaCosse, who stands 6’5” and weighs 261 pounds, as the winner for a roster spot, if there is indeed one to be had.

As for Cunningham, if he doesn’t make the roster but has a solid summer, he could get another chance if he bulks up some more on the practice squad.

However, if the Giants decide to finally cut bait on Robinson, who for one reason or another hasn’t contributed much since being drafted in the fourth round of the 2012 draft, there would then probably be room for him on the roster as well.

That is unless the Giants coaches feel squeamish about carrying two guys at the position with zero NFL experience between them.

Starting Defensive Ends

Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

What’s at Stake?

The release of Mathias Kiwanuka in February, combined with the uncertainty surrounding Jason Pierre-Paul, the Giants’ unsigned franchise player who is also recovering from a significant hand injury that cost him his right index finger, leaves New York with two starting jobs at the critical defensive end position.

The Candidates/Experience

The primary candidates listed as defensive ends include George Selvie (six), Damontre Moore (three), Robert Ayers Jr. (seven), Owa Odighizuwa (R), Kerry Wynn (two) and Jordan Stanton (one). Defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins (12) can also play the position.

The Projected Winners

With Kenrick Ellis likely to line up at defensive tackle, the Giants will probably leave Jenkins, who is coming off an injury-filled 2014 campaign, at one of the defensive end spots. 

According to Pro Football Focus, other than last season, Jenkins has graded out well as a pass-rusher. Even still, if the Giants do go to a pass-rushing package, the most likely scenario would see Jenkins move back inside to defensive tackle to replace Ellis and either Moore or Odighizuwa getting some chances at the other defensive end.

While Jenkins would probably provide some semblance of a replacement for Pierre-Paul’s pass-rushing skills, New York still needs a defensive end who can hold up against the run. That’s where Wynn, the 2014 undrafted free agent out of Richmond, can really make his mark.

Per PFF, Wynn was the second-best run defender on the Giants last season, just behind Pierre-Paul. However, when it comes to rushing the passer, the battle between him and Ayers wasn’t close.

Considering that the Giants have an improved linebacker corps with better sideline-to-sideline speed, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they go with the pass-rushers for the starting lineup, instead using run-stoppers like Wynn sparingly. 

Until such time that Pierre-Paul returns—if he returns—the Giants projected starting defensive ends will likely be Jenkins and Ayers.

Offensive Line (Tackle)

Uncredited/Associated Press

What’s at Stake?

The health and well-being of both starting quarterback Eli Manning and the Giants running game, ranked 23rd last season.

The Candidates/Experience

Marshall Newhouse (six), John Jerry (six) and Brandon Mosley (four)

The Projected Winners

The plan was so perfect that it was doomed to be sabotaged.

The plan, of course, was to plug first-round draft pick Ereck Flowers at right tackle, move Justin Pugh to left guard and move Weston Richburg to center.

Ah, but the injury bug had other ideas. Starting left tackle Will Beatty suffered a freak pectoral muscle injury while lifting weights, an injury that will keep him out of the lineup until early November at the soonest.

The Giants meanwhile have been scrambling to figure out a plan B for the offensive line. Throughout the spring, that backup plan saw Flowers moved to left tackle, a position that NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein, in his predraft scouting report of the former Miami Hurricane, opined that Flowers was not yet ready to undertake given some technique issues. 

The other part of that plan saw New York plugging veteran Marshall Newhouse, a journeyman who played for Green Bay and Cincinnati, and who, per Pro Football Focus, struggled in both pass and run blocking last year.

So what are the options if Newhouse struggles once the pads go on? There is John Jerry, who, last year, played right guard, but who was a part of that offensive interior that couldn’t create space for the running backs.

There is also Brandon Mosley, a fourth-round draft pick in 2012, a guy who, last year, despite finally being healthy for the majority of the regular season following a brief issue with his back in training camp, couldn’t unseat Jerry.

Of all the battles set to unfold during training camp, this one is the hardest to predict because it’s very possible that the next starting right tackle isn’t currently on the roster.

But, hey, what’s a Giants training camp without a little drama and intrigue, right?

Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information were obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced.

Follow @Patricia_Traina.