The New York Giants have released their initial depth chart for the 2020 NFL regular season. It does not contain as many surprises as one would expect during these times of rapid and sudden changes.
On offense, we already knew many of the positions were filled such as Daniel Jones at quarterback, Saquon Barkley at running back, Evan Engram at tight end, Will Hernandez at left tackle, Kevin Zeitler at right tackle, Eli Penny at fullback and Golden Tate, Darius Slayton and Sterling Shepard at wide receiver.
The only two unsettled spots were along the offensive line. Nick Gates is listed as the starting center with rookie Andrew Thomas at left tackle and free agent addition Cam Fleming at right tackle.
Head coach Joe Judge said the team will not be rotating on the offensive line in order get some synchronicity going. But, expect to see a good dose of backup running back Dion Lewis and tight end Kaden Smith.
On defense, the Giants’ base will look like this (yes, it’s a 3-4 alignment):
Position/Player
SLB Lorenzo Carter
DE Dexter Lawrence
MLB Blake Martinez
NT Dalvin Tomlinson
WIL Devante Downs
DT Leonard Williams
OLB Oshane Ximines
LCB James Bradberry
SS Jabrill Peppers
FS Julian Love
RCB Corey Ballentine
The Giants will not stay in that base very often. Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham will be employing five defensive backs on most downs, so we’ll be seeing a lot of Logan Ryan, Darnay Holmes and Isaac Yiadom.
Don’t forget that in this new environment, the big guys will be rotating as well as the outside pass rushers. Carter and Ximines may start the game, but there’s no way the Giants won’t be using Markus Golden and Kyler Fackrell on passing downs.
On special teams, Graham Gano is the kicker, Riley Dixon is the punter and holder and Casey Kreiter the long snapper.
The punt returners are Tate, Peppers, Shepard and Slayton (expect a lot of fair catches) and kickoffs will handled by Holmes, Slayton, Ballentine, C.J. Board and Lewis.