5 New York Giants Who Could Be on the Bubble

At the end of the New York Giants’ mandatory minicamp, head coach Ben McAdoo insistent that jobs haven’t been won or lost based strictly on who was playing where for the team.

However, it doesn’t take the coach to provide clues as to which players just might be on the bubble this summer.

Whether it’s because the players haven’t developed/contributed as expected or have otherwise run their course, there are some familiar and not so familiar names who could be looking for work after those final cuts are made in early September.

Let’s take a look at a few. 

OL Brett Jones

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A year ago, offensive lineman Brett Jones was a highly sought-after prospect who excelled in the Canadian Football League.

In addition to the Giants, Ian Hamilton of the Calgary Herald reported that Jones worked out for Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh, plus had interest from other teams. Jones, the CFL’s top offensive lineman in 2014, ultimately chose the Giants with an eye toward making the transition to the NFL.

The plan, however, seemed doomed from the start in retrospect. Not only was there little chance of Jones supplanting Weston Richburg at center, a knee injury suffered late last summer put Jones on the shelf, thus stunting his development at guard, a position where Hamilton said Jones played in just one game for the Calgary Stampeders.

A year later, Richburg is still firmly entrenched as the starting center. His backup from last year, Dallas Reynolds, is no longer on the roster, but dark horses such as Adam Gettis and Shane McDermott both seem to have the versatility that Jones is trying to catch up on.

If the injury bug stays away, then it would be hard to see Jones making this team given how the depth seems to be shaking out in front of him.

LB Mark Herzlich

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Mark Herzlich is one of the nicest guys you’ll meet, an inspiring story of what a lot of focus, hard work and will power will do for a person when they are at their absolute lowest, as he was when he was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer while in college.

The sad reality, though, at least as far as football goes, is that Herzlich never blossomed into the linebacker prospect may thought he would be prior to his illness. Per CBS Sports, Herzlich might have been a first-round draft pick were it not for the curve ball that life threw at him.

Although he overcame that and hooked up with the Giants as an undrafted free agent, Herzlich at his best was nothing more than a core special teams player.

Three times he had an opportunity to nail down a starting job, but all three times, someone else ended up coming in and playing ahead of him at middle linebacker, including Greg Jones, Chase Blackburn and Jon Beason.

With the Giants having loaded up on linebackers this year—Keenan Robinson, Jasper Brinkley, Kelvin Sheppard and B.J. Goodson are all new to summer camp this year—it might take a few injuries for Herzlich to have a chance of sticking around.

S Cooper Taylor

Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

When the Giants drafted Cooper Taylor in the fifth round of the 2013 draft, they no doubt envisioned him as a potential “big nickel” candidate—that pseudo linebacker/safety who could provide a little extra beef down in the box while also floating back into coverage.

It hasn’t worked out that way, though. These days, Taylor, who once again had to miss a large chunk of the offseason development time (this time due to a sports hernia injury) is literally on the verge of not finishing out his rookie contract.

Taylor’s NFL career has been marred by injuries that have cost him valuable chunks of time, particularly in the summer when the coaches have more of an opportunity to develop players.

As a result, when a player is consistently not available to them, they look to move on, which is why Nat Berhe, Landon Collins and Darian Thompson are all now part of this team.

FB Nikita Whitlock

Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

Nikita Whitlock told me for Inside Football that he views himself as a “tool”—someone the coaches can pull off the shelf and use in a variety of ways.

That was the case last year when the Giants, paper-thin at defensive tackle, gave the versatile Whitlock an opportunity to contribute.

Before a knee injury knocked him out of action late in the season, Whitlock was contributing on offense, defense and special teams, earning himself a game-day uniform because of his consistency.

The problem for him this year is the Giants have since upgraded their collection of tools with some newer, more versatile models.

At fullback, McAdoo seems to be learning toward using a tight end to serve as the lead blocker, only because of the versatility that position offers.

Meanwhile at defensive tackle, the position Whitlock played in college and still identifies with, the team has added Damon Harrison to a group already consisting of Jay Bromley and Johnathan Hankins.

Again, it might take a rash of injuries for Whitlock to hang around, and he’s certainly not about to go down without a fight. However, he’s potentially looking at even a bigger uphill battle to stick around than he faced last year.

RB Orleans Darkwa

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Last year, whenever Orleans Darkwa touched the ball, good things happened.

Per Pro Football Focus, he averaged 4.3 yards per carry, the same as Shane Vereen, who had nearly twice as many carries. And Darkwa’s 2.7 yards-after-contact average was second among Giants running backs, behind starter Rashad Jennings.

Despite showing flashes of production, the Giants still went out and added to the league’s 18th-ranked rushing attack, signing free agent Bobby Rainey and drafting Paul Perkins. Those two, along with Jennings and Andre Williams and Darkwa, makes for a crowded backfield.  

Historically, the Giants have kept four running backs and a fullback. As previously mentioned on another slide, they probably won’t keep a pure fullback this year if they can get compatible production from the tight ends.

Even if the Giants opt to keep an extra running back—and my guess is they’d probably keep four tight ends before they keep five running backs—figure Jennings, Williams, Vereen and Perkins are locks with Rainey, whom offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan has praised this offseason, a likely candidate for the fifth spot if they go that high.

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

Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.