Giants Mailbag: OBJ Today, Waiver Rules, Najee vs. Skattebo, and Evan Neal's Murky Future

Welcome to the weekly New York Giants On SI mailbag! From offseason moves to game-day strategies, we'll do our best to answer your questions. (Some questions have been edited for brevity and clarity.)

Odell Version 2.0

From James McMahan, Jr. (@theikames): I’m bad at evaluating how veterans have changed later in their careers. What are the differences you are seeing between the OBJ that was a clear #1 and today? Is it a step lost? A smaller catch radius? Injury risk? Thank you as always!

Hi James. I think given a combination of age and injuries, OBJ is not as explosive as he once was, which is natural and to be expected. He can still get open and he is savvy enough to fool lesser experienced defensive backs. But I think anyone who is looking for him to record 1,000 yards this season might end up disappointed.

The Waiver Wire

From PJNJ (@Tweeting NYPJA): What is the rule for waivers when it comes to veterans? For example, if a vet like OBJ is released this weekend, is he exposed to waivers, or can he, as a vet, choose where he wants to go, even if it is back to the same team that released him?

What’s up PJNJ? Players with less than four years of accrued service are considered non-vested veterans and hence are eligible for waivers.

Any player with four or more years of accrued service is not subject to waivers at the cutdown date, which means they immediately become an unrestricted free agent. That’s why you’ll see “waived” vs. “contract terminated” next to player names.

So in the case of Odell Beckham Jr., he would not be eligible for waivers and would instead be an unrestricted free agent. And if he were to be released--which doesn't look like it will be the case--he could re-sign with the Giants' practice squad if there was mutual interest between both sides.

From J.T. Savoy (@alwaysvideo) If healthy, does Najee offer better number one RB production than Scat, and could you see the Giants moving Harris ahead of him if he produces well?

Aug 28, 2026; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants running back Najee Harris (22) carries the ball against the New York Jets during the first half at MetLife Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

What’s up, J.T.? Harris, before his Achilles injury last year, had four 1,000-yard seasons. Now I have no idea if Cam Skattebo would have hit 1,000 yards rushing last year.

But here’s what I will say: If head coach John Harbaugh were in love with the running backs room, would they have been linked to Kenneth Walker and Jeremiyah Love? And would they be taking a chance here on Harris coming off injury?

To your question, I don’t think Harris will be a bellcow. But could I see him being at the head of the running back committee if he’s healthy? Yes.

From Kris Kauffeld (@dublk52): Having seen them all preseason, what should we expect from this Giants offense? Run first, play action, low risk, RPO’s? Should we temper expectations for the first few games?

What’s good, Kris? That’s hard to answer because obviously, in preseason games, everything you see is vanilla in nature.

But if I had to take an educated guess (wink, wink), I think this offense will feature more heavy personnel packages in the run game and strive to be more balanced each week.

One thing that always used to drive me insane with the prior staff is that they abandoned the run too early. I don’t think that will be the case with this staff.

From Jay Miah (@Jay_A_Miah): Has your opinion on Evan Neal changed between this year and last? What does this new regime think of him and his play?

New York Giants offensive tackle Evan Neal | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

What’s up, Jay? Evan Neal has mainly run with the third-team offense, with nary a look at the second team or first team. As I see it, that likely means he hasn’t made enough progress in his development at guard because if he had, wouldn’t he have been promoted to at least the second-team offense for regular snaps?

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