Five questions for the Giants as training camp gets underway
Giants rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers has some fun with the social media camera during minicamp in June. Credit: Ed Murray
The Giants report for training camp on Tuesday and will have their first practice on Wednesday. Here are five questions for the Giants heading into training camp.
1. Will Daniel Jones be fully operational for training camp?
Before the Giants broke for their summer vacation, Jones proclaimed himself ready for anything and everything when training camp begins.
His ability to stay healthy is a key to the Giants’ season, of course. And staying healthy has been a challenge for Jones. That’s why the Giants signed Drew Lock from the Seahawks as their backup quarterback.
“We’re excited to have Drew, and he knows what his role is going to be,” coach Brian Daboll said.
Lock got a ton of snaps during OTAs and seemed to warm to the offense. But for those who hoped he somehow would overtake Jones as the starter, there was no sign in the spring that that would be the case. Generally, Lock performed like a backup quarterback.
Jones, 26, is coming off an ACL tear in November. Before that, he missed three weeks with a neck injury.
The questions about Jones, signed to that four-year, $160 million contract, likely will remain until he proves he can stay on the field and be a reason — or the reason — the Giants win.
2. Is the offensive line improved?
The Giants are counting on that answer being yes.
The new offensive line coach is Carmen Bricillo, who has 20 years of coaching experience, including five in the NFL. Before coming to the Giants, he was with the Raiders. Last season, Las Vegas yielded 40 sacks. The Giants allowed an NFL-high 85, 20 more than the next-closest team.
So yes, there is considerable room for improvement.
A question for Bricillo and the Giants is whether tackle Evan Neal is ready to start the season. During the Giants’ spring work, Neal was not on the field while still dealing with a fracture that required surgery on his left ankle. Neal spent most of the spring — at least when the media was present — standing off to the side by himself. The status of Neal’s ankle likely will be among the first questions posed to Daboll on Wednesday, when training camp begins.
The Giants did add insurance in free agency, signing Jermaine Eluemunor, who can play right tackle. They also added Jon Runyan.
3. What will the Giants’ offense look like?
With Saquon Barkley now an Eagle, the offense will be different.
If first-round pick Malik Nabers can replicate his spring — when the receiver caught everything — he’ll be an instant difference-maker.
He made circus catches. He caught bad passes. He looked like a veteran. All of that, of course, bodes well for an offense in need of firepower.
Running back Devin Singletary played for Buffalo when Daboll was the Bills’ offensive coordinator under Sean McDermott. Last season, Singletary played for Houston and appeared in all 17 games. He also set career highs in rushing attempts (216) and rushing yards (898).
So, ultimately, general manager Joe Schoen got his wish. He said his vision for the offense was for Jones not to “hand the ball off to a $12 million back.” And he won’t: Singletary signed a three-year, $16.5 million contract.
4. What about the defense?
The Giants swung for the fences in March, trading two draft picks for Panthers defensive end Brian Burns and signing him to a five-year extension worth $141 million, with $87.5 million guaranteed at signing.
For Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux, help has arrived. Burns and Lawrence already were acquaintances.
The Giants’ new defensive coordinator, Shane Bowen, has more talent. The scheme will be different.
Former Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale blitzed nearly half the time. Last season, when he was the defensive coordinator for the Titans, Bowen played a four-deep zone on a quarter of the defensive snaps. Defensive backs under Bowen figure to play less man coverage.
The defense could be a work in progress, but not the defensive line. Burns said he already is comfortable with Lawrence and Thibodeaux.
As most of his Giants teammates do, Burns raved about Lawrence.
“From a football standpoint, his IQ is second to none as far as the D-linemen I’ve played with,” Burns said. “I think he definitely knows ball, knows how to rush, knows how to get to the quarterback and knows how to work together. There are certain things he [already has] told me I definitely wasn’t [aware of]. Yeah, he’s helping me as well.”
5. How big is this season for the Giants?
In two words: really big.
Daboll, of course, won an end-of-season battle with Martindale, who is now coaching at Michigan. The parting was not classy. Schoen seemed to win a battle to say goodbye to Barkley. Team co-owner John Mara’s grandchildren all wore Barkley jerseys at team practices. It will be particularly interesting to see how the Giants vs. Eagles games go this season. This is the team’s 100th anniversary of its founding, making this a good time for a winning season.
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
