New York Giants: 5 players to watch during intra-squad scrimmage

New York Giants, Darnay Holmes, Julian Love, Jabrill Peppers, DeAndre Baker, Xavier McKinney, Corey Ballentine
New York GiantsNew York Giants, Darnay Holmes, Julian Love, Jabrill Peppers, DeAndre Baker, Xavier McKinney, Corey Ballentine

The New York Giants will face off in an intrasquad scrimmage on Friday evening, which will be aired Saturday on television. Fans will have a sneak peek at the team in action, after several weeks of watching practice highlights via social media.

Without the usage of the preseason, the Giants are utilizing a scrimmage against one another to provide a controlled environment for the players as they prepare their bodies for the regular season. The Giants face off against the Pittsburgh Steelers on September 14, which is only a few weeks away.

This scrimmage will represent an opportunity for back-end roster players to showcase their skills in a live setting. It also provides rookie offensive lineman Andrew Thomas and Matt Peart with a chance to prove they can stand up to NFL level talent.

Ultimately, we will learn a lot from Friday’s live-action.

Five players to watch during the New York Giants’ intrasquad scrimmage:

1.) Corey Ballentine

With DeAndre Baker being placed on the commissioner’s exempt list and Sam Beal opting out of the 2020 season, second-year player Corey Ballantine is in line to earn starting reps at CB2. Coming out of Washburn University last year, Ballentine had a lot of catching up to do to adapt to the NFL. Ultimately, he had a tumultuous rookie season and has not looked great during padded practices.

If Ballentine can stand out during Friday’s scrimmage, it might give the coaching staff a bit more confidence in playing him if it comes down to that.

“I’m just kind of going with it, I’m happy to play wherever they want me to play, wherever I’m needed,” Ballentine said this week. “That’s really all it is. I’m still trying to grow as a player myself and be the best I can be. I’m not super worried about the depth chart or anything else.”

Ballentine has noticed one major improvement compared to his 2019 self:

“I like where I’m at mentally, l like where I’m at physically. I knew kind of what I was getting into this year because I went through last year so I knew what to expect going into training camp. I prepared myself in the offseason for that,” Ballentine said. “I’m really just prepared to take whatever is thrown at me. I know we have a whole new coaching staff so there’s challenges there. Getting to know them, getting to know their play styles and their call styles and how they want us to operate as a team and as players and our technique and things like that.

“I’m just learning and going with the flow and really trying to do the best I can. I’m comfortable, I feel like I am thinking a little bit less. I’m just going out there and playing which is good for me. I’m enjoying myself.”

 

2.) Andrew Thomas

Of course, everybody wants to see new tackle Andrew Thomas in live-action. As the fourth overall pick, there are a lot of expectations riding on the former Georgia stand-out. However, he has struggled at times during camp against pass rushers like Lorenzo Carter and Leonard Williams. While these drills favor the defense, Thomas has been working on his hand placement. He has the physical traits to be a quality tackle in the NFL, but he is still a bit raw at such a young age. Scrimmages like this will allow him to see live-action and hopefully adapt quicker.

In terms of pass rushers, the Giants have a tough schedule ahead of them. Thomas must be repaired to face off again some of the best defensive ends in the league.

“One of the first things we talked about was use of hands, hand strike,’’ Marc Colombo said regarding the weakness of Thomas’. “Andrew’s aware of where he needs to get better. That was one thing he needs to get better with. That’s something we’ve been working on quite a bit.

“And just the type of pass rusher you’re going to see week in and week out, it’s going to be a premier pass rusher, being able to study that rusher, know how to study him. Know what his moves are, know everything he’s thinking. Love where Andrew’s heading. He’s smart, he knows where some of his deficiencies are right now. And there’s not a lot of deficiencies.’’

3.) Lorenzo Carter

Carter has flown under the radar since have a lackluster sophomore campaign. In double the snaps, he barely replicated his rookie season statistics. However, on Friday night against the starting offense, he racked up five sacks. Two of the sacks were on Andrew Thomas and two on Cam Fleming. He forced a Daniel Jones fumble, despite not being able to hit the quarterback.

If he can take a developmental leap in 2020, the Giants could have an answer at pass rusher moving forward.

Former Giants linebacker Carl Banks has high expectations for the former Georgia Bulldog:

“It’s time for him to become a Giants linebacker. There are a lot of players who have played linebacker for the Giants, but it’s been a long time since there’s been a Giants linebacker on the team. Lorenzo has the skill set to become what I consider a Giants linebacker in the tradition of Giants linebackers.’’

4.) Devante Downs

With David Mayo undergoing surgery on his meniscus, reserve linebacker Devante Downs could earn starting reps to start the season. Downs has only eight combined tackles to his name, recording just one assist in 2019.

Going into his third season, it seems as if his confidence is growing, and he has looked stellar during camp. The Giants seem to think he could be a productive player for them, and he might have no choice with Ryan Connelly still recovering from a torn ACL in 2019.

Ideally, Connelly will earn some reps in live-action on Friday, but if not, Downs needs to show some sort of quality, otherwise, the Giants will be heading into the regular season with a big question mark next to Blake Martinez at middle linebacker.

“I think a little bit probably of some confidence, familiarity with the area, the staff a little bit, the time we’ve been around each other, most of it through Zoom,” position coach Kevin Sherrer said of Downs. “He’s a bigger athlete. He’s one of the bigger guys in the room. He’s in the 240 (pound) range. Most of the guys are a little bit lighter than that. … With him, I see a lot of confidence that I didn’t necessarily see on film last year given only being around him in person for just a few weeks. I’ve seen his confidence really grow.”

5.) Daniel Jones

Daniel Jones put on nine pounds of muscle mass this off-season, and it has showed on the football field. His strength in the pocket and velocity have improved according to the coaching staff, and holding onto the football will be a major focal point for him in his second year. After fumbling 18 times and losing 11 of them in his rookie campaign, cutting that statistic back is essential. Having scored 24 touchdown passes with a number of injuries across the offense, he is set to take a step forward this year. Hopefully, given everyone remains healthy, he can build off a strong rookie campaign and cement himself as the franchise quarterback for the future.

With Jason Garrett leading the offense now, we should expect to see a heavy dosage of Saquon Barkley and tight ends. Utilizing different looks and players will keep the offense unpredictable and help Jones attack opposing defenses efficiently.

New offensive coordinator Jason Garret has had nothing but good things to say about Jones:

“Daniel’s done an excellent job. He comes in here and, again, he’s so prepared, he’s so into it, he wants to know every detail. To play quarterback in this league, or really play any position in this league, there are a lot of different things that happen over the course of a play or the course of a practice,” Garrett said. “There’s so much to learn from. I’ve never been around a player who played a perfect game. I’ve never been around a player who had a perfect practice. We’re always striving for that. We’re striving for excellence in everything we do, and that’s really what our objective is.

BONUS:

6.) Matt Peart

One player that has impressed so far during camp is third-round pick Matt Peart out of the University of Connecticut. When drafted, he was a bit undersized for his lanky frame. Over the off-season, he has added nine pounds of healthy muscle mass, which should benefit him against bigger players and more talented pass rushers. Colombo has been working on developing his technique and activating his gritty mentality in the trenches. There’s a lot like when it comes to Peart, but he is still far away from being a cementEd starter for the Giants.

Offensive line coach, Marc Colombo, gave glowing reviews on Peart, so far:

“There’s just a lot to work with as an offensive line coach. We like what we’ve seen so far,” Colombo said, adding that Peart is a tremendous athlete. “He just looks like a [expletive] football player.”