5 players to watch as Giants’ training camp unfolds

Who will make this a better team? Who should start packing their bags?

There’s nothing quite like the start of NFL training camp to get a football fan’s juices flowing. The NFL does a masterful job making itself a year-round source of attention, with the Combine, then free agency, then the draft, then the schedule reveal, then OTAs and minicamps during the offseason. This week, though, is when we get our first taste of what the 2025 New York Giants may actually look like on the field.

Highest among the questions to be answered is whether the holes in last year’s team have been filled, and by whom. We won’t have answers to those questions for a while, but as camp begins we can start to get clues from who’s on the field and who’s still rehabbing, who’s getting snaps with the first, second, or third teams, who is distinguishing themselves with their play, and how players are being used.

With that in mind, let’s discuss five players who either might be Day 1 starters, or might be off the team, depending on how training camp goes. I’m not going to include a quarterback among them. You’re probably salivating to see Jaxson Dart out there against a real NFL defense, but when Brian Daboll was Buffalo’s offensive coordinator the Bills started Nathan Peterman in Game 1 and not rookie Josh Allen in 2018. This time he has a possible Hall of Famer in Russell Wilson on the roster. We’ll all be interested to see Dart in training camp, joint practices, and exhibition games, and he’ll probably start at some point this season, but he will not be the Day 1 starter.

5.) Darius Alexander

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The Giants desperately need someone to line up next to Dexter Lawrence and fill the Leonard Williams-sized hole in the Giants’ interior defense. In the off-season they signed veteran Roy Robertson-Harris, who is a favorite of defensive line coach Andre Patterson. Alexander is the future, though, if he shows he can make the jump from Mid-American Conference competition to the NFL.

Alexander finished third among IDLs in Pro Football Focus’ FBS run defense rankings last season, behind only Mason Graham and Walter Nolen. He was ninth in pass rush among IDLs with at least 300 pass rush snaps, with 37 pressures and four sacks. If he can do anything like that in the NFL, one of the two major questions about the Giants’ defense will have been answered. He’ll probably start camp with the second team, maybe even the third, so I’ll be looking to see whether he begins to get some first-team snaps as camp progresses.

4.) Evan Neal

Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images

This is surely Evan Neal’s final chance to remain a Giant in 2026. He improved some at right tackle last season, but his pass blocking is still not at the level required of an NFL tackle. All the weaknesses we have come to know and not love were there in college. For example, Pro Football Focus’ 2022 draft guide said of him, “Weight consistently out over his toes.” Check. “On the ground after first contact far more than you’d like.” Check. “Struggles with stunts and when reacting to unexpected post-snap movement.” Check. Yet they, and everyone else, loved his physicality and assumed he’d improve on the shortcomings when he got to the NFL. He didn’t – not enough, anyway.

When you weren’t looking, though, Neal did improve on one thing – his run blocking:

Courtesy of Pro Football Focus

Neal was clearly the Giants’ best run blocker last season, with an overall 80.8 run block grade and an outstanding 90.9 in zone blocking, 13th best in the NFL. With his move to guard this summer (the position he played his first year at Alabama), offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo will try to salvage his career. Guards have to pass block too, but perhaps his weaknesses will be mitigated in the closer quarters of the interior line and his strengths as a devastating run blocker will be amplified. The question for camp will be whether he can compete for a starting job, displacing Greg Van Roten (more likely) or Jon Runyan Jr. (less likely).

3.) Andrew Thomas

Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images

We’ve talked before about how important Andrew Thomas is to the Giants’ offense. When healthy he’s one of the 10 best offensive tackles in the NFL, maybe one of the top five. The problem is that he hasn’t been healthy often enough. This summer he is returning from a Lisfranc injury, and it’s possible that he won’t be ready to play in Week 1. The Giants signed free agent James Hudson to step in if he’s not. That’s a better plan than they had last year, when Joshua Ezeudu was briefly the “answer” after Thomas went down. Hudson, though, is at best a stopgap. Thomas looked good throwing out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium a couple of weeks ago, but that’s not the same as going up against Von Miller, who just signed with the Commanders, the Giants’ Week 1 opponent.

During camp the focus will be on how soon Thomas returns to the field, what he’s doing when he’s out there, and whether/how soon he sees live action in practices, joint workouts, and pre-season games. Then when he does, how long will it take him to return to his previous form?

2.) Abdul Carter

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Not everything on this list needs to be a question mark about a player. I really don’t think there are any question marks about Abdul Carter. I’ll be flabbergasted if he’s not an impact edge defender in the NFL.

The reason he’s on this list is because training camp will allow us to start to get a feel for what they are going to do with him. That question has two parts. Part 1 is how he will be part of the rotation with fellow edge defenders Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux. I’d anticipate that Burns and Thibodeaux will be the nominal “starters” come Week 1, but Carter should begin to see action quickly, possibly as early as the second defensive drive of the game. Eventually you may see all three playing about the same number of snaps. Carter may also line up sometimes inside tackle.

The more interesting question will be whether and how much Shane Bowen uses Carter at off-ball linebacker. Carter was originally an off-ball linebacker at Penn State but became primarily an edge defender in his final year. His predecessor, Micah Parsons, played a lot off the ball in his rookie season with Dallas but is almost exclusively an edge defender now. Becoming one of the top 2-3 pass rushers in the NFL will do that.

Playing Carter off the ball some would solve the problem of keeping Burns and Thibodeaux on the field enough while also getting free agent signing Chauncey Golston some snaps outside. It also will stir the pot on another question: What is Bobby Okereke’s future as a Giant? Okereke had a stellar first season under Wink Martindale, but was less effective in 2024 in Bowen’s defense. Will Carter cut into Okereke’s play time, or Micah McFadden’s? It will be interesting to see how the Giants deploy him in camp and in the pre-season games.

1.) Deonte Banks

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Speaking of last chances, this is certainly Deonte Banks’ last opportunity to establish himself as one of the Giants’ starting cornerbacks. Banks started off pretty well in his Giants’ career, notably playing Commanders’ WR1 Terry McLaurin tightly as a rookie. Since then, though, it has been all downhill. Opposing teams began targeting Banks successfully, and it hasn’t stopped. Much of the focus has been on his (lack of) ball skills, and rightfully so. Time after time, we’ve seen Banks go stride for stride with some of the NFL’s best wide receivers and then never even try to contest the catch once the ball arrives. (The photo above is a rare example of a play when Banks did go for the ball, but he was called for pass interference.) Of even more concern is the appearance of a lack of effort at times.

Banks’ reputation is as a man coverage cornerback, and he was in principle well suited to Wink Martindale’s man-heavy defenses but is a square peg in a round hole in Shane Bowen’s defenses that play more zone. Here, though, are his man (upper) vs. zone (lower) breakdowns from 2024 along with those of other Giants CBs:

Courtesy of Pro Football Focus

Banks had at least an adequate PFF coverage grade when in zone defense, but was well below average in man defense. Quarterbacks had a 110.9 passer rating against him in man but a very low 34.2 in zone. His completion percentage against (62.5% man, 46.9% zone) was also much better in zone defense.

So the good news is that he’s not the liability in zone defense that you might imagine – actually, he was quite good judging from the low passer rating when targeted. What’s killing him are the big plays he’s giving up in man defense. He simply does not look up at the catchpoint and try to disrupt the catch. Can he learn to do that in this training camp?

The answer is important to the Giants’ chances this season. They signed Paulson Adebo to be CB1, which takes some of the pressure off Banks to be THE guy. We don’t know, though, whether the Giants will have their CBs stay on one side or have Adebo travel with the opponent’s most dangerous receiver. Either way, this is probably Banks’ only chance to outright win the CB2 job. If he can’t, there is no clear alternative. Cor’Dale Flott would be next man up, and Tre Hawkins played well in one game last season before being injured. Can Banks finally live up to his draft pedigree? Something to keep an eye on during the pre-season.