Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Giants Rookie Minicamp: Tryout Player Profiles
EAST RUTHERFORD -- Per NFL rules (still being driven by COVID-19 protocols), teams holding rookie minicamps are permitted just five tryout players at the camps. If a tryout candidate is a veteran, he must not have been on an NFL roster as of the end of last year.
Here is a look at the five tryout players the Giants have in their rookie minicamp this weekend.
WR Kelvin Benjamin
Benjamin was a 2014 first-round pick by the Carolina Panthers, whose general manager was current Giants GM Dave Gettleman.
Benjamin, the 20th overall pick in that draft, justified his draft status as a rookie when he logged 1,008 yards on 73 receptions with nine touchdowns. However, he suffered a torn ACL and missed his entire second season.
When he returned the following year, Benjamin logged 941 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on 63 receptions. In 2017, Benjamin was traded to the Bills for whom he appeared in six games, but he was released the following year.
His final season was in 2018, when he played for Buffalo and Kansas City. Benjamin, who has been out of football since that 2018 season, has 209 career receptions for 3,021 yards and 20 receiving touchdowns.
Benjamin was linked to the Giants in 2019 when they had some injuries at receiver, but he never attended that tryout. He'll get his chance to reunite with Gettleman this weekend. Benjamin is listed as a tight end on the Giants minicamp roster.
RB Corey Clement
With the Giants running back room still a bit on the thin side, New York plans to look at former Eagles running back Corey Clement this weekend.
Clement was originally an undrafted free agent signed by the Eagles in 2017, but he went on to have a success story with the Giants NFC East rivals.
Clement recorded the second-most all-purpose yards (1,367) by an undrafted free agent in his first three seasons as an Eagle since the 1970 merger. Clement was also one of the stars of Super Bowl LII when he caught a team-high 100 receiving yards in that game.
The Eagles have since revamped their running back room, a renovation that has left out Clement, who will now hope to impress the coaches enough to earn a spot in a Giants running backs room that currently has a recovering Saquon Barkley, veteran Devontae Booker, rookie Gary Brightwell, and former Chicago Bears running back Taquan Mizzell.
FB Frankie Feaster
Feaster is a New Jersey native (Bergen Catholic High School) who played his college ball at Muhlenberg College as a defensive end, linebacker, safety, and tight end.
Feaster, who also starred in lacrosse, was a productive player on defense in college. He finished his career with 148 tackles, 58 tackles for a loss, 34 sacks, 15 pass breakups, and one interception.
He also etched his name in the school's record books for most sacks in a career (34), most sacks in a season (17.5), and most blocked kicks in a game (2 - tied)
Feaster, 6'1" and 245 pounds, is listed as a fullback on the Giants' minicamp roster.
MORE MINICAMP RELATED COVERAGE
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- Giants Sign Three Draft Picks
- How "Tough Love" Helped Put Giants' DE Elerson Smith on the Path to the NFL
QB Nathan Rourke
Canadian native Nathan Rourke will be one of the quarterbacks in the Giants rookie minicamp this weekend.
Rourke, 22 years old, played his college ball at Ohio University, where, as a senior, he threw for 2,676 yards and 20 touchdowns, completing 61.4 of his pass attempts.
Rourke, a dual-threat as a runner, recorded 780 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, averaging 5.4 yards-per-carry as a senior.
Rourke, drafted in the second round of the 2020 CFL draft by the British Columbia Lions, logged a 24-13 record as a starting college quarterback and led the Bobcats to three consecutive Bowl victories.
The 6'2", 209-pound Rourke finished his three-year career at Ohio, having completed 525 out of 894 passes (58.7%) for 7,457 yards, 60 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions. As a runner, he rushed for 2,634 yards on 425 carries and recorded 49 rushing touchdowns.
RB Romarius "Ito" Smith
Smith was a fourth-round draft pick in 2018 by the Atlanta Falcons, who plucked the 5'9", 195-pounder out of Southern, Mississippi. In three seasons for the Falcons, Smith recorded 689 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 175 carries. He also has 314 receiving yards on 55 career catches and has minimal experience as a kickoff returner, having returned two kickoffs in 2019.
Smith has had some injuries in his career. In December 2018, he suffered a season-ending knee injury. Then in November 2019, he suffered a season-ending concussion.
Smith finally got healthy last year, working his way up from the third-string running back to the starter in the final weeks of the season. However, the Falcons waived Smith last month after the new coaching staff decided he was no longer a fit for what they want to do.
No Offensive Linemen
Except for UDFAs Brett Heggie and Jake Burton, the Giants aren't bringing in any other new faces for the offensive line.
Gettleman and head coach Joe Judge have repeatedly insisted that they're a lot more at ease with the collection of talent they have on the offensive line than most outside the building.
Besides the talent itself, this confidence no doubt lies in the coaching staff's ability, which, as far as the offensive line goes, was made over earlier this year. Judge hired Rob Sale to be the team's new primary offensive line coach, and Sale will continue to work with assistant offensive line coach Ben Wilkerson.
Judge also hired Pat Flaherty, former head coach Tom Coughlin's offensive line coach, to a senior offensive consultant role.
As the Giants offensive line coach under Coughlin, Flaherty helped groom Shaun O'Hara, an undrafted free agent the Giants acquired in free agency from the Browns, David Diehl, a fifth-round draft pick and Chris Snee, a second-round draft pick into Pro Bowl players.
Flaherty also coached guard Rich Seubert (undrafted) into one of the team's most successful homegrown UDFA stories. He also groomed tackle Kareem McKenzie, whom the Giants acquired in free agency from the Jets, into one of the best run-blocking right tackles in the game at the time.
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