The New York Giants faced off in a live intra-squad scrimmage on Friday evening, which aired on Saturday via NBC. While the edited version only lasted one hour, we were able to extract some valuable points.
Tackling was held to a minimum, and quarterbacks weren’t allowed to get hit, but the defense was in the backfield quite a bit, which could be the reality for the Giants and their newly assembled offensive line.
However, plenty of players had solid outings on both sides of the ball.
Three players who showed out for the New York Giants on Friday:
1.) Corey Coleman
The wide receiver unit was tumultuous in 2019, dealing with a number of injuries, which limited rookie quarterback Daniel Jones‘ production.
Golden Tate was suspended for the first few games of the season, Darius Slayton missed his first two games with a hamstring injury, Sterling Shepard was in and out with concussions, and Corey Coleman suffered a torn ACL before the season even began. Luckily, all four are healthy and have brewed optimism.
During Friday scrimmage, Coleman caught multiple passes, including a back-shoulder pass on the right side of the field for a lengthy gain. His speed and first-round talent have been apparent, despite multiple significant injuries over the past few seasons. If he can remain healthy, Coleman could be an underrated producer for Big Blue moving forward.
2.) Wayne Gallman
After being buried on the depth chart in 2019, back-up running back Wayne Gallman showed out on Friday. He performed so well that the Giants released undrafted free agent Javon Leake the next day. The former Clemson stand out produced two touchdowns, one on the ground in one through the air.
Oddly, he lost favor with former New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur, but he is proving himself valuable in front of Joe Judge. If he continues to excel in practice and live scrimmages, he could be the number two running back behind Saquon Barkley. With Dion Lewis signing as a free agent this off-season, I see him more as a scat-back than Barkley’s back up.
3.) Lorenzo Carter
Lorenzo Carter was the star of the evening, recording 4.5 sacks, two of which came on rookie tackle Andrew Thomas. He also recorded one against Cam Fleming and another against tight end Levine Toilolo. Carter has struggled to reach his potential over two years in the NFL. With double the defensive snaps in 2019, he barely recorded better statistics compared to his rookie season. The Georgia stand-out is one of the most athletic players in the NFL given his size, with 4.46 40-yard dash speed.
If Carter can finally take a big step forward, he might just save the Giants a ton of money down the line.