What We've Learned About the Giants After Three Training Camp Practices
The New York Giants are back from a day off from training camp, with two practices on deck to complete the acclimation period before the pads go on starting Tuesday.
The first three days of camp were busy both on and off the field, so let's run down some of the things we learned from the three padless practices and accompanying media sessions.
Waller is to Jones What Plax Was to Eli
Remember when the Giants went and got a legitimate skyscraper receiver named Plaxico Burress to pair with their still-young quarterback Eli Manning?
Yeah, that worked out well, as before Burress had his unfortunate accident that ended his career with the Giants, he became Manning's security blanket, a guy he could throw to and not have to worry about the outcome of the play.
Manning connected with Burress 244 times for 3,681 yards, making Burress the fourth-most-targeted receiver in Manning's career. And now, almost 20 years later, the Giants appear to have finally found a similar skyscraper for Manning's successor, Daniel Jones.
That, of course, is tight end Darren Waller, the de facto No. 1 receiver on this team. Already Jones and Waller have a connection that has, at times, been breathtaking to watch. So imagine what that might look like once game plans go into effect.
"It's a relationship that’s gelling," Waller said this week of his time with Jones so far." We’ve got a few months under our belt of staying in touch and just open dialogue, ego removed.
"We can tell each other what we're thinking, what he may want, things I've been comfortable doing and things I like doing and find a midpoint or be able to just learn about each other. I feel like it's paying off and just trying to keep going day by day and let the results take care of themselves."
If both stay healthy, the results will indeed speak for themselves.
New York Giants rookie cornerback Deonte Banks participates in drills on the first day of mandatory minicamp at the Giants training center in East Rutherford on Tuesday, June 13, 2023.
Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
Rookies Struggles
It was a rough week for cornerback Deonte Banks, the team's first-round pick, who was frequently schooled by more experienced receivers.
Those plays caused some people to grumble about whether the Giants had made a mistake by selecting Banks, but those grumbles might be premature.
For one, the game is a lot faster at the pro level, and a rookie is rarely going to come in and play like Sauce Gardner did last year for the Jets. But the good thing about Banks is that he has a short memory and has continued to chop wood as he looks to better acclimate to the NFL.
"I take notes on my stuff and learn what I can learn from my position, and then I try to see the bigger picture and see what everybody else is doing," he said when asked how he goes about improving. "Also, ask vets what they’d do or how they’d look at this or things like that."
It will be interesting to see how well Banks does once the pads go on this Tuesday and jamming receivers at the line of scrimmage is allowed. Until then, it's better that Banks get these mistakes out of the way now so that they'll barely be a memory come opening day.
Saquon's Epiphany
Running back Saquon Barkley admitted that he came very close to rejecting a modified franchise tag offer and sitting out in further protest over his failure to get a multiyear deal he felt was fair.
But then he said he had an epiphany that made him realize that he could become the face of the running backs' plight.
"The reality is, I kind of just followed my heart. I heard what everyone was saying in the news and on social media, but I kind of just followed my heart," he said.
"And then you’ve got to look at it from a business point, from a business view, I felt like, what’s the best thing I can do? Some people may agree or disagree with this, to sit out or sit in, and I feel like for this year specifically, the best thing that I can do for myself would be to come back and play the game that I love.
"I know what’s going on with the running back situation, me being tagged, and the value of the running back continually going down. The only way that I feel like that’s going to change is someone has to make it change. Hopefully, I can be one of the people to do it."
To his credit, Barkley hasn't been a distraction since signing his deal. He's been spotted coaching his teammates up. He's also attacked every play in which his number is called with the same busto of a hungry rookie.
Whether he can be the catalyst that gets the rest of the league to view running backs differently remains to be seen, but kudos to Barkley for coming to his senses and realizing that without any real leverage, showing up and balling out is the only thing he can do.
Joe Schoen Ain't Messing Around
When it comes to personnel management, some NFL general managers are proactive, and others reactive.
The proactive ones are usually the guys whose teams find success, whereas the reactive ones who wait to make moves end up messing up their salary cap.
The Giants? They're fortunate in that their general manager, Joe Schoen, is proactive, and for proof of that, look no further than the decision o extend left tackle Andrew Thomas despite having the player under contract for two more years.
"I’m a believer in it," Schoen said when asked why he swiftly locked up Thomas rather than let him play out more of his rookie deal.
"He played at a high level, and he’s our type of guy. To get ahead of those things, I think if he’s willing to do a deal, and it was something we were comfortable with, both parties were happy with where we ended up landing."
Earlier this off-season, Schoen did the same thing with defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, who had one more year left on his rookie deal.
But getting back to Thomas--the last time the Giants are believed to have extended a young player who was only three years into his NFL career was in 1983 when, as part of a bailout for is having signed with the New Jersey Generals of the USFL, Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor received a contract extension.
While it's always a gamble to lock up a player, no matter how good he is, given the injury risk, the structures of the deals both Lawrence and Thomas received shouldn't be too hard to swallow if something unforeseen happens.
Don't Sleep on Collin Johnson
The Giants entered training camp with over a dozen receivers on their roster, making it a tough uphill battle for guys like Collin Johnson, who spent last year on injured reserve with an Achilles injury, to gain traction.
Good thing though this coaching staff believes in spreading reps around--and good thing Johnson, who has had reps with the first, second, and third team offenses, is making the most of his chances.
Before his injury last year, Johnson turned heads with his large catch radius, speed, and sticky hands. With the Achilles injury well in the rearview mirror, he's picked up where he's left off, getting off to a hot start when his number is called.
If Johnson can give the Giants quality snaps on special teams as well, he could finish the quest he started last year: to make this Giants roster and be a regular contributor.
Deep Thoughts
There are certain stats a team doesn't want to rank at or near the bottom of the league in. For the Giants offense, one such stat is in big passing plays.
By now, we know how the Giants did linger in the cellar in that category, with 28 such plays of 20+ yards, some blaming it on a shaky offensive line, some on the players learning a new system, and a lot pointing to the lack of elite talent at receiver.
So the Giants did something about that. They added speed in the forms of Parris Campbell and Jalin Hyatt. And they're opening up the offense a lot more with deep shots down the field, looking to see how certain throws on certain patterns look before making any final decisions on what they'll keep in the playbook.
"There are plays you call to be explosive that don’t turn out that way relative to how they are getting played. You can’t just focus on one area," said head coach Brian Daboll. "It is certainly an area we need to improve, but I never want Daniel to force any ball.
"Will there be times when I might go to him and say, ‘Let this thing rip.’ If it gets picked, I don’t care. It gets intercepted in practice, let’s take a look at how it looks."
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