What Do the Giants Still Need After Setting The 53 and Practice Squad?

If you hadn't figured it out by now, you must not have been paying attention.

From the moment he was hired seven months ago, head coach John Harbaugh has strived to make the New York Giants a bigger and more powerful team. He has also injected renewed enthusiasm with his blueprint, which requires only players who "love football ... all the time" to be part of the club.

One such player on the team's initial 53-man roster, against all odds, turned out to be wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. The veteran not only continued to show steady progress as training camp wore on, but he did not miss a practice.

Consider that he's going on 34 years old and has battled a slew of injuries throughout his first 10 NFL seasons. Any lower-body injury—even something as minor as soreness—could have forced him to the sideline and significantly hampered his comeback attempt.

Rather, Beckham played well enough that he became one of the five receivers on the team's roster after Sunday's cut to 53 players. And so for the first time since the Giants traded him to the Cleveland Browns after the 2018 season, he finds himself part of the team that made him a first-round pick in 2014.

No doubt, it may have been a bit tougher for him to make it if slot receiver/punt returner Calvin Austin had not torn an ACL during training camp. But one cannot be sure how much that factored into the team's decision.

At the very least, the Giants should be able to field an adequate group of wide receivers, although they will need Malik Nabers (torn ACL) to return to full form sooner rather than later if the room is going to reach its full potential. But Harbaugh wants to play bully ball, and that means the offense is going to rely heavily on the run to set up the pass anyway.

Hence, the Giants came out of cutdown day with four solid running backs (after late-arriving veteran Najee Harris joined the mix), six-time Pro Bowl fullback Patrick Ricard, and four active tight ends, including second-year pro Thomas Fidone,

Combined with a solid and deep offensive line to protect starting quarterback Jaxson Dart and backup Jameis Winston, if need be, the offense is in good shape.

It's clear the Giants have very high expectations after breathing new life into the secondary, and they are confident they have one of the top linebacker corps in the league.

However, they came out of cutdown day with some questions along the defensive line, where Darius Alexander had an inconsistent training camp, and veteran defensive tackle imports D.J. Reader and Shelby Harris were held out of the preseason to protect them from injury, given the lack of depth up front.

Where do the Giants stand after the cutdown and the addition of their practice squad players? Host Paul Dottino sorts through the roster and takes chats and audio/video calls from the fans on the Big Blue Breakdown Live tonight at 8 p.m. ET.

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