The New York Giants have made some major changes this offseason. A new coaching staff with a eye on fundamentals has been brought in as well as many new faces on the field.
How that all translates into making the Giants winners again is still to be determined. There are some constants and holdovers from last season, however for the new staff to build on and looking at the Giants’ potential starting lineups, they appear to be a better team coming into 2020 then the 4-12 bunch who came out of 2019.
Pro Football Focus took a shot at predicting the Giants’ starting lineups and truth be told, they look a heckuva lot better than they did last season.
Offense
QB: Daniel Jones; RB: Saquon Barkley; WRs: Sterling Shepard, Darius Slayton; Slot: Golden Tate; TE: Evan Engram
LT: Andrew Thomas, LG: Will Hernandez, C: Nick Gates, RG: Kevin Zeitler, RT: Nate Solder
Battle to watch: Nick Gates vs. Spencer Pulley vs. Shane Lemieux at center
Gates spent time at both right guard and right tackle during the 2019 season, ending the year with a very respectable 77.0 overall grade. That has generated some buzz around his name as a potential starter — a young player whom the Giants want to involve — despite no real experience at the center position. Considering his main competition is Pulley (who has yet to grade above 57.0 in four NFL seasons) and Lemieux (a fifth-round rookie who didn’t play center in college), it’s not unrealistic to think Gates wins the job outright.
The battle for center is real and should be interesting. No one is expecting Pulley to be prevail in the end, however. Th Giants beefed up their blocking and short-yardage tight end capability with Levine Toilolo and Eric Tomlinson and signed UDFA Rysen John to join Kaden Smith and Engram, who could be used more in the slot or even on the outside at WR this season.
Solder, if he continues to decline, could find himself on the bench as the season wears on. I expect to see Thomas starting at left tackle at some point and maybe the other rookie tackle, Matt Peart, also getting some time. Don’t forget Cam Fleming is in the mix as well.
At running back, the Giants inked Dion Lewis in free agency, so I expect to see them trying to get the ball into his hands as a change-up back to Saquon.
Defense
DI: Leonard Williams, Dalvin Tomlinson, Dexter Lawrence
EDGE: Kyler Fackrell, Oshane Ximines
LB: Blake Martinez
CB: James Bradberry, DeAndre Baker
CB/S: Julian Love
S: Jabrill Peppers, Xavier McKinney
Name to watch: Sam Beal
I included DeAndre Baker on this starting lineup, but chances are that he is heading towards a significant suspension. That leaves the door open at the outside cornerback spot opposite free agent acquisition James Bradberry, and Beal has to be the leader in the clubhouse to take advantage after three starts outside late last season. Those starts weren’t exactly impressive — Beal allowed 14 of 20 targets into his coverage to be completed without recording a pass breakup or interception — but he is two years removed from earning an 88.1 coverage grade at Western Michigan in his final collegiate season.
Martinez, Bradberry, Fackrell and McKinney are all upgrades and should lift the others’ overall play. Williams coming back is going to be huge as a leader and a solid contributor up front. Lawrence should be improved, but let’s not forget the Giants are deep on the line now. They still have B.J. Hill and R.J. McIntosh in the rotation and signed Austin Johnson in free agency.
Two names that many are forgetting are linebackers David Mayo and Ryan Connelly. Both have shown that they can play in the middle. Peppers will hopefully continue to improve as will Love, but expect second-year defensive back Corey Ballantine and rookies Darnay Holmes and Chris Williamson to make their case for playing time, too.
I have a feeling the Baker case will be resolved without issue and he will be back with the Giants for training camp, so that would push Beal to the bench.
In a final note, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Markus Golden come back to them at a team discount.
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