Giants Training Camp: Five Players of Intrigue

It’s about that time of year again. The sun is at its highest and most impassioned, vacationing schoolgoers are in the full swing of idleness, and NFL training camps are set to open across the country. For the New York Giants, rookies reported to camp yesterday, and veterans will report July 26th.

Training camp is always the first significant step towards real football in September, but Giants camp will be especially compelling this season. Fans and media will get their first extended look at new head coach Brian Daboll, along with the largely new staff he assembled, to see how he handles the team and how that contrasts with former coach Joe Judge. Fans will also get their first glimpse of highly drafted rookies Kayvon Thibodeaux and Evan Neal, seen as future cornerstones of the franchise.

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Of course, established stars like Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones will get plenty of attention, too. But every year there are a handful of players whose statuses are hazy heading into camp and merit closer observation. So, let’s list five Giants players that can secure meaningful roles on the team with impressive training camp performances.

EDGE Elerson Smith

Thibodeaux will step in immediately as New York’s star pass rusher, and second-year man Azeez Ojulari is coming off a promising eight-sack rookie season. Forgotten in the mix is Smith, New York’s fourth-round pick out of Northern Iowa just a year ago. Entering the league, Smith profiled as a high-upside project with enticing physical traits.

Unfortunately for Smith, an injury-marred rookie season didn’t afford him much opportunity to prove himself. He appeared in just eight games with zero starts, seeing most of his time on special teams. Still, Smith’s physical profile and college production (albeit at the FCS level) provide hope he’ll become an effective NFL rusher. He’ll be competing with fellow second-year player Quincy Roche and veteran Jihad Ward to be third on the Giants’ outside linebacker depth chart. It’ll be interesting to see if he can grab the role as Big Blue’s first pass rusher off the bench.

WR Wan’Dale Robinson

It certainly came as a surprise when the Giants selected Robinson in the second round of this year’s draft. 5’8″, 178-pound receivers rarely come off the board that early. General manager Joe Schoen and New York’s scouting department must’ve seen something special in Robinson to make him an outlier for his size. Training camp will represent the first real chance to see what the Giants’ plans are with Robinson, and how they see him working within the offense. Receivers of his stature are typically slot-only/gadget guys, but he’ll likely need to take on a more expanded role to justify his draft status. Robinson’s usage could be a useful prism to view Big Blue’s new offense as a hole, as they clearly identified and targeted him in the draft.

CB Aaron Robinson

When the Giants cut James Bradberry as a cap-relieving measure this offseason, a void was left at their second starting outside cornerback position. With no obvious choice to replace Bradberry, Robinson has emerged as the early favorite. The 2021 third-round pick missed the first half of his rookie season on the PUP list, but impressed when healthy. The issue is that Robinson was billed as a slot corner, where he played primarily as a rookie. He has the size and man-coverage ability to project him outside, but such a transition is just that: a projection. The Giants are hoping he can confidently take hold of that second outside corner position. If he can’t, they may have to sign a veteran free-agent cornerback late in camp.

TE Daniel Bellinger

No position group on the Giants is undergoing as drastic an overhaul as the tight end position. There likely won’t be a single tight end on New York’s roster that was on their roster last season. Journeyman tight ends Ricky Seals-Jones and Jordan Akins were signed the fill out the depth chart, but the rookie fourth-round pick Bellinger is the only tight end with potential to be a long-term starter. The San Diego State product didn’t have much boxscore production in college, but an intriguing physical skillset and a solid foundation as a blocker could make him a better pro.

Bellinger received first-team reps during OTAs. It’s clear the coaching staff will give him the opportunity to earn the starting job right away. The Giants would love to see him blossom into the type of all-around tight end they haven’t had in years.

WR Darius Slayton

Slayton is the classic case of a player who was relied upon under the previous coaching staff, but now finds himself on unsure footing with a new regime. Slayton was a fifth-round pick in the same draft class as Jones, and seemed to develop rapid chemistry with the young quarterback. He topped 700 yards each of his first two seasons. Not eye-popping numbers, but certainly good enough to warrant a regular role in the offense. Last year, however, his production fell off a cliff, as he managed only 339 yards and two touchdowns.

Entering this season, at least four receivers are above him on the depth chart. He didn’t get any work with the first team during spring workouts. Slayton doesn’t offer any value as a special teams contributor, which is typically important for bottom-of-the-roster receivers. The Giants could also save around $2.5 million by releasing him. Slayton does bring a field-stretching ability, however, that is somewhat lacking in the rest of the receiver room. His role in training camp will be expressive of how much the new coaching staff values him.

– Ryan Cuneo is the Managing Editor of Full Press Giants. He covers the New York Giants. Like and follow on Follow @ryan_cuneo Follow @FullPressGiants and Facebook.