On Friday morning, before I left for the first day of New York Giants training camp, I asked on Twitter what you wanted me to find out for you. I didn't forget about that, and after two days of talking to players and watching practice, here are some of the results:
@DanGrazianoESPN who lined up at starting safties & next to Hankins? #NYGmail
— Ricker81 (@D_Ricker81) July 31, 2015Cullen Jenkins has been working as the first-team defensive tackle next to Johnathan Hankins, with Markus Kuhn and Kenrick Ellis on the second team. Jenkins played a lot of defensive end in the spring and could work there again if the team has a need. But they're using him as their three-technique defensive tackle for now. Jenkins also was mentioned by a couple of players as having assumed a significant leadership role on the defense this offseason. "He's telling us, 'Match my intensity, match my focus, match my effort,'" defensive end Damontre Moore said Saturday. "His message is, 'I'm not the leader, we're all the leaders.'"
As for safeties, they're still using rookie Landon Collins and Cooper Taylor as the starters, but a couple of the players have said they're not designating traditional "free" and "strong" safety positions but instead splitting the field and telling each guy to take a half. This tells me there's a long way to go before they have the safeties they want for Steve Spagnuolo's defense. Still a lot of camp left, but this has to be sorted out.
@DanGrazianoESPN #nygmail can you find out how much Victor Cruz is running and how much he is practicing
— Corey ™ (@cblockd) July 31, 2015Over the course of the first two days, Victor Cruz and fellow wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who missed minicamp with a hamstring injury, have been taking reps in 11-on-11 drills and going through practice basically as normal. They are both having their reps limited a bit and monitored, but Cruz is doing a lot more than I expected him to do at this point. When he's on the field, he's running routes and being covered and targeted just like any other receiver out there. The Giants are rotating skill-position groups on offense, with backup wide receivers and tight ends on the field along to start with Eli Manning and the first-team offensive line, but then Cruz, Beckham and Rueben Randle rotate in as a group and get their reps. Basically, Cruz looks better right now and is doing more than I think the Giants could have hoped.
@DanGrazianoESPN schwartz look healthy? #nygmail
— Josh Olmsted (@michugana) July 31, 2015Yes, actually. Geoff Schwartz has taken all of the first-team reps at right guard over the first two days -- something he said has surprised even him. "I'm limited, in that sometimes it just gets sore or whatever," Schwartz said of the ankle injury that landed him on injured reserve last season. "I'm not going to re-injure it. It's just a matter of getting the strength back." Schwartz also said he expects the current offensive line alignment -- Ereck Flowers at left tackle, Justin Pugh at left guard, Weston Richburg at center, Schwartz at right guard and Marshall Newhouse at right tackle -- to remain the same unless someone gets hurt.
@DanGrazianoESPN if James jones is the number 3 WR ahead of randle #nygmail
— Kyle Flynn (@kmflynn35) July 31, 2015No, and I don't think he was signed Friday to be that. Rueben Randle is starting on the outside with the first-team receivers along with Beckham, with Cruz in the slot. (Remember, the Giants are almost always in a three-receiver set.) In his first practice with the team Saturday, James Jones was an outside wide receiver on the second team. He's in a competition with guys like Preston Parker, Corey Washington and Julian Talley to be the No. 4 or 5 wide receiver. The Giants like their starting three and will surely keep special teams ace Dwayne Harris and sixth-round pick Geremy Davis on the roster, so there's not a lot of room to make this team as a wide receiver. Jones, who was still unsigned when camps opened this week, knows the system because he played in Green Bay when current Giants offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo was there. But he's no sure thing to make the roster.
Thanks for the questions. We'll do this periodically throughout camp.
