What We Learned from Giants OTAs, Minicamp

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants 2024 spring football program is officially in the books after the team wrapped up their program on Wednesday with their final minicamp practice.

It was an uneventful spring for the most part. Receiver Darius Slayton, who stayed away for most of the voluntary work in a quest to get a new contract, reached an agreement with the team on a modified contract.

As expected, Darren Waller's retirement decision was made just before the start of the mandatory minicamp. The tight end walked away from the game after eight years, his decision “gifting” the Giants over $11 million in salary cap space.

Healthwise, the Giants, who did have some guys get banged up, didn’t lose anyone, at least not that we know of, for the season, so that’s a win. And despite rising pressure on head coach Brian Daboll this season to get the team back on track from last year’s 6-11 disaster, the overall tone of the spring was calm but focused.

It’s still too early to make any predictions about this Giants team, though. The next key step will be sorting through the 90-man roster and figuring out answers to some of the key remaining open questions.

That said, after three open OTAs and two minicamp practices, I learned plenty about this Giants team and its direction. Here are our takeaways.

1. Daniel Jones is on track to be ready for training camp

The 2024 season is critical for embattled Giants starting quarterback Daniel Jones, who is recovering from a torn ACL.

Before his season-ending injury last season, Jones did not play well. His supporters will point to the horrific play by the injury-riddled offensive line, the absences of running back Saquon Barkley and Waller, the play calling, and the lack of a No. 1 receiver.

All of that can be true, just as it can also be true that Jones often looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

However, his team-leading 4.1 percent turnover-worthy play percentage in a team-low 209 snaps and that he was directly responsible for 20 percent of the pressures he encountered are on him.

Jones has shown he can be a quarterback a team can win with—see the 2022 season for proof. But there is no question that he regressed last season and needs to play better, especially with that escape hatch in his contract looming at the end of this season.

The good news is that Jones has been working hard to ensure he’s ready for the start of training camp. The trainers held him out of team drills as a precaution, which was expected.

“I've kind of hit every mark I've set to hit and the trainers and doctors set for me to this point,” said Jones, who had a bit more of an edge to his demeanor this spring.

“I'll continue to try to do that. I'm going to push to do as much as they'll let me do. I feel good about where I am, the process we've followed, and how we've gone about it. Obviously, we'll continue to work through this week and the summer leading up to training camp.”

It remains to be seen if he’ll get a chance to play in the preseason games and if the plan is for him to make up for lost team reps this summer. However, the main takeaway is that Jones should be ready to roll by the start of camp, giving him plenty of time to get back on track ahead of Week 1 of the regular season.

2. Coaching collaboration the way it should have been

In evaluating what went wrong last season, head coach Brian Daboll likely determined that while he was busy preaching “teamwork” to the players, the coaching staff wasn’t quite following suit.

That oversight has since been corrected. For example, new offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo works more with running backs coach Joel Thomas and tight ends coach Tim Kelly since the running backs and tight ends all need to contribute pass blocking.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Giants have defensive line coach Andre Patterson, and outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen working more together since new defensive coordinator Shane Bowen places more of an emphasis on the front seven getting to the quarterback, so they might as well share ideas on different techniques.

That type of collaboration has spilled over to the players, who seem to be enjoying the new avenues of learning that have opened up to them to help them improve at their jobs. This has improved communication during the heat of the moment.

“I think it's just us hearing the same things, not being independent contractors,” said defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence. “We're all hearing the same things. It just makes sense; when you bring that thing together, everything starts clashing a little better.

“We mold into each other. Learning each other's tendencies. Learning who's next to you, learning talking, learning lingoes. When you bring the two groups together, it's just what's supposed to happen.”

3. Carmen Bricillo is a hit so far

There are many important names the Giants will be counting on for the team to reach the expected level of success, but perhaps the most important is a guy who will never suit up for them this or any year.

That would be Bricillo, hired to replace the fired Bobby Johnson, who in two years became the latest in an alarmingly growing string of offensive line coaches unable to fix the inconsistent and, at times, underperforming unit.

Bricillo, who worked wonders with the Las Vegas offensive line during his two seasons out west, is looking to do the same with the Giants. The team added several veterans to the unit to help jumpstart its recovery from a historically bad season in which it allowed 85 sacks, the second-most in league history since sacks became a trackable stat.

Bricillo’s approach to coaching is somewhat different from his predecessor's and so far seems to be well-received by his players. He’s demanding, like any other coach, but he’s also accountable to his players. He believes in giving everything he has and expects the same from his pupils.

“He's a very good teacher,” Daboll said. “I think he and James (Ferentz…have done a good job implementing how they coach and have given them good techniques.

“The true evaluation will come when we're in pads, and those guys have to move people and protect the quarterback. In terms of his communication style and his teaching, he's done a nice job.”

Although Bricillo is demanding, he’s also not the yeller and screamer who is quick to blow a gasket if a guy makes a mistake. Rather, he’ll work to correct the mistake with the player in a way that doesn’t embarrass the player or put him on edge.

In short, he offers a nurturing learning environment—key considering the Giants have a couple of young players in Joshua Ezeudu and Marcus McKethan, whose development thus far has stalled—where his goal is to get the best out of his players. If that fails, he points the finger at himself.

The players have noticed.

“Coach Carm has been a great addition to the O-line room,” said center John Michael Schmitz. “He has a great amount of knowledge of the game and has helped every single one of us out to be better players and holds us to a high standard each and every day.”

“Carm, he's very detailed, very detail oriented,” added guard Jon Runyan, Jr. “There are some bad habits I've created over my career that, through the glass of me back with Green Bay, kind of pushed to the side, and come here, and have a new, fresh set of eyes on me.

“Having that fresh set of eyes has been beneficial, and I think it'll help carry me the rest of this and into the training camp and pay dividends for me in the season.”

4. Malik Nabers is the real deal

Giants fans who still long for the days of Odell Beckham Jr's highlight-worthy plays will love what they see in rookie receiver Malik Nabers. Nabers is a slightly bigger and stronger version of a young Beckham and a guy with the blazing speed, elusiveness, and one-handed catch ability that, for five seasons as a Giant, Beckham put on display every Sunday.

Nabers with a one-handed grab during WR drills. pic.twitter.com/NV4tysfpGY
— Patricia Traina (@Patricia_Traina) June 11, 2024

“I think he can be a tremendous weapon for us,” said Jones. “He can do everything. There’s not much he can’t do, really, from a route-running standpoint. He’s dynamic...and strong, fast, explosive. Catches the ball well. Yeah, he does a lot well.”

RELATED: Receiver Malik Nabers Bringing the Juice for Giants Offense

The scary thing about Nabers is he’s still learning the finer points of the different roles he’ll be asked to do in this offense.

Best of all? The rookie is taking the growing excitement and expectations for his first NFL season in stride.

“I feel like there’s no pressure,” Nabers said. “I mean, I’ve been playing football all my life. I’m just trying to stay up with the guys here and put the competition those older guys want to see out of me. I’m just trying to be me, trying to level my game every day I’m out here.”

5. Injury updates

About 20 players were either limited or didn’t participate in the practices that were open to the media.

The most notable names include Jones (knee), offensive tackle Evan Neal (ankle), inside linebacker Isaiah Simmons (undisclosed), inside linebacker Micah McFadden (undisclosed), and tight end Daniel Bellinger (undisclosed).

The Giants receivers took a hit during the first day of the mandatory minicamp when three guys—Darius Slayton, Chase Cota, and Bryce Ford-Wheaton—all left the practice early. Cota (broken collar bone) was injured when he landed hard on his shoulder while trying to reel in a pass.

Ford-Wheaton reportedly suffered a sprained AC joint, while Slayton’s injury appeared in his lower body.

Anyone who was limited or didn’t participate will have the next six weeks to get himself right. Daboll said there wasn’t anyone among the injured that he thought might not be ready for camp.

He’s also said in the past that different guys heal at different paces, so we’ll have to wait and see who lands on the active Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list when the team opens training camp on July 24.

6. The biggest change

Brian Daboll made several big changes to his coaching staff this off-season. Some of these changes were initiated by Daboll via dismissals (Thomas McGaughey, Bobby Johnson, Drew Wilkins), and some were the result of coaches leaving for other opportunities (Wink Martindale, Andy Bischoff, Jeff Nixon).

The biggest change, though, is at the play-caller position. Daboll, who for the first two years of his tenure entrusted offensive coordinator Mike Kafka with the role while he (Daboll) adjusted to his first head coaching job, will be the team’s play-caller in 2024.

The decision, which Daboll has not officially announced but is a given since it follows the same path he took when Kafka called the plays all spring long during their first season together, is the right one for the Giants—and no, that’s not necessarily a slap at Kafka’s ability to do the job.

Daboll was hired in the first place because of his creativity with play calling as the Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator. Daboll managed to get the most out of quarterback Josh Allen during their time together, and it’s hoped that with Daboll now being the main voice in quarterback Daniel Jones’s ear this coming season, history will somehow repeat itself.

As for Kafka, he aspires to be a head coach one day, so it could be argued that Daboll is being proactive in ensuring that Jones and the rest of the quarterbacks don’t have to worry about a different voice in their ears every year.

Continuity is important between a play-caller and a quarterback, so it’s likely hoped that the Giants can get the offense back on track and find the continuity that has eluded the team since the height of the Tom Coughlin era.

RELATED: Why Brian Daboll's Taking on the Play Calling Would Be a Good Thing for Giants

There are additional benefits to Daboll taking on the play-calling duties. One is that he has appeared much calmer all spring, focusing on something he has always enjoyed and done for a long time. A calmer Daboll can potentially help improve his interactions with staff on gameday when the pressure is at its highest.

Secondly, there is a more collaborative approach ahead. Kafka will presumably remain in the press box, where he can communicate what he’s seeing from a bird's-eye view to Daboll. Daboll can lean on his expertise to adjust to find the best possible call based on what the opponent is seeing.

7. Life after Saquon

With all due respect to Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, running back Saquon Barkley was not the Giants best playerlast year—defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence and a healthy offensive tackle Andrew Thomas were.

But Barkley was indeed a very good player for the Giants, and yes, a case could be made that he was their best player on offense—when he was healthy.

So now, with Barkley having taken his talents to Philadelphia, there are questions about what the Giants will do with their running game to survive the loss.

While we didn’t see many running plays in the spring because the practices were non-contact and paddles, the Giants are moving toward more of a committee approach at the position and have been inching that way even when Barkley was on the roster.

Devin Singletary, the Giants' free-agent signing after Barkley left, will lead the committee. He has a better success rate than Barkley in terms of gaining the bulk of the required rushing yardage on his attempts.

Meanwhile, rookie Tyrone Tracy Jr, the team’s fifth-round draft pick this year, and Eric Gray, the team’s fifth-round pick last year, will compete this summer to be No.2 in the pecking order. And don’t discount rookie free agent Dane “Turbo” Miller, who has also done some work as a kickoff returner this spring for the Giants, getting involved in the fun.

8. The Evan Neal Mystery

The Giants are counting on third-year player Evan Neal to get physically and mentally right to anchor down that right tackle spot.

But Neal’s off-season has been a bit of a head-scratcher. He’s recovering from season-ending ankle surgery, which limited him during the early OTAs.

However, in those first two OTAs, Neal was involved in individual drills (but not 11-on-11s). Come OTA No. 9, the last open to the media, Neal wasn’t even warming up with his teammates, let alone doing individual drill work.

That carried over to the two mandatory minicamp practices, where the only sightings of Neal, whom Daboll did confirm didn’t do any 11-on-11 work during the days when the media wasn’t allowed into the building, was when he came out from the team’s facility to the grass field to work on the stationary bikes, where he got in a good workout pumping away.

Daboll said Neal hasn’t experienced a setback in his recovery, which could be a matter of load management. But if he wasn’t taking that heavy of a load to begin with, again, based on what the media could see, why cut him back?

“He's kind of about the same,” Daboll said when asked if Neal had a setback. “We're going to back off him here, and hopefully, we can get it. The plan is right now, as of whatever today is. I think we should have everybody ready for training camp, which is important.”

If Neal is “about the same” as Daboll said, that would indicate his progress over the four-week period from the third OTA that was open to the media to the final mandatory minicamp practice.

It’s too early to press the panic button, but given the evidence, it might not be surprising if Neal isn’t ready to start training camp.

9. How to Replace Darren Waller?

The Giants sought to improve their receiving corps last year when they sent a third-round draft pick to the Las Vegas Raiders for tight end Darren Waller. Waller, when healthy, is one of the best tight ends in the league.

Alas, for the Giants, Waller couldn’t stay healthy yet again in his first and only season in New York. That, plus other factors he revealed in a raw but honest video, all contributed to his decision to walk away from football so he could concentrate on his mental health and do what made him happy.

The Giants prepared for the possibility of Waller, who began contemplating his football future as soon as the 2023 season ended, walking away by drafting Theo Johnson out of Penn State in the fourth round this year.

They also have Daniel Bellinger, an under-the-radar tight end who held the TE1 role as a rookie and did a decent enough job of it.

The Giants hoped Waller would give opposing defenses something else to consider besides zeroing in on Saquon Barkey. With both players gone, receiver Malik Nabers will likely become the focus of the opposing defensive coordinator’s attention.

The Giants will hope that some combination of Bellinger and Johnson can help assume some of the production Waller, the third-most targeted receiving option on the Giants last year despite appearing in just 12 games, gave them.