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Voluntary organized team activities kicked off for the Giants last week, but players have been getting used to life under John Harbaugh for a while now.
“S—’s different,” outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux said at the Giants’ Town Hall earlier this month. “It’s hard. It’s different in a great way.”
Thibodeaux, along with teammates including quarterback Jaxson Dart, edge Brian Burns, running back Cam Skattebo, tight end Isaiah Likely and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, discussed the upcoming season. They also talked about what it’s been like getting used to Harbaugh — or, in Likely’s case, playing for him in the past.
“Not every day with John is going to be peaches and cream,” said Likely, who spent the last four seasons with Harbaugh in Baltimore. “That’s just what you want in a head coach, though. Somebody that’s not only going to tell you how great you are, but also what you have to improve.”
While the players mentioned above aren’t in position battles, they did describe a heightened level of intensity at Harbaugh’s practices. That promises to show up in competitions as the voluntary workouts transition to mandatory minicamp, and then training camp this summer.
Let’s take a look at four positions of interest as OTAs continue, with another practice open to the media Friday.
Kicker
Special teams have been the Giants’ Achilles heel over the last few seasons. Harbaugh has given a more drastic makeover to that unit than any other on the roster. The Giants brought in punter Jordan Stout and long snapper Zach Triner. However, it’s kicker where Harbaugh has set things up for a wide-open competition.
After the Giants released the injury-plagued Graham Gano, that left free-agent addition Jason Sanders and second-year kicker Ben Sauls, who was brought on last fall, on the roster. Sanders, a 2020 All-Pro for the Miami Dolphins, missed all of last season with a hip injury, while Sauls made all of his kicks (eight field goals and seven extra points). Then, the Giants signed Dominic Zvada out of Michigan as an undrafted free agent to max out the competition.
“He’s big, tall, rangy kind of guy,” Harbaugh said of Zvada. “Big for a kicker, you would say, and really strong leg. More than anything, it’s the consistency. He has a vertical swing pattern, we call it. He does a nice job of getting downfield through the kick. Because of that, he tends to kick a ball straight consistently.”
With OTAs starting, Harbaugh anticipated the team kicking field goals at least every other practice, perhaps even every practice, given the three kickers. Given time constraints, we saw only two kickers attempt live field goal reps during last week’s practice. Sauls went 2-for-4, while Sanders went 4-for-6.
It remains to be seen if Zvada can overtake the veterans. Sanders has made 84.6 percent of his field goals over seven seasons in the league. Even amid the Giants’ struggles at this spot over the years, it’s hard to imagine the team under Harbaugh carrying three kickers.
Defensive line
The Giants’ defensive line took another major hit last week after Roy Robertson-Harris tore his Achilles tendon. Robertson-Harris started all 17 games last year and had the second-most snaps (56 percent) among Giants defensive linemen behind Dexter Lawrence. Darius Alexander had the third-highest snap percentage on the team (35 percent). The position was already thin before Lawrence was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals, but the Giants went back to free agency post-draft after taking Bobby Jamison-Travis in the sixth round.
At the practice open to the media, linemen DJ Reader, Shelby Harris and Sam Roberts were absent, but Reader and Harris are presumed starters. In their stead, Robertson-Harris, Alexander and Zacch Pickens were the top linemen.
This might not be a clear battle, but it’s definitely a position worth monitoring given the ups and downs this offseason.
Cornerback
Another position that’s been a weakness at times over the last few seasons, there are plenty of new faces in the cornerbacks’ room. The Giants signed Greg Newsome II and drafted Colton Hood with their second-round pick. The team also declined 2023 first-rounder Deonte Banks’ fifth-year option.
During the one open practice, Hood did not participate. Newsome started opposite Paulson Adebo, while Ar’Darius Washington was the first-team slot corner, with Dru Phillips not in attendance.
Given Hood’s draft status and Harbaugh’s comments after his selection, it’s not hard to envision that he could end up with a starting role. As Harbaugh said, Hood is competing to start.
Wide Receiver
The update at wide receiver last week was less encouraging. Malik Nabers, who tore his ACL last fall, recently underwent a second surgery.
“He’s in the middle of it,” Harbaugh said. “It’s such a hard thing. It’s an ACL and whatever else he had in that knee. Not a simple knee, you know. So he’s in the slog of it, the grind of it, I would say. So he’s fighting through it. You know, he’s here every day, working hard at it. Just impossible to predict. I mean, the goal is to start the season and get out there sometime in training camp. That would be the goal. We’ll see what happens. If he’s out there, great. If he’s not out there, great. We’ll be ready to go either way.”
In past depth chart iterations, I had Darius Slayton at No. 2, but he didn’t participate in last week’s open session as he’s been working through a sports hernia surgery. Harbaugh said Slayton will be 100 percent for the start of camp.
That leaves increased snaps for veterans Darnell Mooney and Calvin Austin II, who were added this offseason.
“I’m excited about those guys,” Harbaugh said. “They’re pros, starters, established starters in the NFL, and they look good.”
There’s also an opportunity for third-round pick Malachi Fields to climb the depth chart and make an impact.
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