The Giants are, officially, the 22nd team I’ve visited this summer. Stopped by their facility Thursday and their preseason game Friday night …
1) There’s a good deal of optimism that they got the better end of the Darren Waller trade—he was available in large part because of recent injury, and the fact that he turns 31 three days after the regular-season opener—and that’s not just because of the freakish athletic traits that made him special a few years back. The guy the Giants got is also winning because of his smarts, his savvy in being able to get separation and maybe a little extra motivation from being dumped by the Raiders. The other thing that should help is the experience coach Brian Daboll (Rob Gronkowski) and OC Mike Kafka (Travis Kelce) have deploying unique weapons at the position. Waller’s addition, tied together with those of Parris Campbell and Jalin Hyatt, has the New York coaches feeling like the offense is considerably faster than it was a year ago.
Seth Wenig/AP
2) As for the triggerman, Daniel Jones is sure looking to earn every dollar of the four-year, $160 million extension he landed in March. He looks a little bigger physically, and he’s been the definition of the “first one in, last one out” cliché all offseason. As a result, Daboll’s offense has really become his own—and he’s playing faster now, something that showed up in his preseason cameo on Friday night. The staff believes there’s a very real confidence he’s playing with now, finally being in a system that’s entrenched and he can grow in. Which is why my sense is the Giants now believe they have a quarterback who can go toe-to-toe with the guys in Philly and Dallas, no problem.
3) The offensive line’s improvement of a year ago could take another step too. Before his concussion a week ago, Evan Neal was as healthy as he’s been as a pro, and he should be in a really good place physically and developmentally going into Week 1. And fourth-round pick John Michael Schmitz looks like he’s going to be both a long- and short-term answer for the Giants at center. What’s left up front is for the coaches to pick two starters from the three-way battle at guard between Mark Glowinski, Ben Bredeson and Joshua Ezeudu.
4) The interior of the defensive line needs to get healthy. When it does, the expectation is this will be a much bigger, deeper group than it was a year ago behind Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams. Between veteran additions A’Shawn Robinson and Rakeem Nuñez-Roches, second-year man D.J. Davidson and seventh-round pick Jordon Riley, DC Wink Martindale will have more options that are better fits for his defense, which should help him rotate more effectively and keep his stars fresh.
5) The defensive linemen aren’t the only new guys on that side who figure to make a difference. Veteran linebacker Bobby Okereke—who the Colts hated to lose—looks like a difference-maker in the middle (though the Giants could use a little depth at that spot). First-round pick Deonte Banks is already penciled in as a starter at corner, with sixth-rounder Tre Hawkins making a strong push to join him in the lineup. And while safety Jason Pinnock (slated to start next to Xavier McKinney) isn’t new, his acquisition is another example of how the front office is pulling every lever. He was a waiver claim last summer, as a guy the scouts and coaches ID’d as a target during last summer’s joint practices with the Lions. How all the tweaks and fixes in personnel are weaponized should be real interesting, given how creative and aggressive Martindale is with his defense.
