Training camp is here for the Giants. Players reported on Tuesday and will hit the field on Wednesday for the first practice of the summer.
Here is a reminder for those not paying attention: There will be no seismic, Aaron Rodgers-type newcomer on the scene.
This figures to be a fairly buttoned-up camp for the Giants with Brian Daboll and his three coordinators entering their second years on the job, meaning familiarity is rampant throughout the building.
This is not a suggestion that this year’s camp is any less important for the Giants. Improvement on the surprising 9-7-1 showing in 2022 is not a given — one season is not an extension of the previous season.
There are always training-camp battles and storylines to heat up the long mornings on the field.
Here is one player from every position group that we want to watch closely this summer:
Quarterback
Yeah, it’s got to be Daniel Jones. No disrespect to backup Tyrod Taylor, who usually is quite solid in these controlled practices.
Jones gets the continuity he has craved and needed, operating the same offensive system for his second consecutive camp. Jones should look much more advanced than he did a year ago.
This is also the first time Jones will be on the field with fans in the bleachers since he signed a four-year contract worth $160 million. These sessions are not high-pressure situations, of course, with a few thousand fans in attendance, rather than the nearly 80,000 that watch Jones and the Giants during the season at nearby MetLife Stadium. All it will take, though, is a few incomplete passes to prompt someone in the seats to shout something about Jones being overpaid. It goes with the territory, and it will be interesting to see how Jones responds.
Wide receiver
There are many viable options here, but let’s go with Parris Campbell. What exactly do the Giants have in him?
He is only 25 years old, yet this is a decisive season for him. His first three years with the Colts were ruined by a series of injuries. He finally stayed healthy in 2022, and was fairly productive, producing career highs in receptions (62), receiving yards (623) and touchdowns (3). But that did not convince any team to sign Campbell to a multi-year deal.
The Giants got him for $4.7 million this season, and now he has to prove he can stay on the field and utilize the talent that made him a second-round draft pick out of Ohio State in 2019.
There is plenty of competition for the slot receiver role: veteran newcomer Jamison Crowder, Sterling Shepard (returning from ACL surgery), newly signed veteran Cole Beasley and eventually Wan’Dale Robinson, who also is coming off ACL surgery.
Running back
We originally had a nice section here identifying rookie Eric Gray as the player to watch at this position because Saquon Barkley surely was not going to sign his franchise tender and report on time.
Well, there are plenty of reasons to keep an eye on Gray because he is a promising prospect, but he gets replaced by Barkley now that a deal has been signed that will pay Barkley $10.1 million, with the possibility of him earning another $900,000 if he hits certain incentives for rushing yards, touchdowns and receptions — as long as the Giants also make the playoffs.
Barkley will be where he does his best work — on the field — and there is never a question of him being in anything other than top shape, even though he was not present for any of the Giants’ voluntary offseason workout program.
Still, Barkley did miss all the work in the spring, and even though that was all voluntary, it does not make it irrelevant. The Giants installed some new stuff in their organized team activity practices and their minicamp, and Barkley will be in catchup mode.
Tight end
Look no further than Darren Waller, the most eye-catching addition to the roster this season.
It is not often a star pass catcher is available on the market, and the reason Waller was available was because of his injury-filled 2021 and 2022 seasons with the Raiders. Did those two down years cancel out his sensational 2019 and 2020 seasons, when he combined for 197 receptions for 2.341 yards and 12 touchdowns? The Giants felt giving up a third-round pick to bet on Waller’s health was an acceptable risk.
Waller is not a luxury for the Giants. They need him to regain his form and emerge as their No. 1 target in the passing game. His résumé is far more gaudy than anyone else’s who Jones will see on the field.
Offensive line
It is Joshua Ezeudu, and here’s why: Two of the five starting spots are up for grabs, though it will be an upset if rookie John Michael Schmitz, a second-round pick from Minnesota, does not secure the No. 1 center job.
The identity of the starting left guard is definitely unknown with returning players Ben Bredeson and Shane Lemieux in the mix along with Ezeudu, whose rookie season in 2022 was cut short by a neck injury that limited him to 10 games (and two starts).
The Giants are high on Ezeudu, a 2022 third-round pick from North Carolina, and believe he can emerge from the competition as the starter. He showed some power as a run-blocker as a rookie.
Defensive line
Leonard Williams showed some vulnerability last season for the first time in his eight years in the NFL, missing five games due to a lingering neck issue — the first games he missed in his career. Rest did the trick, and Williams avoided surgery. But once the pads come on in camp, how ready for contact will he be?
Williams has been around a long time, starting with the Jets in 2015, but he is just 29 years old. He takes up a staggering $32.2 million on the 2023 salary cap. The Giants need him to be healthy.
The choice here would have been A’Shawn Robinson, the 330-pound veteran signed in free agency who helped the Rams to victory in Super Bowl LVI. But Robinson tore his meniscus on Nov. 20 last season, and is not ready to practice as camp opens up,
Inside linebacker
Might as well get right to it: Bobby Okereke is the pick here. He has to be a mainstay in the middle of the Giants’ defense as the one big-ticket player (four-years, $40 million) signed in free agency.
Okereke was remarkably durable in his first four years with the Colts, and in the past two seasons, he played in all 34 games and collected 132 and 151 tackles, respectively.
He is expected to wear the green-dot helmet with the radio transmitter inside to relay the calls from defensive coordinator Wink Martindale to the other defensive players.
Training camp will be an important time for Okereke to learn the habits and tendencies of his new teammates.
Outside linebacker
If it is now-you-see-him, now-you-don’t for Azeez Ojulari, it will portend big problems — for the pass rush and for Ojulari, who needs to show a front office and coaching staff that did not draft him that he can be a dependable and available player.
A dizzying series of soft-tissue injuries limited Ojulari to just seven games last season. When he was out there, Ojulari often was effective: His 5.5 sacks ranked second on the team behind Dexter Lawrence.
There is no doubt Ojulari has an ability to get to the opposing quarterback. There is also no doubt Ojulari is developing a reputation for unreliability. It will be worth noting this summer if he is able to avoid missing any, or many, practices.
Want to catch a game? The Giants schedule with links to buy tickets can be found here.
Cornerback
Deonte Banks, come on down. The first-round pick from Maryland looks the part at a well-proportioned 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, great size for a rookie who also exhibits all the speed he needs to run with the fastest wide receivers.
There will be growing pains, though, because there almost always are for players in their first NFL go-round. Banks must make sure he paces himself for the long haul. He seems to be a youngster that wants to get there in a hurry. Unless he falters, Banks will start opposite Adoree’ Jackson.
Safety
Julian Love is gone, signed by the Seahawks in free agency, and his replacement in the starting secondary opposite Xavier McKinney is … we’ll let you know.
We will keep an eye on Jason Pinnock. Based only on résumé, Bobby McCain should have the upper hand. The 29-year-old has 87 NFL starts in eight seasons, the past two with the Commanders, so the Giants know him well as an NFC East opponent.
The coaching staff, though, seems to like Pinnock and his familiarity with the defense could give him an edge. Pinnock, 23, started five games last season, and is a much younger option for the Giants to consider.
Asked and answered
Here are two questions that have come up recently that we will attempt to answer as accurately as possible:
Will there be any hard feelings or bruised egos now that Barkley is at camp after not receiving the contract he desired?
There could be. We always hear “this is a business,’’ but that does not dismiss the personal feelings present whenever there is a contract negotiation that goes south.
Barkley did not receive the multi-year deal he was seeking, and that has to sting. He has been an engaging presence around his teammates, and that does not figure to change. He is one of the team captains, and that does not figure to change.
His relationship with general manager Joe Schoen and Giants ownership? That is on a wait-and-see schedule for now. It meant enough to Barkley to not miss a single day of camp. Will he be able to push aside all the disappointment about not getting a deal done and get through the days as if nothing has changed? Time will tell.
Is it a big deal if a player starts training camp on the physically unable to perform list?
Well, it certainly is not ideal, but it does not have to be a big deal. The Giants put six players on the PUP list, including Shepard and Wan’Dale Robinson, two receivers who went down last season with ACL tears. Players can come off the list at any point during camp.
The first day of training camp in many ways is an artificial deadline. Players coming off injuries are always asked: “Are you going to be ready for the start of camp?’’ If the answer turns out to be no, it can seem deflating.
In reality, missing the first few days or even the first few weeks does not disqualify a player from being available for the start of the season. Sometimes, a rehab that began in the winter and lasted throughout the spring is not quite completed by the middle of the summer. There is no way a player should rush back to make it onto the field for the first practice of camp.
For example, Shepard has said it is his hope and his goal to be ready for the start of the regular season. That is the finish line, not the start of camp.
