With the New York Giants enjoying the remaining hours of their mini-bye before returning fully to work on Wednesday to prepare for the Denver Broncos, this seems like a good time to review the team’s 53-man roster.
With six games played, here is a thought on every player on the team’s 53-man roster.
Quarterback
Jaxson Dart — The rookie quarterback clearly has arm talent. He has escapability. He has what many refer to as “moxie.” There is an obvious toughness about him.
All of those things are important, and Giants fans should be excited about them. None of those qualities is the most important thing Dart has brought to the Giants.
The 22-year-old has swagger. He has an undeniable confidence. He has infectious energy. He brings a willingness to confront the negative vibes that have surrounded a struggling franchise, to believe they don’t matter, and to pull his teammates toward believing the same thing. That leadership, that belief that right now is what matters, is the most important thing Dart has brought to the Giants.
“We can’t be naive to everything. We hear what people say. Definitely lights a fire in us,” Dart said of himself and rookie running back Cam Skattebo after the Giants defeated the Eagles. “We’re just trying to set a standard of intensity here each and every day.
“I just think there’s, at times, some negativity that’s surrounding here. For us, some of the new guys that are coming here, we just got here, so we don’t feel like we were involved in the past. We’ve got a lot of winners on this team, guys who come out every single day, work their (butt) off to put on a good showing on Sundays. I feel like we’re just connected. We just had some games, times and those moments where it hasn’t gone our way. We do feel like we’re a really good team, we have really good players. We’re just trying to win games.”
Dart is changing the attitude, the culture, the vibe around the Giants. Whatever you want to call it. That is the biggest reason why Dart might end up being the quarterback the Giants have been searching for.
Russell Wilson — The Wilson era as Giants’ QB1 did not last as long as many in and around the organization hoped it would — though, if you administered truth serum to Brian Daboll you might learn that three games was longer than Daboll wanted to wait to hand the reigns to Dart.
Wilson had the one great 450-yard, three-touchdown game against the Dallas Cowboys, though he faltered in overtime. Still, perhaps we were overly optimistic (don’t we all want to be optimistic?) about what the 37-year-old could still do in his 14th year following failed stints in Denver and Pittsburgh.
It is going to be interesting to see if the Giants, who are said to be listening to offers for Wilson but not calling teams themselves, can find a taker for him before the NFL trade deadline.
Jameis Winston — The former No. 1 overall pick has yet to play a snap, but he has been a positive impact on Dart and in the locker room overall. After games, he always seems to be in Dart’s ear. He is also a guy who isn’t afraid to speak his mind, even if he isn’t playing. He carries enough respect that he can do that. Will he usurp Wilson as QB2 BEFORE the Giants remove Wilson from the roster?
Running back
Cam Skattebo — Like Dart, Skattebo has oodles of talent. Also like Dart, the talent is not the most important thing Skattebo is adding to the Giants.
He is an Energizer Bunny, and he is always turned on. That energy is infectious on the practice field and during games. His toughness, his love of football’s physicality juice up the MetLife Stadium crowd — and his teammates. Like Dart, Skattebo could care less about the franchise’s past. He cares only about winning games. Like Dart, even though he is a rookie Skattebo is willing to pull teammates along.
Tyrone Tracy — After leading the Giants in rushing a year ago, Tracy has watched Skattebo usurp his role as the team’s primary back. A struggling offensive line didn’t help Tracy at the beginning of the season. Neither did a shoulder injury. He is, though, a good young player and will be important to the Giants before the season is over.
Devin Singletary — The 28-year-old might still have some gas in the tank, but he is clearly the Giants’ third running back. If the Giants can find a taker for Singletary in the trade market, moving him for a draft asset and taking the cap savings that would provide seems like a logical course of action.
The Giants’ backfield now belongs to Skattebo and Tracy.
Tight end
Theo Johnson — Johnson, in his second season, is going to have to continue to get better. Dart and the Giants need him. He has 11 catches for 77 yards (7.0 yards per catch) and three touchdowns in the three weeks since Dart became the starter. Will Johnson ever be Rob Gronkowski? That is probably too big of an ask. He needs to be a red zone weapon and consistent playmaker for Dart, though. Especially without Nabers. A reliable tight end is a young quarterback’s best friend, and that is what Johnson needs to become.
Daniel Bellinger — It was nice to see the Giants dust Bellinger off as a pass-catching weapon Week 5 against the Saints. He can be more than the Giants have asked him to be the past couple of seasons. It seems they recognize that, as Bellinger has played more than 50% of the offensive snaps in each of the two games since Malik Nabers’ season-ending injury. He catches what he gets thrown, and he blocks well enough.
Chris Manhertz — The 33-year-old blocking tight end just keeps on doing his thing. He is one of the game’s best at what he does, and he seems like a good teammate and good influence on the team’s younger tight ends.
Thomas Fidone — We have yet to see the seventh-round pick on offense this year. He has played in just two gams, totaling 12 special teams snaps. That’s OK. With Bellinger in the last year of his contract and Chris Manhertz in his age 33 season, Fidone is really a developmental player.
Wide receivers
Malik Nabers — A torn ACL is never a good thing. In Nabers’ case, though, the time away from the game might prove to be a net positive. Nabers has also been dealing with a torn labrum, and a turf toe injury that has plagued him for years. The hope is that Nabers’ knee heals properly and that he returns healthier than he has been in a long time. Nabers is a tremendous player, there are few receivers who can do what he can, and the Giants need the best version of him going forward.
Wan’Dale Robinson — When the season began I wondered how a 5-foot-8 receiver with the shortest arms of a receiver in the league would be productive catching passes from a 5-10 quarterback. Especially since the receiver, Robinson, has historically worked the middle of the field and Wilson, the quarterback, has not liked to throw it there.
Of course, that’s moot now. Dart is the quarterback. It is also moot because even before Dart took over for Wilson it is clear the Giants had reimagined how they would use Robinson. He is on pace for 82 catches, and career highs in yards receiving (994), yards per catch (12.1), yards per target (8.6). yards after catch per reception (5.7), and average depth of target (8.9 yards). His 2.9% drop rate is also a career best.
Darius Slayton — The only significant move the Giants made at the receiver position in the offseason was a surprising decision to bring the seven-year. veteran back on three-year, $36 million contract with $12 million guaranteed. So far, that does not look like money well spent.
Slayton has just 12 catches for 166 yards in five games, a pace that would net him only 38 catches for 531 yards on the season. Slayton had an atrocious game against the Saints with a critical fumble and two key drops.
The Giants are tied financially to Slayton through next season, when he carries a $16 million cap hit. Even as a post-June 1 cut in 2026, Slayton would carry $12.749 million in dead money.
When he returns from his hamstring injury, Slayton needs to be better to justify the contract. And to help Dart.
Jalin Hyatt — Hyatt finally made a contribution to the 2025 Giants with his first three catches of the season for 17 yards in the Week 6 victory against the Eagles. Is that the start of something for Hyatt, or will he remain a player who has never justified the Giants’ decision to trade up to select him in Round 3 of the 2023 NFL Draft?
Beaux Collins — Maybe there is something there to work with, but the undrafted free agent rookie has got to stop hanging his quarterback out to dry by not getting to where they expect him to be.
Gunner Olszewski — Admittedly, I did not understand why the Giants chose Olszewski as their primary return man this season instead of Ihmir Smith-Marsette. I still don’t. That said, Olszewski is doing an excellent job. Olszewski is averaging a career-best 27.3 yards per kickoff return and a solid enough 9.3 yards on punt returns. His ball security has, to this point, been excellent.
Lil’Jordan Humphrey — The veteran wide receiver isn’t going to do the kinds of things Nabers did for the Giants. Against the Eagles, though, he showed the value of being a big target who can and will go get 50-50 balls, who will be where he is supposed to be, and who will do the work down the field to help his teammates. Check out Humphrey’s blocking on Wan’Dale Robinson’s 35-yard touchdown:
That is what winning football looks like.
Offensive line
Don’t look now, but the Giants’ offensive line has been pretty good since Andrew Thomas returned to full-time action. Pro Football Focus has the Giants ranked No. 10 in pass-blocking efficiency. Let’s look at the players.
Andrew Thomas — Finally recovered from Lisfranc surgery, the star left tackle is healthier than he has been since his All-Pro breakout season of 2022. He’s playing like the 2022 version of himself.
Traditionally, we rely on Pro Football Focus numbers as a measure of showing how players are performing. Pro Football and Sports Network, though, has created its own player and position “Impact” rankings. PFSN’s rankings show Thomas as the seventh-best offensive tackle in the NFL thus far in 2025. His impact score (read about how that is created here) of 85.7 is better than his 84.2 from that 2022 season. Thomas, per PFF, has given up just two pressures and no sacks in 130 pass-blocking snaps. For comparison, PFF has Thomas as its sixth-ranked tackle
The Giants, with the same starting five they have now, were a middle of the NFL pack offensive line last season until Thomas was injured. Over the last three weeks, with Thomas playing full time, PFSN has ranked the Giants’ offensive line No. 5 (Week 4), No. 17 (Week 5), and No. 6 (Week 6) in overall impact
The Thomas Effect in full force.
“As a perfectionist, I’m always trying to get better, regardless of what stats may say,” Thomas said on Monday. “There’s things in the first few games that I played that I want to clean up, and I’m going to do that to put my team in a good position.”
Jon Runyan Jr. — Runyan has had two rough games pass blocking, and PFF has him with two sacks and 17 pressures allowed already. In 2024, playing through a shoulder injury, he allowed two sacks and 29 pressures all season.
PFSN and PFF agree that Runyan has not been as bad overall as you might think. PFSN has him ranked 30th of 69 qualifiers, and his 76.0 Impact score is above the league average of 73.4. PFF has Runyan 53rd of 83 qualifiers.
All-in-all, though, the Giants probably are not getting what the hoped to get out of Runyan, who is in year 2 of a three-year, $30 million contract. He has no guaranteed money left on his contract after this season, and it won’t be a shock if the Giants take the $9.25 million in cap savings and move on.
John Michael Schmitz — The narrative is that JMS is terrible and is not living up to his status as 2023 second-round pick. The numbers, which show Schmitz improving for a second straight season, don’t back that up.
PFSN has Schmitz ranked 15th among 32 qualifying centers with an 80.9 Impact score, slightly above the 79.4 league average for centers. For comparison, his Impact score was 67.6 as a rookie and 77.6 in 2024.
In 2024, PFF ranked Schmitz No. 40 among 43 qualifying centers. This year, through six games, Schmitz is 18th among 36 qualifiers. His PFF grades, particularly as a pass blocker continue to rise — 26.9 in 2023, 50.2 in 2024 and 63.9 so far this season. He has allowed seven hurries, no sacks, and has a career-best pass-blocking efficiency rating of 98.4.
It is hard to argue that Schmitz is not continuing to get better. Isn’t that what you want players to do?
Greg Van Roten — The 35-year-old Van Roten was considered the weakest link on the line entering the season, and was the one starter who seemed to have to earn his job. Van Roten has actually been better than Runyan thus far, ranked No. 23 by PFSN and No. 41 by PFF. At this point, Van Roten is a stop gap right guard, but he is doing well enough.
Jermaine Eleumunor — Thomas, as stated above, is PFSN’s seventh-ranked tackle so far this season. Don’t overlook Eluemunor, though. PFSN has him ranked 17th among 67 qualifying tackles. PFF has Eleumunor ranked No. 24 out of 82 qualifiers. Eleumunor, per PFF, has given up two sacks and seven total pressures. The only real blemish on his resume this season are six penalties.
Eleumunor, who turns 31 in December, could be in line for a nice paycheck at season’s end. Will that come from the Giants, or someone else?
Marcus Mbow — The rookie fifth-round pick showed promise in the summer. He had one good game replacing James Hudson, who filled in for Thomas until playing his way out of the lineup, and one bad one.
There are a lot of calls in the fan base for Mbow to become the right tackle with Eleumunor moving to right guard. That seems unlikely to happen. Eleumunor is playing well, and there isn’t a reason to mess with him. The interesting thing will be this offseason when Eleumunor is a free agent. Will the Giants bring him back? Will they give the right tackle job to Mbow? Move one to guard after a full offseason to prepare?
Austin Schlottman — In case you were wondering why Schlottman was on the roster, he showed the reason against the Eagles. After Schmitz took a shot to the nose that left him a bloody mess and resulted in a concussion, the seven-year veteran took over at center, played 32 snaps and the Giants never missed a beat. No bad snaps, no fumbled exchanges with Dart, no obvious interior breakdowns. Schlottman ended up with a Pro Football Focus pass-blocking grade of 80.5 and a run-blocking grade of 76.0.
That is why there is value in keeping a real veteran backup center on the roster.
Aaron Stinnie — The veteran guard has not played an offensive snap yet this season. Like Schlottman, though, he is an insurance policy the Giants feel good about.
James Hudson III — I applauded the Giants’ decision to sign a legitimate swing tackle during the offseason rather than try the Josh Ezeudu Plan for a third consecutive season. Unfortunately, Hudson imploded in Week 2 against the Dallas Cowboys with an embarrassingly unprofessional display. The two-year, $12 million contract ($6 million guaranteed) the Giants gave him now looks foolish.
Evan Neal — It seems clear that Neal and the Giants need a divorce. The 2022 No. 7 overall pick has been inactive for all six games this season and it is apparent he isn’t going to play unless the Giants are forced to use him. If the Giants don’t trade him before the deadline, as they should, it is apparent that Neal’s time as a Giant will be over at season’s end.
Defensive line
Dexter Lawrence — Sexy Dexy has not been the dominant player this season that he has been in past years, when he played well enough that many were calling him the game’s best defensive tackle. PFSN has him ranked No. 21 in Impact score among defensive tackles.
Lawrence doesn’t have a sack yet, has only two quarterback hits, and a single tackle for loss. Is he still bothered by the elbow he injured last season? Is he perhaps not in the best condition after a spring and summer where he didn’t seem to do a lot?
Roy Robertson-Harris — The Giants hoped that reuniting Robertson-Harris, in his ninth season, with defensive line coach Andre Patterson, who recruited him to Texas El-Paso, would unlock a level of play Robertson-Harris has never reached. So far, that hasn’t happened. Robertson-Harris has been OK, nothing more.
Rakeem Nunez-Roches — The veteran defensive tackle has missed three games with a foot injury. Maybe the best thing that can be said about “Nacho” is that the run defense has been better since he returned to the lineup Week 5.
Darius Alexander — Patterson has been protective of the rookie third-round pick. When given chances, though, Alexander has shown flashes of being able to be a penetrator and quality interior pass rusher.
D.J. Davidson — In his fourth season, Davidson has settled in as a rotational player. Nothing special, but he hasn’t been a liability.
Elijah Garcia — Earned his way to the 53-man roster by taking advantage of three elevations from the practice squad while Nunez-Roches was nursing a foot injury. Not more than a depth player, but doesn’t seem like a liability when the Giants have to use him.
Edge
Brian Burns — Burns is off to the best start of his seven-year career. With 7.0 sacks, he is just 1.5 shy of last season’s total of 8.5. He appears well on his way to the second double-digit sack and third Pro Bowl season of his career. Burns is third in the league behind Nik Bonitto (8.0) of the Denver Broncos and Byron Young (7.5) of he Los Angeles Rams. Burns also has team highs in quarterback hits (11) and tackles for loss (9).
Burns has also become a leader. He deserves ‘Kudos’ for his role in a players only meeting of defensive players that helped the Giants prior to their victory over Philadelphia.
Kayvon Thibodeaux — Trade Thibodeaux here! Trade Thibodeaux there! Trade him, trade him, trade him! That seems to be all we ever hear or read about. Well, stop.
Thibodeaux, who doesn’t turn 25 until December, is having an outstanding season. He doesn’t have Burns’ numbers and he doesn’t get the media attention Carter does, but he is second on the Giants in sacks (2.5), quarterback hits (8) and tackles for loss (5). He has 11 solo tackles, three shy of the 11 he had in 12 games last season. He is the best run-defending edge the Giants have, and his 78.9 PFF run-defense grade is right now a team-best. Thibodeaux is ranked No. 25 among 105 qualifying edge defenders by PFSN and No. 25 among 61 qualifiers by PFF.
Yes, it is tricky to get Thibodeaux, Carter and Burns on the field together, but combined with Lawrence they are the best part of the Giants’ defense. But, sure, trade him. If you want to make the defense worse, and watch Thibodeaux make Pro Bowls playing for someone else.
Abdul Carter — Sacks are sexy, and the No. 3 overall pick and leading preseason Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate only has a half-sack in six games. Carter, though, is tied with Thibodeaux with eight quarterback hits and leads the Giants with 16 pressures. He is having an impact, and the sacks will come.
Carter is PFSN’s 28th-ranked edge defender, three spots behind Thibodeaux. PFF ranks him 29th, four spots below Thibodeaux. Carter’s ability to play everywhere (he’s been used in 15 spots by Shane Bowen, per PFF) makes the defensive front seven difficult to account for.
Chauncey Golston — Once Carter was drafted it was fair to wonder how much of a role Golston would have. The most snaps he has played in a game is 21. After missing two games with an ankle injury, he has played just 12 combined snaps the past two weeks. Golston is a good player, but right now he is an expensive spare part.
Tomon Fox — A fourth-year player, Fox has been bounced on and off the roster like a piñata. He has played just 16 snaps. Unless there are injuries, he doesn’t figure to have much of a role.
Inside linebacker
Bobby Okereke — Pro Football Focus is not a fan of Okereke’s work, listing him with a 51.2 overall grade through six games, his worst since a 47.7 in 2019 and the first time as a Giant he has not been in the 70s. Still, Okereke is on pace for a career-high 153 tackles and seems more active than he was during an injury-shortened 2024 season.
Missing from Okereke’s game seem to be the impact plays of 2023. That year, he had 10 passes defensed, four forced fumbles, and career highs in tackles for loss (11) and STOPs (56). Currently, he has just two passes defensed, no tackles for loss and just 11 STOPs, which would put him on pace for 31.
Micah McFadden — It is unfortunate that he will lose most, if not all, of the season to a Week 1 injury. It is a contract year for McFadden, who is on IR.
Darius Muasau — Muasau, a second-year player, took over for McFadden. PFSN, which ranks him 59th out of 70 players and PFF, which ranks him 25th of 82 qualifiers, disagree about how well he has played. Really, he is still a young, developing player with a chance to be an asset.
Chris Board | Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles | Neville Hewitt | Swayze Bozeman — I am lumping these guys together since I don’t have much to say about any of them.
Cornerback
Paulson Adebo — Adebo has been fine, compiling a 92.5 passer rating against. The Giants did not pay him $54 million over three years with $34.75 million guaranteed to be fine. They are waiting for the player who had seven interceptions in his last 22 games with New Orleans to show up.
Cor’Dale Flott — Flott has outplayed Deonte Banks all season, and the Giants finally recognized that in Week 6 by ending the Flott-Banks rotation and letting Flott, a 2022 third-round pick who is still just 24 years old, play full time. He rewarded them with a key interception.
PFSN has Flott ranked 16th out of 120 qualifying cornerbacks so far this season. His 86.9 Impact score is more than 12 points above league average.
Dru Phillips — The second-year slot cornerback has struggled with penalties — seven in seven games. He has been targeted heavily, 41 times this season after 48 targets all of 2024, but his passer rating against (82.2) and completion percentage allowed (65.9) are better than a year ago.
Deonte Banks — The Giants hoped they were getting a player who could develop into a No. 1 cornerback when they traded up one spot to make sure they could select him in Round 1 of the 2023 draft. What they have ended up with is a guy who looks like he might be a good kickoff returner.
Art Green — Green has yet to play a defensive snap, has has played 187 special teams snaps (87%).
Nic Jones — Provides the Giants with depth at cornerback and safety that they have not had to use. Maybe his best contribution was helping Dart during training camp by being willing share information with the rookie quarterback about what he was seeing and why he was able to read the young quarterback’s intentions early in camp.
Safety
Jevon Holland — Some may be disappointed by Holland’s play thus far after he signed a three-year, $45.3 million contract with $27.4 million guaranteed. Holland has yet to create any game-changing turnovers, but PFSN ranks him ninth among 88 safeties in Impact score. That is his best since an 85.8 in 2021, and a career high if he can maintain it.
Tyler Nubin — The second-year safety got destroyed on social media for being the closest Giant to Rashid Shaheed of the Saints on an 87-yard touchdown. Nubin has given up 18 completions in 21 targets this season and has a passer rating against of 138.5. He is aggressive, a hard hitter and good run defender, but does not have an interception in 19 games and hasn’t been the difference-maker the Giants hoped for. Yet.
Dane Belton — The fourth-year pro has settled in as sub-package player. He does an acceptable job in a limited role.
Beau Brade — Claimed off waivers from the Baltimore Ravens, Brade is a former Maryland teammate of Banks. He has played in four games, exclusively on special teams.
Special teams
PK Graham Gano — Gano was kicking well (6 of 6 on field goals, including a 55-yarder, 4 of 4 on extra points) before going on IR with a groin injury. The problem is he is a 38-year-old kicker who has now missed time three consecutive seasons with leg injuries.
Will he kick again for the Giants, or will they move on from him and take the pro-rated portion of his $4.415 million base salary as cap savings for the rest of the year?
PK Jude McAtamney — The answer to the question above likely has to do with how well McAtamney kicks. He hasn’t been asked to kick anything longer than an extra point yet. McAtamney is 2 of 2 on field goals, the longest being 31 yards, and 7 of eight on 33-yard extra points. He has been replaced on kickoffs by Jamie Gillan.
P Jamie Gillan — As mentioned above, Gillan’s value to the Giants has increased as he has shown an ability to place the ball where special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial wants it on kickoffs, allowing the Giants to do a good job limiting returns so far. In his regular job, Gillan has given up just 47 return yards on 22 punts
LS Casey Kreiter — Does anyone ever think about Kreiter? Nope. That means he does his job well.
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