New York Giants Burning Questions and Predictions Ahead of Training Camp

Verderame believes that Schoen’s and Daboll’s jobs are on the line. Unless the team goes into a total meltdown–and if it didn’t go into a total meltdown the last two disastrous seasons, I can’t see that happening–their seats might not be as hot as some believe.

For one, Schoen proactively addressed the most glaring needs on the roster this past offseason, including some that might have gone unaddressed for more than a year. On paper, this is the best roster he’s assembled, and there is certain to be a lot of close competition in camp. 

Second, the two men invested a significant amount of time and effort in vetting the next franchise quarterback, Jaxson Dart. The plan, as of now, is for Dart to sit as the third quarterback to start the season, if not the entire season. 

If that indeed is how things unfold, it would be a huge surprise if the team were to dismiss Daboll, who has taken on a personal and very active interest in developing the rookie.

What could be at stake is the status of defensive coordinator Shane Bowen. It was somewhat surprising that he was brought back for a second season, but to be fair to him, he didn’t have the personnel he needed to run his system at full strength, which forced him to fit square pegs into round holes.

With the defense having received a lot of love in the offseason, there are no more excuses. It’s up to Bowen to figure out how to optimize what he has, and if he can’t get this defense into a top-10 unit, then something is wrong. 

Biggest question going into training camp?

Verderame mentions the starting quarterback as the biggest question. But the only way that becomes a question is if Wilson becomes injured between now and the start of training camp.  

The Giants' plan at quarterback has always been to acquire a bridge player on a short-term deal while a drafted rookie acclimates. That’s what they did with Eli Manning and what they should have done with Daniel Jones.  

The Giants, remember, have a tough lineup of opponents on deck. The last thing they need to do is to throw the rookie into the deep end of the pool if he’s not ready. 

Dart will probably get loads of playing time in the preseason, at which point Daboll and company will be able to assess how far he’s come alone since May. 

But again, Wilson was brought in here to be the starter. Plain and simple.

A better question involves the offensive line, and in particular, if the Giants can salvage the diminishing career of 2023 first-round pick Evan Neal. Neal has been working at left guard this spring in place of Jon Runyan Jr., who is recovering from offseason shoulder and ankle issues. 

Might the Giants be hoping to insert Neal at left guard, where he might very well benefit from being next to Andrew Thomas, and then move Runyan to right guard, the position he was supposed to play until Neal’s setback from ankle surgery last year mucked up everything? 

More importantly, can Neal do it?

“I think when you look at the job description in our system for the guard, can he create movement at the line of scrimmage? Can he keep the interior firm in pass protection? We've seen Evan do it before. We need the flashes to be consistent,” Brown said.

“We're excited to see what he shows when the pads come on in training camp. Excited to see that he has the physical tools and skill set to transition inside. We just need to see it consistently.” 

Given the importance of the offensive line, that makes sense as being the biggest question mark.

Sources are saying…

There’s a lot of interest in Dart, so in keeping with that, we have this feedback from assistant general manager Brandon Brown, who was asked about the risk of waiting until later in the draft to try to get Dart.

“There's so much dead time in the spring before the draft, you're starting to hear where guys potentially may fall. As we get all this information from agents, all third-party sources, we figure out, hey, what is our best opportunity to strike?

“We knew once we got into the 20s, there was going to be an opportunity for Jaxson. At what striking point? And what would be the compensation we'd have to give up?” 

Breakout player candidate

Verderame has Kayvon Thibodeaux as his choice, but I’m going with receiver Jalin Hyatt, who thus far has not only had a solid spring campaign but is also a receiver that quarterback Russell Wilson seems to have taken a shine to.

Hyatt, who has yet to record an NFL touchdown in two seasons, saw his targets drop from 40 as a rookie to just 19 last year. Along that same vein, Hyatt’s catch rate also dropped from 57.5% to 42.1% last year, though his average depth of target, while dropping, only went from 21 yards to 19.1 yards.

The big question is why Hyatt, who has shown himself to be a serious threat, experienced such a drop-off. 

The only logical answers to that riddle are that he either didn’t fully grasp the playbook or he wasn’t correctly executing his assignments. Hyatt led the Giants receivers last year in being the intended target on two interceptions thrown. 

Another aspect of Hyatt’s game that likely was an issue was his frame, which led to him losing the physical battle when it came to shaking coverage and downfield blocking. 

Hyatt, remember, battled against Darius Slayton last summer for the No. 2 receiver behind Malik Nabers, and in the end, it wasn’t even close, as in addition to the physicality issue–he went zero for two on contested catches–Hyatt also didn’t do as good of a job tracking deep balls, going zero for eight on passes of 20+ air yards.  

But just as a change of scenery can help a player recognize his full potential, perhaps in this case, a change of quarterback will do the same for this 2023 third-round pick that the Giants thought enough of to trade up to get. 

Fantasy Pick: WR Malik Nabers

No argument here, either with the pick or with Verderame’s logic. If you thought Nabers had a stellar rookie campaign, imagine what kind of numbers he might put up this year with more stable quarterback play.

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