7 Bold Pre-Training Camp Predictions for New York Giants
Just like that, two of the six weeks before the New York Giants report to training camp July 27 are in the books.
When the team does reconvene, there will be no shortage of storylines hitting the airwaves. Head coach Ben McAdoo and his staff will be figuring out what their initial 53-man roster is going to look like, and they'll work on those plays and schemes that looked so promising during the spring.
It's anyone's guess as to how it will all shake out, but let's make some bold (and maybe not-so-bold) predictions before the Giants report to training camp.
The Giants Will Have Multiple Players Start on the PUP List
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The Giants didn't get through the spring without having some guys sidelined due to injury. While the hope is that all 90 players will be able to pass the mandated training-camp physical, it wouldn't be a shock if a few guys do not, which would put them on the active PUP list.
There are several players to watch in this regard, starting with linebacker J.T. Thomas, who missed the entire spring as he continues to work his way back from a season-ending knee injury.
Rhett Ellison, who told reporters he suffered a calf ailment even before the start of the OTAs, is another guy to keep watch for. The tight end did manage to do some running off to the side during the latter part of the spring, but given the Giants' recent history with calf issues, his situation bears watching.
The same can probably be said of defensive backs Mykkele Thompson and Eli Apple. Thompson, who missed last year with a knee injury, did some work early in the spring but then seemed to back off a bit as the OTAs and mandatory minicamp concluded.
Apple's tweaked hamstring—suffered during the third OTA—was enough for the team to shut him down for the rest of the spring, including for the mandatory minicamp where he wasn't even seen on the field (McAdoo chalked that up to illness, making no mention of the hamstring).
Players who start training camp on PUP remain part of the 90-man roster, but they can be removed from the list once they are able to pass a physical. However, if they are removed from the PUP list and reinjure themselves, they are no longer eligible to go back on the PUP list if their injury is significant enough to cost them weeks.
Geno Smith Will Pass Josh Johnson on the Depth Chart
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Position battles are rarely, if ever, won during the spring, regardless of whatever kind of advantage a player has.
Such is the case at backup quarterback, where, on paper at least, Josh Johnson appears to have an edge over Geno Smith for the job.
Johnson, unlike Smith, was in the Giants system last year, giving him a distinct advantage in terms of his knowledge of the playbook.
Johnson was also healthy enough to take his assigned reps during the spring, unlike Smith, who continues to rehab from a season-ending torn ACL.
Despite Johnson's advantages, don't automatically assume he's the lock in this competition. For one, Smith has far more experience, including games as a starter, than Johnson. Secondly, Smith told reporters during the spring that he was familiar with the Giants offensive system, having run something similar during the early part of his career with the Jets.
The battle won't be decided until each man takes meaningful snaps. McAdoo will probably alternate each week between Smith and Johnson to see who can hold his own better as the field general.
But don't count Smith out of this race just because he fell behind in the competition due to circumstances beyond his control.
The Defense Will Start Slowly
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During the early days of training camp, the defense usually tends to jump ahead of the offense in terms of cohesiveness and play-making ability.
That comes as no surprise as the defense is normally reacting to what the offense is doing, whereas the offense is trying to execute complex plays that rely on every man doing his job just as it was drawn up on the blackboard.
So why might the Giants defense, which is returning most of the key starters to the field this year, be likely to start out more slowly than usual?
The Giants have some uncertainty right up the middle of their defense, an area that the team's offense figures to attack quite often now that they have a guy like tight end Evan Engram, who can threaten defenses in the middle of the field.
Add to this the fact that the Giants defense is not set in the middle at critical positions and it's understandable if defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has some concerns going into camp.
For instance, no one from a group that includes rookie Dalvin Tomlinson and veterans Jay Bromley and Robert Thomas seems to have taken the lead in the competition to replace Johnathan Hankins at defensive tackle.
At middle linebacker, while it looks like it's B.J. Goodson's job to lose, he's still wet behind the ears, having played in just 13 snaps as a pro as a rookie. Will he be the one calling the plays? More importantly, will he be an every-down linebacker?
At free safety, Andrew Adams will try to hold off Darian Thompson, Duke Ihenacho and Nat Berhe for the starting job. Who among those players will emerge as a ball-hawk who can also make the calls on the back end of the defense?
Add it all up and you have an offense looking to experiment with its new toys that can stretch the middle of the field against a defense that's far from being settled in the middle of the field, thus giving the early advantage to the offense.
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Odell Beckham Jr. Won't See as Many Pass Targets in Training Camp
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No, this isn't a case of thinking Odell Beckham Jr. has lost any favor with the coaching staff or quarterback Eli Manning.
This is more a case of the Giants knowing what they have in Beckham and of Manning historically having impeccable timing with his No. 1 receiver.
The same can't necessarily be said of newcomers such as tight end Evan Engram and receiver Brandon Marshall.
Marshall, who made a promotional visit with Manning at a youth football camp this week, told campers of how he kept dropping passes from his quarterback during his first few weeks with the Giants.
"I think I dropped every other ball the first two weeks," Marshall said, per the New York Post. "I was like, 'These guys probably think they made a bad investment.'"
To make sure he and Manning are on the same page this summer, the veteran receiver revealed he reached out to Manning to request FaceTime access to go over what the offensive players were taught during the spring.
It's not known how Engram, who impressed during the spring workouts, will continue to advance his comfort level in the offense leading up to camp.
But, with the expectations for the offense set sky high, don't be surprised if receivers other than Beckham are featured during the summer so they can develop the same chemistry Beckham has with Manning.
The Giants Will Sign Another Kicker
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This spring, Aldrick Rosas has been nothing short of a huge hit with his coaches and teammates, all of whom have praised the first-year kicker for his professionalism.
However, it's still quite odd that for a team that looks to create as much competition as possible across the roster, they still haven't signed another kicker to compete with Rosas.
The Giants have always had multiple kickers in camp for their more established veterans, even if that "competition" was more of a relief player. So, wouldn't it make sense if they had another kicker around to at least push Rosas?
Paul Perkins Will Be the Team's 1st 1,000-Yard Running Back Since 2012
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The last time a Giants running back finished with a 1,000-yard rushing season was in 2012, when Ahmad Bradshaw rushed 221 times for 1,015 yards.
Since then, the closest any Giants running back has come to the magic 1,000-yard mark was Rashad Jennings, who rushed for 683 yards on 195 carries and three touchdowns in 2015.
That brings us to Paul Perkins, already named the starting running back by McAdoo. He showed enough potential to obviously sell the head coach on making him the team's starter rather than having him compete for the title.
With McAdoo and offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan looking to strike more balance between run and pass in this year's offense, the opportunity for Perkins to snap the four-year drought between 1,000-yard rushers is there given his elusiveness and his ability to pick up yards after contact.
Davis Webb Will Get a Regular-Season Snap
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Rookie quarterback Davis Webb will start his NFL career as the third-string quarterback on the Giants, behind whoever wins the backup battle between Geno Smith and Josh Johnson.
While a plan of keeping Webb on the bench for his rookie season probably makes the most sense, it also wouldn't be so far out of left field if the coaching staff looks to get him a handful of regular-season snaps toward the end of the season regardless of whoever the No. 2 guy is.
For that to happen, obviously the game would have to be so severely lopsided that it makes sense to pull starter Eli Manning from the lineup.
So why go with Webb over the backup?
Answer: If Webb continues to progress in his understanding of the offense—and he seems very committed to making big leaps as a rookie, telling the New York Post he planned to take little downtime between the end of the spring football period and the start of training camp—then it can't hurt to give him some live reps in garbage time just to get a better snapshot of his progress in actual competition.
Patricia Traina covers the New York Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information were obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced.
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