Giants Country

Storylines to Watch Heading into Giants Mandatory Minicamp

The New York Giants open a two-day mandatory minicamp Tuesday at their East Rutherford headquarters. Here are some storylines we'll be watching.
Patricia Traina|
Storylines to Watch Heading into Giants Mandatory Minicamp
Storylines to Watch Heading into Giants Mandatory Minicamp

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New York Giants

And just like that, spring football activities will close this week for the New York Giants, who will hold a two-day mandatory minicamp on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The two days will include media availability with the assistant (position) coaches on both days, assistant general manager Brandon Brown (on Tuesday), head coach Brian Daboll (both days), and, of course, practice and player availability.

That won't be the case for those looking for answers to roster questions to emerge from this minicamp, not in a padless, non-contact environment. Just as was the case with the OTAs, jobs won't be won or lost in this minicamp. However, the practices will allow the coaches to evaluate how well the players carry out their assignments after spending the entire spring learning the new alignments.

There will also be a few more things to watch over these next few days.

Saquon Barkley

Barring a miraculous turnaround, Barkley is not expected to be on the field during this camp as he and the Giants try to work out a long-term deal by the July 17 deadline.

Both Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka have declined to comment about where things stand with Barkley's quest for a long-term, multi-year deal.

But with Brown set to meet the media on Tuesday, you can bet that he will receive questions about where things stand in the Barkley negotiations, including questions about Barkley feeling disrespected thanks to a false narrative that he claims is out there about him.

Brown is unlikely to say much about the situation, perhaps even deferring any comments to general manager Joe Schoen. But things have gotten a tad sticky with Barkley, who made little effort to hide his bruised ego when he spoke to reporters.

And while a nice multi-year contract with guaranteed money will go a long way toward soothing bruised egos, whether that gets done by the deadline remains one of the biggest question marks this team faces as it closes out the spring.

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Rep Distribution

The Giants have a few players who are currently rehabbing off-season procedures and/or season-ending injuries from last year, including receivers Sterling Shepard and Wan'Dale Robinson, defensive linemen D.J. Davidson and A'Shawn Robison, safeties Dane Belton and Jason Pinnock, and offensive linemen Joshua Ezeudu and Marcus McKethan, just to name a few.

Those players sidelined will open the door for others to get their reps. Thus it will be interesting to see who gets more reps than might ordinarily have been the case and at what positions, as that will indicate how the depth chart might be taking shape.

The Practice Tempo

The media has only been at two OTAs--the third one was canceled due to the poor air quality index in the area from the Canadian wildfires. But in both open OTAs, the Giants ran the practice between 25-50 percent speed--and no, that wasn't necessarily all due to the practice being of the non-contact variety.

Daboll told reporters that the goal of the spring OTAs was to teach the new and returning players the various concepts the coaches are looking to implement. The Giants ran plenty of 7-o-7 drills, but for the 11-on-11 drills, they had the players remove their helmets and literally walk through the plays.

That should change in this minicamp so the coaches can see what has taken and what hasn't. Again, there won't be any contact in this minicamp, but an increase in practice tempo must certainly be on the docket.

Rookie Progress

The rookies have now been at it with the team for a little over a month, and things should hopefully be sinking in regarding the playbook and ways of the team.

While we won't be able to fully determine where each rookie is in his respective development at this point, what we can watch for are reps--who is working with the first-team unit, who's in on the various sub packages, and so forth. The more a player is asked to do, the better that looks for the player.

All eyes figure to be on cornerback Deonte Banks, who has seen snaps with the first-team defense. Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale has been high on Banks.

And speaking of which, the assistant coaches will be available during this camp, which should provide us with additional insight into how the rookies and the second and third-year players are progressing in their respective development.

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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