Five New York Giants Storylines to Watch in Regular Season Week 1

The Giants host the Denver Broncos in Week 1 of the regular season, and these are some stories worth watching in the coming week.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Sep 6, 2021 8:00 AM EDT

New York Giants Football is back after what seemed like an eternity of being away. This weekend the Giants will host the Denver Broncos in the 20221 regular-season opener in a game with several intriguing storylines worth following, such as...

Saquon Barkley's Status: Will He or Won't He Play?

At some point, the Giants will take the bubble wrap off of running back Saquon Barkley, who continues to ramp up his workload daily.

But don't expect that point to be Sunday against the Broncos. For one, when Barkley is cleared to get in a game, he's not going to get 80% or more of the reps like he usually does. Rather, they'll work him up toward that goal.

But more importantly, does it make sense to play Barkley this weekend against an AFC opponent when the Giants have a bigger game against the Washington Football Team, a division opponent, that they might want to have Barkley for?

This could go either way, but considering how the Giants have played it extra safe with Barley, would anyone be surprised if he doesn't suit up in Week 1?

The Playmakers' Statuses

At this point, you have to wonder if quarterback Daniel Jones is ever going to have his complete set of playmakers available for a regular-season game.

This coming weekend figures to be no different. Besides Barkley's status, there are questions about whether receivers Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney and tight ends Evan Engram and Kyle Rudolph will be good to go this weekend.

A best and early guess is that Golladay and Rudolph will be good to go, although how much they can do Sunday remains to be seen.

Engram? Again an early guess is the doesn't go this weekend for the same reason Barkley might be held out (short work week and a Week 2 game against a division rival).

Toney? He'll probably be listed as limited this week on the injury report, but beyond that, given all the time he's missed in the summer, even if he plays, it's hard to imagine he'll see a lot of snaps.

What About Adoree' Jackson

When speaking of injuries, let's not forget cornerback Adoree' Jackson, who has been dealing with a sprained ankle suffered two weeks ago. A very early guess is Jackson will be good to go but could be on a pitch count depending on how well he responds to his projected workload this week.

The Giants would love to have Jackson on the field as the whole reason they brought him in was to give them the firepower they need to play more man-to-man coverage. Will he be ready to step in and give them what they paid for in Week 1?

If Jackson is at least limited this week in practice, then his chances would look a lot better than if he doesn't practice.

Offensive Line Shuffle Coming?

Are you tired of hearing about the Giants offensive line?

Unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding this unit over the summer have kept it very much in the news.

With Broncos pass rushers Bradlee Chubb and Von Miller headed this way, don't be surprised if Nate Solder lands in the starting lineup ahead of second-year man Matt Peart at right tackle.

And what about projected starting left guard Shane Lemieux's availability after it was revealed he's dealing with a partially torn patella tendon? If he can't play would the Giants do a significant reshuffle of the line in which Will Hernandez moves from right guard to left guard, Nick Gates from center to right guard, and newcomer Billy Price steps in at center?

Ideally, the fewer moves a team has to make on the offensive line, the better, but again, the injury situation might force the Giants' hand. The Giants have been trying to cross-train their linemen all summer, and it does bear mention that Gates saw an uptick in snaps at guard late in training camp just in case, so make of that what you will.

Pat Shurmur's Return

Don't expect Broncos offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, fired as the Giants' head coach after the 2019 season, to give the Giants any bulletin-board material this week. That said, it's not out of the question that Shurmur has a little extra juice flowing through him as he prepares quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and the rest of the Broncos offense for Sunday's game.

Shurmur is a decent offensive coordinator, and one might argue that he has slightly better tools on the offensive line, receiver (Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, and KJ Hamler), and tight end (Noah Fant).

While some might say the jury is out regarding the Broncos' quarterback, the Broncos should be able to win a few games with Teddy Bridgewater at the helm as he's thought to be less mistake-prone than Drew Lock.