Takeaways from Giants’ 26-3 Victory Over Miami Dolphins

The New York Giants might finally have one of those “good problems” that any head coach would trade his soul for.

That problem is a dearth of depth across the board—solid depth in most cases, at that—which was on display in Saturday's 26-3 win over the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium.

The Giants, coming off a dominating showing against the Dolphins in their joint practice on Thursday, continued their dominance sans most of their starters and key reserves.

It didn’t matter. The Giants took a commanding 20-3 lead by halftime and never took their foot off the gas pedal, capping their second-half scoring with a pair of field goals by Ben Sauls, who handled the kicking duties in the second half in relief of Dominic Zvada.

So what else did we learn from the Giants’ first preseason win of 2026—and their first win under head coach John Harbaugh?

Tyrone Tracy May Have Something to Worry About

New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

When the Giants signed Najee Harris, many people wondered if that meant the end for Devin Singletary, the third running back on the team’s unofficial depth chart before the signing.

It turns out that maybe it’s Tyrone Tracy Jr. who might need to be worried. Tracy had a bad week in the preseason opener when he whiffed on a blitz pickup against Vikings safety Jay Ward that led to a crushing hit on quarterback Jaxson Dart.

This week, while Tracy was better in his blitz pickups, he also had an ugly fumble deep in the red zone, which Miami recovered.

Tracy has five career fumbles in regular-season play and last year looked to clean up that problem once and for all. But it reared its ugly head again this week, and while there is no good time for a fumble, it’s especially not good to have it happen deep in the opponent’s red zone.

Singletary finished as this week’s Giants rushing leader with 40 yards on eight carries and a touchdown, his best run being 13 yards.

Singletary continues to be a solid pass protection blocker, having yet to give up a quarterback pressure in two preseason games. Is it possible that he will move ahead of Tracy in the pecking order if he delivers another strong performance in next week’s preseason finale against the Jets?

Odell Beckham Jr. Still Has an Uphill Battle to Make the Roster

Supporters of Odell Beckham Jr. will point to how he keeps getting open but doesn’t get the ball thrown his way, and that’s fine. But when the ball does get thrown his way, he has to catch it.

Beckham, who caught two of four pass targets for a rather harmless 17 yards, had a big-time whiff in the closing seconds of the second quarter when a 14-yard pass, a somewhat serious attempt from quarterback Jameis Winston, went straight through Beckham’s hands and fell to the ground.

While one play shouldn’t necessarily dictate a player’s fate, Beckham's shortcoming cannot happen given his still-unstable hold on a roster spot.

This doesn’t mean he’s going to be cut tomorrow, but his summer production—four out of eight pass targets caught for just 23 yards, two yards after the catch, and one drop—doesn’t exactly scream roster-worthy.

Chauncey Golston Deserves a Spot as a Starter

New York Giants defensive end Chauncey Golston | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Between his injuries and having a defensive coordinator who didn’t have a clue how best to utilize his talents, defensive lineman Chauncey Golston seemed like he was a wasted roster spot.

Not so much this summer. Golston has been the best and most consistent of the defensive linemen, and it’s not even close. Although he didn’t have any pressures this week, he did have a pass breakup to go along with one assisted tackle.

It’s still too soon to say if Golston is going to get a starting role, but it’s probably fair to say he’s going to play a lot for this defense if he stays healthy.

Zaire Barnes May Be a Sneaky Roster Candidate

New York Giants linebacker Zaire Barnes | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

If the Giants go with five inside linebackers, as is believed to be the way they are leaning, the fifth spot behind starters Tremaine Edmunds and Arvell Reese and projected backups Micah McFadden and Jack Kelly will come down to either Darius Muasau or Zaire Barnes.

This week, Barnes might have gained the edge in that competition with his spectacular goal-line tackle-for-loss.

Dominic Zvada is Closing in on the Kicking Job

New York Giants kicker Dominic Zvada | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Dominic Zvada has been lights out all spring and summer. Still, the feeling was that before anyone officially anointed him the winner of the kicking competition, it was important to see how he did in games, both on scoring attempts and on kickoffs.

Zvada answered both questions with aplomb. He hit two field goals of 43 and 32 yards, the latter having been pushed back thanks to a false start called on Evan Neal. Zvada also hit his lone extra point attempt following Devin Singletary’s 13-yard run in the second quarter.

The Giants ended up winning the starting field-position battle as well, with New York’s average starting line of scrimmage at their own 32 (on two returns) and Miami’s at their own 29 (on six kickoff returns).

Zvada and Sauls put all of their kickoffs inside the 10-yard line. However, on his four kickoffs, Zvada put three inside the 5-yard line (two of those at the 2-yard line) while Sauls, on his two kickoffs, put his first one on the 2-yard line and his second on the 7-yard line.

Lineup Notes

As anticipated, more than a dozen Giants starters and key reserves were scratched, most of them healthy scratches. The list is as follows:

OLB Brian Burns (healthy scratch)
WR Malik Nabers (ramp-up)
OLB Abdul Carter (healthy scratch)
OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux (healthy scratch)
QB Jaxson Dart (healthy scratch)
SAF Jevon Holland (healthy scratch)
TE Isaiah Likely (healthy scratch)
CB Colton Hood (injured)
WR Jalin Hyatt (injured)
WR Darnell Mooney (excused by Harbaugh)
RB Najee Harris (ramp-up)
RB Cam Skattebo (healthy scratch)
RB Patrick Ricard (healthy scratch)
ILB Tremaine Edmunds (healthy scratch)
RG Francis Mauigoa (injured)
RT Jermaine Eluemunor (healthy scratch)
LT Andrew Thomas (healthy scratch)
OT Jarrod Gray (International Pathway Program exemption)
WR Braxton Berrios (minor injury)
DL Shelby Harris (healthy scratch)
DL Josh Tupou (unknown; see below)
DL D.J. Reader (healthy scratch)

The absence of defensive lineman Josh Tupou is something of a headscratcher. Last week after a rocky start, Tupou ended up with two stops and an overall defensive grade of 89.5 from PFF.

Perhaps this week, the coaches wanted to see the rest of their defensive line depth in action, including Zacch Pickens, Marlon Davidson, and Anquin Barnes Jr.

The O-line Shines

New York Giants guard Joshua Ezeudu | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

While on the subject of lineups, it was not a surprise to see the Giants’ players who were returning from injury—cornerbacks Paulson Adebo, Dru Phillips, and Greg Newsome II, and center John Michael Schmitz—get snaps in this week’s game.

What was interesting is that the Giants decided to play starting left guard Jon Runyan this week.

Runyan and Schmitz made up two-fifths of the starting offensive line, but as noted, Schmitz’s playing time this week wasn’t a surprise considering he missed last week’s game while recovering from a concussion.

While Runyan getting playing time was initially a surprise, in retrospect it shouldn’t have been.

Per PFF, Runyan graded out as the worst of the Giants’ 14 offensive linemen in last week’s preseason opener and the second-worst in the run-blocking department. He did, however, grade out as the fifth-best pass-blocking offensive lineman of the lot. So perhaps this was a chance for Runyan to redeem himself moving forward.

Otherwise, the Giants offensive line did a stellar job, allowing just one sack (against Brandon Allen) and just three quarterback hits.

Collectively, the offensive line also paved the way for the ground game to rack up 133 yards and two touchdowns on 36 carries.

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