5 GIANTS TO WATCH
LB B.J. Goodson
Wanting him to be the starting middle linebacker is fine. Giving him every opportunity to thrive as a second-year player with practically no experience on defense as a rookie is all well and good. This was the plan all along for Goodson: Bring him along on special teams then unleash his down-hill, physical tackling ability as a starter in year No. 2. It is Goodson’s job to lose, and the Giants are counting on this quiet but tough guy from Clemson to serve as one of the very few missing pieces on what should be a sterling defense. Goodson does not have to be a Pro Bowler, but he has to be an orchestrator and a leader, the sooner the better in camp.
RB Paul Perkins
Jobs are not won in the spring, but this one was, as coach Ben McAdoo shed his customary “wait-and-see’’ approach and named Perkins the starting running back. Perkins showed flashes (456 rushing yards) as a rookie, but he will have to show more than that to justify this ascension. Otherwise, McAdoo will have to sort through Shane Vereen, Orleans Darkwa and rookie Wayne Gallman to find a starter. Perkins might not do anything exceptionally well, and he seems to be a below-average pass-catcher. He is smart and can handle the pass-protection assignments. Can he be an elusive and dependable runner?
OT Ereck Flowers
The true test will come Sept. 10 in Dallas, but before then, it would be nice for Flowers to show real signs that he is a changed player, can live up to his first-round draft status and become a legitimate starting left tackle. He is leaner and in better shape after a diligent offseason regime, which is great, but now it must translate to the field. The coaching staff should instruct Olivier Vernon to hold nothing back in his summer battles with Flowers. The time for treating Flowers with kid gloves is over.
FS Darian Thompson
This guy was a shooting star in the summer of 2016, rocketing to the starting free safety role as a rookie third-round pick from Boise State. The liftoff lasted just two games before he crash-landed on injured reserve. Now Thompson is coming off foot surgery and has to re-establish himself, as another rookie, Andrew Adams, filled in admirably last season. First, Thompson has to show his foot is sound and can take a pounding. Next, he has to pick up where he left off as a vocal presence on the back end of the defense, as a ballhawk and as a coverage-minded safety capable of complementing rising star Landon Collins.
K Aldrick Rosas
Really? Do we really have to dwell on the status of a kid kicker, day after day, practice after practice? Well, yes, when he is the only kicker on the roster, the only kicker in camp. Rosas is a rookie from that kicking hotbed of Southern Oregon, a big guy with a big leg, a 22-year-old the Giants believe can handle the workload. They will test him whenever possible, manufacturing pressure situations for him in drills designed to make him sweat. Rosas will get to show his wares in the preseason games. If he falters, a veteran will be signed and Rosas becomes a footnote. These young kickers have to get their break somewhere. It will be interesting to see if this one can make it through unscathed.