New York Giants: The Three Things That Excite Me Most About The First Preseason Game

It’s here! It’s finally here! Football season is back! Well, sort of.

The New York Giants will play their first preseason game tonight against the New York Jets at 7 p.m. The Giants have had an interesting offseason filled with some highs and a few very low lows. Nonetheless, the past is final and the future is yet to be determined.

Tonight will be our first look at the New York Giants’ future. There will be a lot of new faces and situations to look out for tonight. Here are the three things that excite me most about tonight’s game:

Daniel Jones To Alonzo Russell

The New York Giants made the most controversial draft pick of the 2019 NFL Draft when they decided to take quarterback Daniel Jones sixth overall. Since then, the team and Jones himself have received ungodly sums of criticism.

But for Daniel Jones, this criticism has been unwarranted. Daniel has looked great in training camp as he is on a mission to prove his doubters wrong. Along with Daniel’s strong showing in camp came a new receiving threat.

Alonzo Russell and Daniel Jones have formed a strong connection on the football field in practice. They consistently connect for big plays every practice and have both caught the attention of the press.

Alonzo Russell has been a pleasant surprise during training camp. But he is still not a lock to make the 53 man roster since the Giants have some depth at wide receiver. But a strong showing in the preseason should lock him into the final roster.

Daniel Jones’s first game action as a member of the New York Giants is tonight. This highly-anticipated moment could not come against a more interesting opponent. Jones will face off against the Jets’ own young franchise quarterback, Sam Darnold (who many believed the Giants should have drafted last year).

Expect to see Daniel Jones and Alonzo Russell connect on multiple occasions tonight.

The New Secondary

The New York Giants‘ secondary has been one of the league’s worst over the past two years. In 2017, the Giants’ secondary allowed 252.4 passing yards per game (ranked 31st in the NFL). In 2018, the Giants’ secondary allowed 252.8 passing yards (ranked 23rd in the NFL), showing minimal to no improvement.

The Giants fixed this problem in the 2019 NFL Draft. New York drafted three defensive backs in the 2019 NFL Draft (four if counting Sam Beal). The secondary has been completely rebuilt.

So far in training camp, the Giants’ new secondary has lived up to the hype. The young cornerbacks have been making plays left and right. The Giants’ secondary might have more depth than any other position group on the roster.

DeAndre Baker was drafted at the end of the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft and he has been a shutdown cornerback so far in training camp. But one of the biggest surprises in camp has been another cornerback. Sixth round pick Corey Ballentine has been a serious playmaker in practice.

Check out this awesome interception by Corey Ballentine on a jump ball in the end zone:

With the new additions of Ballentine, Baker, and Julian Love, and Jabrill Peppers, there is a lot to look out for in the secondary during tonight’s game. The Giants’ defense has a lot of potential thanks to all the new young defensive backs they acquired this offseasons.

Dexter Lawrence

The Giants’ second first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft was interior defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence out of Clemson. He might have been a first-round draft pick, but Lawrence is possibly the most underrated player in the Giants’ 2019 draft class.

Many initially looked at Dexter Lawrence as a two down run-stuffing nose tackle. Dexter Lawrence is so much more than that. Yes, he is a giants human being weighing over 340 pounds. And yes, he is an excellent run defender.

But Dexter Lawrence is also an excellent pass-rusher from the interior. In 2018, Dexter Lawrence totaled an impressive 33 pressures (Pro Football Focus). Dexter was often in the face of opposing quarterbacks. He also added 10 sacks in three collegiate seasons.

In fact, he was in the backfield at one of the highest percentages of the 2019 NFL Draft class. Lawrence posted a pressure percentage of 13.8%. This was the third-highest percentage in the draft class, putting him behind only Quinnen Williams and Christian Wilkins.

It will be exciting to watch Dexter Lawrence disrupt the Jets’ offense in two ways tonight, even though he will only be playing a limited amount of time.