ONE GIANTS LEAP
Big Blue enters training camp with eye on playoffs as they hope to make...
The Giants’ goal isn’t just to win more games. It’s to make the playoffs. More than a goal, it is an unspoken mandate, dictated by more than $100 million in offseason spending. An aggressive spring accelerated the Giants’ steady rebuild under second-year head coach Joe Judge. Ownership aims to put a contender on the field that brings fans back into MetLife Stadium post-pandemic and digs the franchise out of its recent perennial futility.
The Giants believe the opportunity is there in the NFC East, which has ranked as one of the worst divisions in NFL history for two years running.
A lot of the Giants’ new pieces have to come together quickly during training camp and the preseason, however, if they are going to make the necessary improvements and win in 2021.
Their first full-team practice is Wednesday morning in East Rutherford. They’ll play three exhibition games against the Jets (home), Browns (road) and Patriots (home), and travel for joint practices at both Cleveland and New England in August.
Here are the five things the Daily News will be watching as camp opens, and as Judge tries to turn around a franchise with one playoff appearance and two winning seasons in the last nine years.
THE OFFENSIVE LINE
GM Dave Gettleman’s promise and primary charge when he arrived in December 2017 was to fix the O-line. Entering Year 4, the Giants’ front is still a Giant question mark.
Judge has thrown an unprecedented amount of coaches and resources at the offensive front this season, demonstrating the team’s urgency to finally field a consistently competent unit in front of Daniel Jones.
But Rob Sale is this line’s third position coach since Judge got hired in January 2020, with Marc Colombo fired last fall and Dave DeGuglielmo leaving at season’s end.
And there’s no telling what will come of the five voices now in the linemen’s ears: those of offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, senior assistant Freddie Kitchens, Sale, assistant O-line coach Ben Wilkerson and consultant Pat Flaherty.
The focus, of course, should be on the players, but outside of left tackle Andrew Thomas and center Nick Gates, there are no sure things in the Week 1 starting five. Thomas needs to play consistently like the No. 4 overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Shane Lemieux, Zach Fulton and Will Hernandez primarily will compete at guard, but someone needs to assert themselves as a stud. Hernandez should approach this camp as if he’s clawing for a roster spot, let alone a starting gig.
The Giants would like 2020 thirdround pick Matt Peart to win the right tackle job, but he’s starting camp on the physically unable to perform list, and it’s possible Nate Solder will be needed there in the early going at least.
Pro Football Focus ranked the Giants as the worst offensive line in the NFL this past week, 32nd overall. Giants linemen have combined to produce the fifth-worst overall PFF grade in the league the past two years, and they rank in the bottom eight in both pass and run blocking.
None of the Giants’ offseason spending will make a difference if this isn’t fixed.
DANIEL JONES
The true evaluation of Jones will happen in the games that count, but in camp, it would be great to see him not to be tentative or turnover prone in the red zone.
In other words, a good camp would see Jones confidently and consistently deliver touchdown passes in the red area, as the Giants need him to do this fall.
The Giants’ 17.5 points per game average was second-worst in the NFL last season ahead of only the Jets’ 15.2. Jones moved the ball well between the 20s at times, but the offense settled for too many field goals and Jones committed some critical mistakes down near the goal line.
Jones’ primary mental charge will be to master an evolving playbook honed by Judge, Garrett and Kitchens to hopefully better cater to the strengths of their QB and his weapons. And the QB’s play will partially be at the mercy of his line and teammates around him.
But getting in the end zone regularly during camp would set an encouraging foundation.
THE NEW GUYS
Receivers Kenny Golladay, John Ross and Kadarius Toney. Corner Adoree Jackson. Tight end Kyle Rudolph. Which of the Giants’ splashy new additions will show out this
summer?
Can Golladay form a bond quickly with Jones? Will Ross’ speed add a new downfield dimension? Will Toney push through his positive COVID-19 test and barely miss a beat?
And what of Jackson, the Giants’ free agent overpay on defense to complement their crazy money for Golladay on offense?
Jackson, who missed all but three Titans games due to injury last season, could take the Giants defense to another level if he can lock up the outside opposite James Bradberry. But he also could just as easily be a liability. It’s on Jackson to prove he was worth the cash.
The timetable for Rudolph, meanwhile, is a bit unclear with him starting camp on the PUP list. He told the Daily News that he wouldn’t miss any football due to his offseason foot surgery, meaning he expects to be ready for Week 1.
It will be important to get him on the field at least in time for those joint practices with the Browns and Patriots, though, if the Giants are going to have him fully incorporated for their opener against the Broncos.
SAQUON BARKLEY
I don’t think a healthy Barkley is the primary key to the Giants offense having a better season.
I think if the offensive line protects Jones well and the quarterback builds chemistry with his new receivers, the Giants could score points and win some games with free agent signing Devontae Booker giving them a capable and well-rounded back.
But Barkley’s big play ability adds a unique dimension and commands a ton of attention from defenses. And that is why it is critically important not only that he gets healthy but that the Giants should be patient getting him there.
Barkley unsurprisingly opens camp on the PUP list. I’d be surprised if he weren’t in uniform in Week 1. And it will be difficult for Judge to fight the urge to ride Barkley right out of the gate to give Jones the best opportunity to score more points from the jump.
But it might also be wise for Garrett to ease Barkley into his normal heavy workload so the Giants can unleash him in the second half of the season when they are hopefully making a playoff push.
All of this is to say I don’t expect to see much of Barkley on the field early in camp, though it matters more that we see him on the field in October at full strength. Any progress toward that will be a plus.
THE PASS RUSH AND DEFENSIVE SCHEME
The Giants re-signed Leonard Williams on the interior, drafted edges Azeez Ojulari and Elerson Smith, and are getting Lorenzo Carter back healthy while Oshane Ximines (hamstring) starts on PUP. That is the primary plan for a pass rush.
Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham hopes to play more manto-man defense in Year 2 after using copious zone coverages and disguises to mask the D’s personnel weaknesses in 2020. Will his corners allow it? Will the Giants be able to put enough pressure on the quarterback to do it?
Smith, a fourth-round pick out of Northern Iowa, rarely came off the field as the left edge at June’s minicamp while Carter and Ojulari rotated on the right. Something to watch. Williams led the Giants with 11.5 sacks last season, but can he repeat that? And will he have help?
All open questions as the Giants kick off their 2021 training camp.