Young Receivers Step Up in Day 1 of NY Giants Mandatory Minicamp

Receiver Jalin Hyatt, who had been enjoying a productive spring in taking the reps that normally would go to Malik Nabers (toe), left practice early with a left leg issue. 

Hyatt was seen being stretched out on the side by a trainer for a bit. After that, he got up, said something to Daboll, and then left the field.    

In Hyatt’s absence, undrafted free agent Beaux Collins stepped in and had himself a productive day. Collins caught a touchdown from Russell Wilson with the first-team offense. He also had a nice catch from Jaxson Dart, but it was ruled out of bounds. He was also flagged for offensive pass interference. 

As for Hyatt, he’ll probably be held out of Wednesday’s session, which is expected to be an hour-long walkthrough. It’s too soon to panic about that now, but it will be interesting to see if he’s ready to go for the start of training camp next month.

Throwing Darts

Dart hit Lil’Jordan Humphrey for a touchdown pass in the 7-on-7 session. Interestingly, in the first 11-on-11 period, with the offense working in the red zone, Dart didn’t get a single rep, whereas Tommy Devito got three, and Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston both got four. 

Dart, who hit Ihmir Smith-Marsette and Dalen Cambre, the latter on a 25-yard pass thrown across his body, for scores, unofficially finished 9-of-11 with two touchdowns in team drills.  

As has been the case all spring, there were times when he rushed the pass or threw to the wrong spot, particularly when under pressure. There were a couple of dropbacks where he held the ball too long, but overall, I thought he had a productive practice.  

In 11-on-11s, Wilson threw touchdowns to Beau Collins, Wan’Dale Robinson (a diving catch), and tight end Daniel Bellinger. 

He was also picked off once on a deflected pass by Chauncey Golston, who batted the ball up in the air, and to cornerback Art Green, who ended up being called for DPI. That didn’t stop Green from running the ball back to the opposite end zone.

Winston hit Bellinger and Cambre (twice) for his three touchdowns in team drills. 

About that Pass Rush

During the spring, it’s very much true that the defense is at an advantage because the offensive line cannot get into its blocks as easily as it can when contact is allowed and the pads are on.

But the thing that continues to impress about this Giants pass rush, which had itself a day (led by rookie Abdul Carter), is how quickly they get into the backfield. It’s almost as though they know the snap count because the ball is no sooner snapped, and you have some combination of Carter, Thibodeaux, and Burns into the backfield before the offensive linemen can get into their pass block stances.       

Carter, in particular, was a menace to the offense. Unofficially, he had three sacks during 11-on-11 and at least two other pressures.  

“Man, he's a beast,” Thibodeaux said of his new teammate. “He's been doing his thing. He's fast, explosive, smart, and excited.” 

And he looks very promising-looking so far.

Evan Neal and the Offensive Line

Evan Neal continued to get reps at left guard, most of those coming with the second-team offense. I remain curious to see if the plan is for him to start at left guard and for Jon Runyan Jr, who played most of his reps at left guard with the starters, to move to right guard with Greg Van Roten serving as a backup off the bench.

Offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo confirmed that Neal has been working on both sides but admitted that the fourth-year offensive lineman has lined up mostly on the left side since that’s where he played at Alabama. It’s a matter of him being comfortable on that side.  

Bricillo praised Neal for putting in the work and said he’s been making progress in his conversion.  

While on the subject of the offensive line, rookie Marcus Mbow worked mostly at left tackle across all three units.  

Missing Rookies

Third-round draft pick Darius Alexander was a spectator at today’s practice, and I didn’t see fourth-rounder Cam Skattebo, the only one of the rookie class unsigned as of this writing, either.

Again, Daboll wasn’t obligated to give an injury update, but it's probably safe to say that both rookies, who did work in the rookie camp last month, are nursing something. 

And it’s also probably safe to say that these missed reps are mildly concerning as they have been unable to take advantage of the on-field instruction, which counts just as much as the classroom work. 

Four Work Out for Giants

The Giants had four players working out for them as part of the practice. The four were safety Millard Bradford, safety K’Von Wallace, guard Carter O’Donnell, and outside linebacker Kenny Dyson, Jr. 

Dyson was last with Carolina, Bradford with the Saints, O’Donnell with the Cardinals (in 2023), and Wallace with the Eagles.

Anthony Johnson, Jr. has been dealing with a shoulder issue this spring, so perhaps the Giants are looking to shore up the depth because he might not be ready.

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Other Observations

–The Giants continued to have Deonte Banks and Cor’Dale Flott split reps at cornerback with the first team.

–Elijah Chatman was perhaps the second most nimble defensive lineman during the unit’s drills. Chatman is not a lock to make the roster, given all the depth they added to the position, but he’s sure making it hard to ignore him 

–In watching the quarterbacks go through an agility drill in which they had to throw the ball about 10 yards, it was interesting to observe the thud of the ball to the receivers (staff members). Winston’s passes were thrown with some zip, as were Dart’s and DeVito’s. Wilson’s didn’t create as much of an audible “pop” sound as the others did.  

–James Hudson took most of the snaps at left tackle with the starters, and Stone Forsythe got reps at the spot with the twos, with Mbow sprinkled into the mix. Forsythe appeared to have a rough day as I counted three straight pressures that came around his edge.

–Kicker Jude McAtamney had a good day, hitting all of his field goal attempts. I couldn't tell the distance as they were working on the far end of the field but all of his field goal attempts went right down Broadway. Not to be outdone, Graham Gano also hit all his field goal attempts. Is a competition brewing here?

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