Rapid reactions to the Giants Initial 53-man roster announcement

After months of mystery and wondering who was in and who was out, the Giants unveiled their initial 53-man roster Saturday, a roster that had a few unexpected twists.

“We are in the second year of building the kind of team we all want,” coach Pat Shurmur said in the team-issue release announcing the roster moves.

“The process never stops. The communication between (general manager) Dave (Gettleman) and I and our coaches and Dave’s staff is really good. The group of 90 that was with us through the spring and summer bought into what we are building here and created the kind of competition that makes for tough decisions.

“For the players who were released today, we thank them for their effort and commitment, and we told them to stay ready because you never know when your next opportunity will come, either here or somewhere else.”

Here are takeaways regarding the initial roster, which is expected to be tweaked in the coming days.

QB (3): Eli Manning, Daniel Jones (R), Alex Tanney

The Giants made the decision to keep three quarterbacks, but the third quarterback wasn’t Kyle Lauletta like most people thought.

What gives?

Well, there were whispers that the Giants were trying to trade Lauletta, whom Dave Gettleman drafted in the fourth round of last year’s draft, in the hopes that a team in need of a backup quarterback might bite.

However, unless Lauletta was the second coming of Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, that wasn’t going to happen, and with teams realizing that the Giants were willing to move on from Lauletta, perhaps they figured they’d have a better chance of getting him off waivers, which would of course not necessitate giving up assets.

The Giants could still very well end up getting Lauletta back on the practice squad, but that they chose to keep Alex Tanney is a head scratcher.

Tanney’s showing dropped off over the summer to where he looked like he was on his way out.

Last year he was kept due to his experience, but quite frankly, between the Giants having gotten Daniel Jones experience this summer, there was no clear-cut reason to keep Tanney around.

As I’ve noted before, Shurmur has said he likes having at least three quarterbacks on the roster.

With Eli Manning’s future beyond this year unsettled, it was probably important for him to have at least two quarterbacks familiar with the system.

Whether they made the right decision in keeping Tanney over Lauletta, well, that’s up for debate. For what it’s worth, I don’t think they did.

RB (4): Saquon Barkley, Wayne Gallman, Jr., Paul Perkins, Eli Penny

The surprise here was the decision to place Rod Smith (adductor) on injured reserve, a move which saved Paul Perkins.

Given that Saquon Barkley is going to see the bulk of the snaps it doesn’t matter as much who’s behind him, but I have a feeling that the Giants are going to tweak this position even further int he coming days.

TE (3): Evan Engram, Rhett Ellison, Garrett Dickerson

In terms of surprising developments, no undrafted rookie free agents made the roster.

I thought at the very least, tight end C.J. Conrad might have a chance at making the roster, especially given the injuries to Scott Simonson (IR/ankle) and Garrett Dickerson (quad).

The Giants, in deciding to go with just three tight ends (likely because they needed the roster spot for another position, which I’ll get to in a moment), Dickerson did enough to earn a spot this summer, despite having to miss time with his injury.

Conrad, who was a star in the spring and early summer, likely lost his chance thanks to his inline blocking, which at times lacked the power to move defensive ends off their spot.

WR: (6): Sterling Shepard, Bennie Fowler III, Russell Shepard, Cody Latimer, Darius Slayton (R), Alonzo Russell

As I expected, the Giants are going to carry six receivers on the roster including rookie Darius Slayton, who has missed most of the summer with a hamstring strain.

I would expect that Slayton will be inactive until that hamstring heals up and, if it continues to be a problem, there could be a chance that the Giants swap him out for Golden Tate when Tate’s league-imposed 4-game suspension ends.

I’m concerned about who is going to return punts for this team. Sterling Shepard can do it, and I believe Cody Latimer can.

On defense, Jabrill Peppers can do it, but if it were my call, I’d be very reluctant to put a key member of the offense or defense back there on a regular basis.

C/G (4): Will Hernandez, Kevin Zeitler, Jon Halapio, Spencer Pulley

T (5): Nate Solder, Mike Remmers, Nick Gates, Chad Slade, Brian Mihalik

The only surprise (which I guess shouldn't have been a surprise) was the decision to keep Brian Mihalik on the roster.

Shurmur did say in his last conference call before the cuts were made that he was fond of Mihalik, but to the naked eye, Mihalik, whose six total pressures allowed tied him for the team lead among the offensive linemen, will probably serve as the team's jumbo tight end.

DL (5): Dalvin Tomlinson, B.J. Hill, Dexter Lawrence II (R), Olsen Pierre, RJ McIntosh

I wasn’t sure if R.J. McIntosh had done enough this summer to beat out John Jenkins and Chris Slayton, but he did, and he prevailed.

With the exception of Olsen Pierre, this group of defensive linemen is bursting with youth and potential.

OLB (4): Kareem Martin, Lorenzo Carter, Markus Golden, Oshane Ximines (R)

This group ended up being one of the easiest to forecast, as the Giants decided to move on from Avery Moss, one of the last remaining draft picks from the Jerry Reese era.

ILB (5): Alec Ogletree, Tae Davis, Ryan Connelly (R), B.J. Goodson, Nate Stupar

I initially had four off-ball linebackers making the team, as I didn’t think there would be room for B.J. Goodson, who had slid so far down the depth chart this summer that he sort of became a forgotten man.

I’m glad to see Goodson on the roster as I think he can still play and contribute to the defense as a downhill defender.

That Nate Stupar made the roster tells us two things. One, his concussion isn’t expected to be a long-term affair and two, the Giants really do value special teams contributors (and let’s face it—the coverage teams this summer haven’t been as sharp as they were last year).

DB (11) Janoris Jenkins, DeAndre Baker (R), Jabrill Peppers, Antoine Bethea, Grant Haley, Antonio Hamilton, Michael Thomas, Julian Love (R), Corey Ballentine (R), Sean Chandler, Sam Beal

Remember how I mentioned my surprise that the Giants kept three tight ends? I suspect the defensive backs is the reason why.

The Giants had a decision to make with cornerback Sam Beal, who’s been unable to practice for the majority of the summer and who is still something of an unknown.

Now there is still the possibility that Beal goes to IR at which point he’d be eligible for designation to return after six weeks, but in order to keep Beal on the roster to make this happen, the Giants had to steal a spot from somewhere else.

Special Teams (3): K: Aldrick Rosas, P: Riley Dixon, S: Zak DeOssie

Also, if I’m Dixon, who has been inconsistent this summer, I don’t get too comfortable in knowing my roster spot is secure.

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