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NY Giants Linebackers Kayvon Thibodeaux, Brian Burns and Abdul Carter Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

This Position Battle Marked as Key for NY Giants Ahead of Training Camp

Originally posted on New York Giants on SI
By Patricia Traina | Last updated Jul 4, 2025 10:00 AM ET

NFL training camps are a time of competition, and the New York Giants figure to have quite a bit of competition among a roster that is perhaps the deepest one assembled by general manager Joe Schoen yet.

One specific position group that Pro Football Network believes will be the marquee competition to watch this summer is at edge rusher, specifically for the starting role between rookie Abdul Carter and veteran Kayvon Thibodeaux, of whom PFSN notes had a down year last year after posting an 11.5 sack season the year prior.

We’re not entirely certain that we agree this will be the marquee competition, however. While someone does need to start, in this case, it doesn’t matter who gets the first snap of the game.

A better stat to look at is how many snaps each player gets throughout a game, and it’s certainly not a stretch to say that Burns, Thibodeaux, and Carter are going to get plenty of snaps each week.

But let’s back up a bit regarding PFSN’s statement regarding Thibodeaux. While it’s true that he hasn’t developed into a premier pass rusher, if we’re being fair to the third-year player we have to consider that in two of his three NFL seasons so far, he’s had some injuries that have slowed him down a bit, including last year when he missed five games with a broken wrist.

Thibodeaux has proven that, when healthy, he can be quite productive, so not giving him the benefit of the doubt of being able to repeat what he accomplished two seasons ago is not being fair to him.

As for Carter, it’s believed that the plan for him at first is to have him spell both Burns and Thibodeaux to keep them fresh.

However, there could be some new personnel packages in which defensive coordinator Shane Bowen has Carter lining up as an off-ball linebacker, a position he played earlier in his career at Penn State.

In short, this is to say that PFSN’s pick of the outside linebacker spot is not the key position battle they believe it to be.

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So what is?

There are a few other key position battles where things aren’t as settled. We can start with cornerback, where in the latter part of the spring, Deonte Banks suddenly found himself splitting first-team reps with Cor’Dale Flott.

Now, while that might have been a tactic to further stoke the competitive fire in Banks, it did raise a question as to whether the cornerback spot opposite of Paulson Adebo was set in stone.

There is also going to be a competition at the bottom of the receiver depth chart, starting with WR4 onward. Malik Nabers, Darius Slayton, and Wan’Dale Robinson are all locked in as WRs 1-3.

But can Jalin Hyatt, who had an impressive-looking spring until suffering a left leg injury during the mandatory minicamp, secure WR4? And who will fill out the remaining spots behind him?

Ihmir Smith-Marsette could be one given his role as a return specialist. But who else might emerge? Special teams will likely determine the answer play.

The biggest competition to watch, though, is on the offensive line. While it appears that, as of now, the Giants plan to run it back with the same starting offensive line that performed decently in the first six weeks of last season, there may be plans to shake up the interior part of the offensive line.

Currently, Greg Van Roten and Jon Runyan, Jr. are projected to be the starting right and left guards, respectively.

But if Evan Neal shows he can play guard at a high enough level, that could prompt a series of moves in which Neal, who primarily worked on the left side throughout most of the spring, moves to left guard and Runyan moves over to right guard.

That would then make Van Roten the first of the bench at both guard and center.

The Giants report to training camp on July 22, with the first practice set for July 23.