The New York Giants preseason is in the books, and the next time we see Big Blue on the field it will be in Landover, Md. against the Washington Commanders in their regular season opener.
There have been a bunch of stories to follow over the course of camp and the preseason, and one of the biggest has been the development of the 2025 rookie class. The Giants set the bar high with a great draft in 2024 that yielded starters at multiple positions, and a burgeoning star in Malik Nabers.
The challenge this year is to match that and build the foundation of a team that can be consistently competitive for years to come. So how did the newest Giants fare in their final tune-up game before the start of the regular season?
Note: CB Korie Black, WR Dalen Cambre, and WR Da’Quan Felton all didn’t play due to injury. CB T.J. Moore had a big Pick 6, but suffered a bad leg injury in the closing minutes of the game, and was eventually taken to the hospital in an ambulance.
Abdul Carter (Edge), Jaxson Dart (QB)
I’m not going to spill a lot of digital ink on these two. They were, once again, excellent. It’s still incredibly early for both of these players, and Dart in particular, but they’re exciting to say the least.
Carter started the game across from Chauncey Golston and was a menace to the opposing blockers. He might not be a “starter” in the regular season, but he’ll see plenty of snaps in rotation with (and along side) Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux. Considering the Giants made a point of bringing Carter onto the field for third downs, I think that will be his primary role for the first couple weeks as he acclimates to the NFL.
Dart remains incredibly exciting and I remarked to Ed after Dart’s touchdown pass to Greg Dulcich that “Chase Daniel is gonna need a cigarette.”
Number six was throwing darts out there, even if they were dropped as often as they were caught, and the future certainly looks bright.
Like pretty much everyone else, I think the kid needs to learn when to slide. And as an extension of that, he needs to learn that sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.
“I quite honestly felt like I could split them when I saw the open field,” Dart said after the game, during which h fumbled while taking an unnecessary hit instead of sliding. “Honestly in this situation, I didn’t feel like I was in too much of a threat to get a big hit on me. … If you’re going to take a big hit, then you slide. I didn’t feel like I was in a situation where I was going to take a really big hit, so I felt like I could extend the play and make something out of it.
“Like I said, I felt like I could make a better play on it and thought I could split them,” he added later. “Feel like if I just break a tackle then I’m gone. But yeah, there are situations where things are super congested and you’re going to take a big shot obviously you want to get down. I thought it was an open field, and I could have made a play.”
Later on, he should have thrown the ball away on a play in which he was sacked instead of going big play hunting.
But I also can’t criticize a rookie for being excited (and maybe a bit greedy) in his first start. I certainly don’t want to temper the aggressiveness that defines his game and makes him a good fit for Brian Daboll. The Giants won a lot of big games thanks to Eli Manning’s (occasionally reckless) aggressiveness. This is a learning experience and teaching tape, and the good news is that Dart has so far proven adept at learning from his mistakes.
The Giants were faced with a fraught offseason. But if these two make good on their potential, then Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll will have navigated those troubled waters masterfully. This year’s first round could have been a pair of franchise altering decisions.
Darius Alexander (iDL)
Alexander had a fantastic night against the Patriots, and this was the type of play I’ve been waiting to see from him.
Unlike the first two preseason games, Alexander looked as though he was anticipating the snap, as opposed to reacting to it. The difference was night and day from his games against the Bills and Jets, and he was an absolute handful for the Patriots’ blockers. Alexander was firing off the ball and playing with the kind of explosiveness and power we saw from him on tape in college, and he was consistently driving blockers into the backfield.
Alexander (91) is lined up as the 4i technique in the right B-gap (white tape on his arms, red gloves). And while the play was negated due to a penalty, Alexander easily collapses the pocket and drives the right guard back into the quarterback’s lap. He did the same thing to the left guard the next play (second-and-12).
Like Carter, I noted that the Giants made a point of bringing Alexander onto the field for third downs after the initial drives. That likewise suggests that he could start out as a passing down weapon while he acclimates to the regular season.
Cam Skattebo (RB)
The story here isn’t what Skattebo did on the field, but rather that he was on it in the first place. It feels like ages ago now, but Skattebo got out to an incredibly exciting start to camp. He spent the next couple weeks dealing with a hamstring injury and missed the first two preseason games. He returned to practice this past Monday and immediately got back into the thick of things.
Skattebo only got on the field for 10 plays (three carries, 12 yards), but he looked solid doing so. He was also moved around the offensive formation and even took snaps split out as a receiver in an empty backfield formation. He might be RB3 for now, but I suspect we’ll see plenty of him in short order.
Marcus Mbow (OT)
Mbow got the start at left tackle and was on the field for 37 plays. The best thing I can say about Mbow as the Giants third left tackle is that I barely noticed him out there. That isn’t to say that he didn’t do anything noteworthy, and he certainly had some nice blocks out there. But rather, the left side just wasn’t a concern.
The Patriots tested Mbow with speed and power, tight and wide alignments, and he handled them all well. Most of his reps were stalemates, not dominating but also not losing, but that’s perfectly fine for an offensive lineman. And the few times he did lose, he lost with dignity (that might be my new favorite turn of phrase for blocking) and bought the quarterback time to scramble or get a pass off to a receiver.
Can’t ask for much more than that from your third left tackle (and a rookie at that).
Thomas Fidone II (TE)
Fidone needed a big night after being largely invisible against the New York Jets, and he got one.
He didn’t quite get the start, not getting onto the field until the third offensive snap, but he got a lot of work against the Patriots. Fidone was on the field for 60 total offensive and special teams snaps, getting work on punt and kick units as well as both a blocker and a receiver.
The highlight of his night was the 28-yard catch and run from Tommy DeVito, but I would argue that his work on special teams and as a blocker were more impressive. Fidone worked on both sides of the punting and kicking units, blocking and running downfield in coverage, which definitely increases his value to the squad. He also looked pretty good as a blocker for his teammates. He isn’t punishing blocker, but he’s able to use positioning to seal running lanes and do enough to slow down defenders as a run and pass blocker.
Fidone looks like a candidate to emerge as a hidden gem and has made Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll’s jobs harder over the next few days.
Beaux Collins (WR)
Oof.
Collins has been an absolute rollercoaster through camp and the preseason. Exciting highs that make you think the Giants got a steal in undrafted free agency… And then painful lows.
This game was a real low for Collins, as he caused a second interception with a route that wasn’t just imprecise but very wrong. He also had a couple bad drops on passes that hit him in the hands and would have been very nice gains.
Collins has good quickness for a big receiver and he could probably grow into a viable possession receiver with some big play upside. But he needs to get better at the mental side of things before he can realize that potential. He looks like a prime candidate for the practice squad.
Makari Paige (safety)
The Giants had two actual safeties active for this game, and Paige made the most of the opportunity. I don’t know if it will be enough to jump K’Von Wallace on the depth chart, but Paige was very active in all night long. He played a total of 66 snaps on special teams and defense, and wore a bunch of hats for Shane Bowen’s squad. He lined up as a free and strong safety, a pseudo-linebacker, and even a slot corner.
Paige was definitely best around the line of scrimmage and did a very nice job of coming downhill to take on blockers, fill gaps, and make tackles in the run game. Missed tackles and poor positioning by the second level players was the biggest problem with the Giants’ run defense in the first two games, and we saw that remedied against the Patriots. Paige’s play was a big factor in that, and he’ll be a tough cut. He could emerge as a viable replacement (or teammate) for Dane Belton with a year on the practice squad.
O’Donnell Fortune (CB)
Fortune probably doesn’t have a path to the final 53-man roster, but he’s definitely a player the Giants will want to keep on the practice squad. He’s a relatively slight corner and has just average quickness and agility, but he has solid speed down the field as well as length. He also knows how to use his length to his advantage.
The highlight was him locating and high-pointing a pass to prevent a touchdown, but he also did a good job of playing receivers’ hands to knock the ball away at the last instant.
Fortune is behind Nic Jones and Art Green — and the fact that the Giants used Jones to help fill out their thin safety position is probably a good sign for him. Fortune will probably be signed to the practice squad and could have the opportunity to make noise next year.
Trace Ford (Edge)
Ford is a player who’s motor runs hot all the time. It’s undoubtedly a good thing (overall) and something coaches love to see. But it’s also something of a double-edged sword that’s gotten Ford into some trouble.
He hustled to recover a fumble against the Bills which led to a touchdown, but he also had a roughing penalty which gave the Bills the ball on the Giants’ goal line.
This game, he generated pressure as well as helped to shut down the Patriots’ running game… While also collapsing the edge so hard on one play that he not only lost contain on a naked boot, but never even notice that the snap was bobbled. Ford will likely be signed to the practice squad and is another player to watch next year. To a certain extent, he reminds me of Dave Tollefson back in the day as a player without ideal measurables but who’s solid depth thanks to his competitive toughness. Those guys are worth keeping around.
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