New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll, left, talks to...

New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll, left, talks to quarterback Russell Wilson, right, during NFL football practice in East Rutherford, N.J., Thursday, June 5, 2025. Credit: AP/Noah K. Murray

THREE-WIN SEASON FEELS FAR REMOVED

Watching the Giants giddily dance through their offseason program, seeing them practice as they fell in behind their new veteran leaders and showed the progress of their promising rookies, it was easy to forget the harsh reality of where this franchise was when we last saw them in real action.

The Giants are coming off a three-win season, one of if not the absolute worst in their first 100 years of playing professional football. They haven’t won a playoff game since 2012, have had double-digit losses in nine of the past 11 seasons and have brought back the majority of their coaches and executives — not to mention almost all of their offensive players besides the quarterbacks — who bumbled their way to that nadir to give it another go.

By all metrics, the arrow should be pointing sharply downward in East Rutherford. Yet somehow there is an optimism around this squad. Maybe it’s because things have to get better; they can’t really get much worse.

“I wish we could get more,” Russell Wilson said of the end of the minicamp this past week. “We’re just on this constant growth trajectory and we’ve got to stay there. I think that we’ve grown so much every day ... Man, it’s been a joy.”

Wilson is, of course, preternaturally positive, but he wasn’t around for last season’s doom. He was in Pittsburgh bringing the Steelers to the playoffs.

Those who did experience the lowest of lows here still carry those scars, and once in a while, they emerge from behind the smiles. That happened earlier this month when an OTA practice had to be cut short because of a brawl between the offensive and defensive personnel.

“I think people are just sick and tired of not being good,” tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, who had a central role in the melee, said of the root cause of those frustrations. “I mean, going 3-14 is terrible.”

There were times this spring, though, which made that misery feel as if it took place very long ago. If the regular season can do the same, 2025 will be a success.

 

HYATT SEEMS POISED FOR A BREAKOUT

SEASON

After two unfulfilling seasons with the Giants in which Jalin Hyatt’s best asset — his speed — was barely utilized, the wide receiver may be getting a new opportunity to flash with Wilson as his passer. Wilson has always been one of the top deep throwers in the league, his high-arching rainbows settling neatly in the arms of sprinting targets, and he seems to have realized early on that Hyatt, despite never having scored a touchdown in the NFL, can be the guy at the business end of those chucks.

“He’s got a great work ethic, Jalin does, and I think he’s got a great grit to him,” Wilson said. “I think that he wants to be great every day, and he’s got all the special pieces to it all. I think what makes a great receiver is his ability to catch the ball and contest the situations. He does a great job of that, and he’s got a great opportunity, in my opinion, this year to really set the tone in a great way.

“I’ve got all the belief in Jalin and who he’s going to be and what he’s going to mean to us and make clutch plays for us when it really matters in a great way. I’m excited for what he’s going to do this year and the rest of his career.”

Last year Hyatt was a non-factor in an offense that was stagnant. He was targeted only 19 times and caught eight passes for 62 yards.

While Hyatt flashed regularly during OTAs this spring, he was not able to participate in most of the minicamp after injuring his left leg early in Tuesday’s practice. Whether that situation will bleed into training camp remains to be seen, but whenever Hyatt gets on the field, expect Wilson to try to find him.

Other receivers should benefit from Wilson — as well as Jameis Winston and Jaxson Dart if and when they play — as the Giants have quarterbacks who aren’t afraid to push the football downfield.

That was a bugaboo for Wan’Dale Robison last year as most of his receptions came on short routes or with him coming back toward the ball rather than toward the end zone.

When asked about having more chances in open spaces and opportunities to add yards after the catch this year, Robinson laughed and said, “I would hope so. Obviously, I don’t call the plays, but I think we’ll be just fine in that category.”

 

MISSING PIECES

It was hard to visualize what this Giants team will look like based on the spring workouts because several of their top players — including arguably their four best returning ones — have yet to participate in team drills.

That list of sidelined talent includes Malik Nabers (toe), Dexter Lawrence (elbow), Andrew Thomas (foot) and Bobby Okereke (back). Some of them have been held out for precautionary reasons. Brian Daboll said Nabers is expected to be ready for training camp on July 22, but there is no guarantee the rest will be ready.

“I’d say they’re all at different spots,” Daboll said of the injured players. “Everybody’s here and at different stages of what we’re asking them to do.”

Nabers has typically spent the early parts of spring practices in the training room. He then emerges about halfway through and spends his time poking his head into the huddles (to get used to hearing the plays called by all the new quarterbacks) before backing away for a mental rep.

Lawrence participates in individual drills but bows out for any team combat. Thomas and Okereke have been spotted only rarely outside the medical rooms.

It’s been a spring in which expectations have been heightened, position groups have been improved and the overall depth of the roster has increased significantly. But until those big-time, big-name players are back on the field, the Giants won’t really have a sense of what they can be this season.

 

NEAL MIGHT BE  SALVAGEABLE

Evan Neal wasn’t much of a tackle for the Giants. They’re hoping he can be a better fit at guard and have moved him to that position this spring.

“He’s done a nice job,” Daboll said of the former seventh overall pick. “He’s picked up things well inside.”

There certainly are plenty of local players who have flopped at tackle and become solid and even sensational guards. Ereck Flowers was one of the Giants’ biggest busts this century as a first-round pick until they eventually released him and he became a starting interior blocker for Washington and Miami. More recently, Mekhi Becton never made much noise as a tackle for the Jets, but the guard was a key part of the Eagles’ Super Bowl victory last season. This offseason he signed a two-year, $20 million free-agent contract with the Chargers.

The Giants think Neal could be the next to make that journey . . . without having to change teams to do it.

“If you’re asking him to pull out in space and do a lot of redirecting at the second level, that is not his game,” assistant general manager Brandon Brown said. “He’s a power broker. He’s a guy that can create movement. He’s a guy that can absorb power, anchor in pass protection.

“When you look at the job description in our system for the guard, it is: Can he create movement at the line of scrimmage? Can he keep the interior firm in pass protection? We’ve seen Evan do that before ... We’re excited to see what he shows when the pads come on in training camp, excited to see that he has the physical tools and skill set to transition inside.”

 

KAFKA BACK ON THE HEADSET

There hasn’t been any official announcement and Daboll tap dances around the subject whenever it comes up, but it certainly appears that offensive coordinator Mike Kafka will return to calling the plays this season.

That’s a role Kafka had in his first two seasons with the Giants, but after they managed only 280 yards and 15.6 points per game in 2023, Daboll took it over in 2024. The result? A negligible improvement as the Giants averaged 294.8 yards and 16.1 points.

So it’s apparently back to Kafka, who has been on the walkie-talkie all spring calling the plays into the huddle.

“You’re learning every year, learning and growing every year,” Kafka said when asked what he might do differently this time around. “If you’re not looking to grow as a professional, then you’re not taking a step in the right direction.”

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