New York Giants Scrimmage Preview

There's a lot I don't know about the Giants 2020 football team.

Heck, there's probably still a lot that head coach Joe Judge and his staff don't know about this team.

But we're all going to start to get some answers Friday when the team goes through its first scripted scrimmage of the summer and one held on the day before the Giants were supposed to play their second preseason game of the schedule.

“What we’re going to do is we’re going to split the squad in terms of just offense vs. defense. We’ll structure the first part almost like a normal practice with individual periods to get them loosened up, get the pads up, a little bit of 7 v. 7 to get the blood flowing," Judge said.

"We’ll do some offense vs. defense with the pass rush. Then we’ll just go ahead and turn it over to some situational things. We’re going to make sure we get plenty of work in the field on early downs, some third-down work, some red area work, some short-yardage work.

“Then we’re going to go ahead and put the ball down and just let them play it out. First and 10 on the 25 (yard-line), let Jason (Garrett) call plays, let Pat (Graham) call the defense, have T-Mac (Thomas McGaughey) bring the special teams units, and just play it out."

It sounds like a lot to get done, but Judge has been meticulous in not wasting time or practice reps, so it will be good to see a fast-paced practice that is as close to football as possible.

Although the reporting of personnel alignments and specific plays isn't allowed, general observations can be made, so here are just a few of the many things I'll be watching.

Has Daniel Jones improved the speed of his mental processing?

Jones and all the quarterbacks likely won’t have to worry about being smashed into by the defense, but having that safety blanket doesn’t mean that Jones should take all day to make his reads and decide where he’s going with the ball as was sometimes the case last year.

What will some of the play-calling philosophies be on both sides of the ball?

Will Jason Garrett lean more heavily on the running game, or will he mix it up? Will Saquon Barkley be used more in the passing game than he’s been in the past?

And on defense, is Graham going to be blitz heavy (which would suggest a comfort level with the talent on the back end), or is he going to try to get home with just four most of the time?

How far along is Andrew Thomas?

He had a rough outing Tuesday night, but Thomas has far too much talent and has been getting a lot of coaching from offensive line coach Mark Colombo, so it will be interesting to see how Thomas adjusts to any tweaks made to his technique when the tempo picks up more.

What about the rest of the rookies?

Andrew Thomas might be the biggest of the Giants' Class of 2020, but make no mistake: the other rookies are going to play just as important a role on this team as he is, so how they perform will undoubtedly be something I'll watch.

How will the linebackers shake out?

The Giants suddenly have linebackers coming out of their ears, but do they have quality among the quantity? And if so, who will play where? They have a ton of linebackers, including their returning guys, veteran free agents signed, and the draft picks.

It's a muddied picture right now and one that Judge and defensive coordinator Patrick Graham said they're going to let shake out to see who fits in where. For a unit that has lacked for talent in the last few years, this promises to be an interesting picture to unfold.

Who's in the lead to start opposite James Bradberry?

Rookie Darnay Holmes has had a solid camp so far, but will the Giants instead look to go with a taller cornerback on the perimeter? Right now, this competition appears too close to call, but there should be a golden opportunity for guys to begin separating from the rest of the group.

Can they get by with the receivers they have?

They have talent but no true No. 1 receiver. But if you throw in the possibility of tight end Evan Engram and running back Saquon Barkley into the passing game mix, will it matter?

And who among these young receivers is making a push for a role? Special teams should help decide that.

What kind of tempo will the football be run at?

Judge hs been running up-tempo practices, and I would fully expect that games and game-like situations will be similar. What I'm curious to see though is how smoothly the operation runs--will there be mistakes made (and penalty laps called for)?

What's Judge looking for?

Here's what his response was to that question:

“Just in terms of you structure a lot of practices to see specific situations that match your install so the team can develop what you’re teaching,” he said.

“Tomorrow will be a lot of, 'Put the ball down and play it out.' Let’s just go ahead and play it out and see how smart our players can react, see how physical they can play, and see how we can hold up our fundamentals and execution through a higher intensity.”

Let's go!

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