The New York Giants aren’t going to look like the same team they were in 2019 – that fact is certain after the Giants brought in a new coaching staff and a number of new players from both free agency and the Draft. The secondary and the offensive line in specific were areas that received many complaints in 2019, and it looks like the organization has listened and attempted to bring in talent to address these problems.
Pro Football Focus has done its best to project the starting lineups for all of the teams in the NFL, and their predictions about who will start for the Giants are somewhat interesting.
Offense
QB: Daniel Jones
RB: Saquon Barkley
WR: Sterling Shepard
WR: Darius Slayton
Slot: Golden Tate
TE: Evan Engram
LT: Andrew Thomas
LG: Will Hernandez
C: Nick Gates
RG: Kevin Zeitler
RT: Nate Solder
One of the changes from 2019 that stands out on the offensive line is at tackle. Nate Solder didn’t pan out after joining the Giants on a large deal last year, but thanks to having to pay him, it wouldn’t be a good move for the Giants to move on entirely unless another team was willing to trade for Solder – which didn’t happen this offseason. These projections assume that Solder will be replaced at left tackle by Andrew Thomas despite the latter player being a rookie that the Giants just selected this year.
Based on the position the Giants drafted Thomas at, though, that isn’t surprising. When a player on the offensive line is drafted at number four overall over flashier players, the expectation is usually a quick return.
Darius Slayton is also listed with the top receivers, which seems likely enough. Slayton managed eight touchdowns as a rookie and helped the Giants significantly when other receivers were absent, and this season, has the advantage of experience and familiarity with the offense. This may be the first of many seasons with Slayton playing a role as a main weapon from the start.
Defense
DI: Leonard Williams
DI: Dalvin Tomlinson
DI: Dexter Lawrence
EDGE: Kyler Fackrell
EDGE: Oshane Ximines
LB: Blake Martinez
CB: James Bradberry
CB: DeAndre Baker
CB/S: Julian Love
S: Jabrill Peppers
S: Xavier McKinney
There’s more position battles on defense and these were represented in the projections. Interestingly enough, the predicted edge players are new addition Kyler Fackrell and second year Oshane Ximines, with Lorenzo Carter being a notable exclusion. Carter has been a player the Giants have put faith in for the past couple of years, but after not seeing enough returns, and only 4.5 sacks in 2019, it’s not out of the question for others to move into a larger role if Carter doesn’t show a step up.
In the secondary, James Bradberry is listed as the top corner, which is no surprise, but DeAndre Baker is listed as the number two. The accuracy of this prediction likely depends on the results of his ongoing legal case, and if that drags on further towards the season, it may just impact Baker’s chances with the team – especially if he isn’t able to attend training camp this summer because of it.
Also as expected, Xavier McKinney is seen as the other safety starting next to Jabrill Peppers, while Julian Love is listed as both cornerback and safety, as his role still remains to be seen.
Of course, a lot of these changes will depend on offseason and preseason performances, although with the way things have gone so far this year, it’s unknown just when we’ll get to see the players in pads at all again.