The New York Giants are turning over a new leaf and have handed the franchise to a pair of former Buffalo Bills, general manager Joe Schoen, and head coach Brian Daboll. The mandate for these two heading into Giants training camp is simple. They must evaluate everyone on the squad and put together a Giants roster that can start to pull the franchise out of the funk it's been in for the last decade now.
The Giants rebuild will start in earnest after this season when the team figures out what to do with Daniel Jones and the quarterback position. Right now, though, players still have a chance to impress Schoen and Daboll and submit their application to be part of the Giants’ long-term plans.
Here are three players doing just that and turning heads after two weeks of Giants training camp.
Giants training camp surprises
3. TE Andre Miller
There is good news and bad news with undrafted rookie tight end Andre Miller. The good news is that the former Maine Black Bear has surprised everyone at Giants training camp and looked like the best TE on the roster.
To date, he’s outplayed offseason free agent signing Ricky Seals-Jones and fourth-round pick Daniel Bellinger.
The (possible) bad news is that Miller left Sunday’s practice at Giants training camp with an injury. There is no diagnosis available to the press just yet, so hopefully, this is just a minor setback, and Miller will continue to turn heads and make the Giants 2022 roster with ease.
2. WR Collin Johnson
Tight end Andre Miller (above) is listed on the Giants roster at 6-foot-3, 224 pounds. That’s decent size for a tight end. However, Miller is nowhere as big as third-year wide receiver Collin Johnson at 6-foot-6, 220 pounds.
The supersized wideout played sparingly for the G Men last season, catching 11 balls for 105 yards. In 2022, though, the former Texas Longhorns pass-catcher is grabbing people’s attention at Giants training camp as much for his play as for his size.
The Giants WR depth chart is nearly set with Kenny Golladay, Sterling Shepard, Kadarius Toney, Darius Slayton, and Wan’Dale Robinson all nearly locks to make the Giants roster. Johnson has size and special teams versatility that none of these players — and few others in Giants training camp — have. If he keeps performing as well as he has in camp so far, Johnson could become a lock as well.
1. RB Saquon Barkley
It’s not a shock that running back Saquon Barkley is good. He’s one of the best RBs in the game when healthy. However, it’s been nearly two years since Barkley suffered his devastating knee injury in Week 2 of the 2020 season. The runner has shown flashes of greatness since. But his performance in Giants training camp so far is bringing back memories of vintage Barkley.
Reports out of Giants training camp are that the praise for Barkley is effusive from coaches and teammates. Brian Daboll called him “explosive” and offensive lineman Jon Feliciano told ESPN’s Giants insider Jordan Raanan, “Barkley is the best he has seen from a running back on any of his teams.”
The Giants old regime (rightly or wrongly) invested a huge amount in Saquon Barkley, drafting him No. 2 overall in 2018. Now, the new regime of Schoen and Daboll has one year to see if it is worth continuing to invest in the talented star or to cut bait and let someone else pay him big money in 2023 when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
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