New York Giants: Early Training Camp Standouts
Rejoice, New York Giants fans; our long, long, long offseason nightmare is finally over.
That’s right, it’s a new football year where all teams are 0-0, full of hope and putting their noses to the grindstone to get ready for the chase for the Vince Lombardi Trophy in February.
Your Giants have been at it since July 30, and although it’s early, the coaches are starting to get a better idea of what they have at various positions and how they’re going to fill some openings.
So let’s go ahead and run down a few observations gathered by yours truly after four practices, placing a focus on those players who have stood out.
S Bennett Jackson
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If first-year defensive back Bennett Jackson somehow lands in the starting lineup at safety, he will have written a remarkable story.
Drafted in the sixth round in 2014 out of Notre Dame, Jackson, then a cornerback, failed to make the 53-man roster last year.
He instead landed on the Giants’ practice squad where he remained until a season-ending knee injury necessitating microfracture surgery knocked him out.
“That was definitely stressful,” he said of his NFL career having stalled. “Shoot, I remember the day I got that text to get cut, it’s definitely humbling. I got another opportunity to go on the practice squad, and then I got another opportunity this year.
Jackson was signed to a futures contract for this year, plus he was given the news that he would be converting to safety.
He accepted the challenge, and after showing good ball awareness and being a regular fixture around the ball carrier, he was given an opportunity to work with the first-string defense Monday.
“When that kid sees the ball, he goes and gets the ball,” safeties coach David Merritt said. “This kid’s ability to put his toe in the ground and go and burst out of his break—he’s able to make plays.
“He’s making production and production, as [defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo] has said over and over, production is at the ball. This kid is able to get his hands on a couple of balls and passes already here. By far, more than any other safety I’ve had in camp so far.”
In addition to getting a chance to work with the starting defense, Jackson has been serving as the first-team fullback on the punt coverage team, where he’s been vocal—make that very vocal, in fact.
Jackson has so taken to his opportunities that during punt drills, he was quite frequently the first man down the field to make the play.
“You really just have to make the best of all your opportunities,” he said, adding, “I’m trying to make the most of this one."
WR Geremy Davis
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The Giants are projected to keep six receivers; of those six, Odell Beckham Jr., Victor Cruz, Rueben Randle and Dwayne Harris are locks.
The final two roster spots will boil down to players who not only show they can handle themselves in the passing game, but who can also show an ability to perform on special teams.
One such player who, if he keeps on doing what he has done in the first four practices, has a good chance of earning one of those roster spots is receiver Geremy Davis, the Giants’ sixth-round pick out of UConn.
“The thing I really like about him is he’s really serious about his business, and he’s been that way since he got here,” receivers coach Sean Ryan said. “He’s a notetaker, he pays attention to everything, he’s detailed, he is as good of worker as you can ask for a rookie and has a maturity level that is outstanding.”
Davis, 6’2”, 217 pounds, has made some nice catches this summer, some of which have been easy and others of which have required him to get a little physical with the defensive backs in coverage.
Each time, Davis has enforced his will. What’s more, if he realizes he can’t make the catch, he actively prevents the defensive back from having a chance at picking off the ball.
Davis told me he has been studying his playbook and trying to take good notes during the classroom sessions prior to going on the field for practice.
“I think at this level, having the type of quarterbacks we have, you gotta study more and have that mental ability to be on the field,” he said. “You have to be able to recognize that it’s a job, and to keep your job, the main thing is not to become complacent.”
Besides earning snaps on offense, Davis has been getting looks on special teams, particularly as a gunner. In one drill, he was pitted against 6’4”, 260-pound Daniel Fells, a mismatch in the making—except Davis, through sheer will, held his own against his bigger opponent.
“It’s all about giving my best and having faith in what I do,” Davis said. “That guy’s a big guy, but you never know in a game; I might have to go against someone bigger or smaller or faster, so you have to go up against a variety of different players and see how you match up against those guys.”
If he keeps doing that in the game, don’t be surprised if Davis slides onto the roster and gets a game-day uniform as a rookie.
DE Robert Ayers Jr.
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With the Giants needing two new defensive ends, veteran Robert Ayers Jr., the Jersey City, New Jersey, native who is in his second season with Big Blue, hopes to lock up one sooner than later.
To do that, however, Ayers knows he has to show that he can be better against the run, where, per Pro Football Focus, he wasn’t quite as strong as he was rushing the passer last year.
“I definitely want to be a complete player,” he said. “I want to be able to do everything that they ask me to do, whether it be dropping in coverage or rushing the passer, stop the run, rush inside—whatever it is, I want to be able to do it all.”
Head coach Tom Coughlin has certainly been happy from what he's seen from Ayers so far.
"Robert has played well. He’s been a really good soldier; he’s been a good teammate," he said. "He’s grabbed guys and talked to them, whether it be in the meeting rooms or out here. He’s worked hard. I’ve seen nothing but good things out of him."
Ayers, who admitted to idolizing former Giants defensive end and Hall of Famer Michael Strahan while growing up, has been mostly going against right tackle Marshall Newhouse in these early practices and has had some success against the run.
Interestingly, he hasn’t mixed inside to defensive tackle as much on passing downs, again working against Newhouse, whom he has beaten on more than one occasion, but that could still be coming if some of the other young defensive ends such as Damontre Moore and Owa Odighizuwa step up.
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LB Devon Kennard
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Last year, linebacker Devon Kennard, the Giants’ fifth-round draft pick, finished fourth on the Giants in sacks with 5.0, this despite missing four games.
That was no accident either. Kennard, who played in a 3-4 defense at USC, proved to be smart enough to make the transition to a 4-3 defensive base, and put enough on tape to where new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has been leaning heavily on the 24-year-old in pass-rushing packages.
If Kennard can build on what he did last year—and so far he’s shown more than a few glimpses that he can become that pass rusher—that could go a long way toward perhaps lessening the sting of losing defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, the team’s 2014 leader with 12.5 sacks, for an unknown period of time.
“I think they will give me the opportunities where I can [rush the passer],” Kennard said, adding that he hasn’t yet worked as a pure defensive end, a position he played in college.
“I think it is something that I am sure I can do throughout camp and throughout the season, and later in the year I got some opportunities and was able to take advantage of it.”
If defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo keeps some of the packages and formations in his playbook entering the regular season, Devon Kennard just might see many more opportunities. He has frequently lined up wide on the line where Spagnuolo has used Kennard’s quick burst and first step to disrupt things in the offensive backfield.
The plan seems to have worked enough to warrant a look-see in games. Kennard has, for example, blown up a tight end attempting to block him or has put a last-second juke move on whomever gets in his way, a move that has given him an unabated path to the quarterback.
Kennard smiled when asked if it might be possible for an outside linebacker to finish as a team leader in sacks given the set-up of Spagnuolo’s system.
“Possibly. Obviously nobody gets more opportunities to rush the passer than defensive ends, but there is definitely times where we are going to pressure all of our linebackers, so we will see what kind of opportunities are presented to us once the year comes.”
Advanced analytics via Pro Football Focus unless otherwise noted.
Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information were obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced.
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