The New York Giants have released their first unofficial depth chart for the 2020 NFL season. With the Giants’ first regular season game taking place in just a week from today, the team has set its starting lineup, unofficially. This lineup could change, depending on the next week of practice. But, for now, this is the depth chart:
The Depth Chart:
Offense:
QB: Daniel Jones, Colt McCoy
RB: Saquon Barkley, Dion Lewis, Wayne Gallman
FB: Eli Penny
WR: Darius Slayton, CJ Board
WR: Golden Tate, Damion Ratley
WR: Sterling Shepard, Damion Ratley
TE: Evan Engram, Kaden Smith, Levine Toilolo, Eric Tomlinson
LT: Andrew Thomas, Jackson Barton
LG: Will Hernandez, Shane Lemieux
C: Nick Gates, Spencer Pulley
RG: Kevin Zeitler, Shane Lemieux
RT: Cam Fleming, Matt Peart
Defense:
SLB: Lorenzo Carter, Markus Golden, Carter Coughlin
DE: Dexter Lawrence, RJ McIntosh
MLB: Blake Martinez, Tae Crowder
NT: Dalvin Tomlinson, Austin Johnson
WIL: DeVante Downs, TJ Brunson
DT: Leonard Williams, BJ Hill
OLB: Oshane Ximines, Kyler Fackrell, Cam Brown
LCB: James Bradberry, Darnay Holmes, Brandon Williams
SS: Jabrill Peppers, Nate Ebner
FS: Julian Love, Logan Ryan, Adrian Colbert
RCB: Corey Ballentine, Isaac Yiadom
Specialists:
LS: Casey Kreiter
H: Riley Dixon
P: Riley Dixon
PR: Golden Tate, Jabrill Peppers, Sterling Shepard, Darius Slayton
KOR: Darnay Holmes, Darius Slayton, Corey Ballentine, CJ Board, Dion Lewis
K: Graham Gano
Notable Positions:
The biggest weakness for the Giants heading into the 2020 offseason was at center. New York’s centers, Jon Halapio and Spencer Pulley, struggled immensely in 2019. The Giants did not acquire a new center this offseason. Instead, they moved Nick Gates in to compete for the position. Now, Nick Gates is listed as the starting center, indicating that he has won the positional battle with Spencer Pulley.
Newly-signed defensive back Logan Ryan is technically not listed as a starter. Ryan is listed as the backup free safety behind Julian Love. Many expected to see Logan Ryan start at RCB, but that position is currently held by Corey Ballentine.
Darnay Holmes did not earn a starting role on defense, but he did earn a starting role on special teams as the kick-off returner. An additional thing to note is that slot cornerback is technically not a starting defensive position. This depth chart is about the base defense, 3-4 formation. Nickel is not the base defense, but the starting nickel cornerback very well could be Darnay Holmes or Logan Ryan. So, while they are not listed as starters in the base defense, they will likely both see plenty of playing time in the nickel and dime formations.
After the surprising cut of Ryan Connelly this week, Devenate Downs has been given the unofficial starting WIL job. He will start opposite of Blake Martinez at MLB.
Kyler Fackrell, signed this offseason after a 10.5 sack 2018 campaign with the Packers, is not a starter in this first depth chart. Fackrell is the second-string OLB, behind Oshane Ximines. Markus Golden is also not listed as a starter after earning 10 sacks in 2019 with the Giants. Lorenzo Carter is ahead of Golden as the team’s first-string SLB.
This first unofficial depth chart gives a good idea as to which Giants players will be seen on the field most often in 2020. But much of this lineup is subject to change, as there is still another week of practice to get through. On top of that, the Giants are not likely to sit in their base defense all game. There will be plenty of nickel looks and other creative defensive formations schemed up by Patrick Graham. The Giants also have two key players, David Mayo and Xavier McKinney, on injured reserve. They will enter the lineup, likely both as starters, later on this season.