The New York Giants are now one day removed from the start of training camp and while most questions come on the defensive side of the ball, there are a few competitions that could exist on special teams.
While the result of those competitions may seem obvious, crazy things have been known to happen. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at the core special teams unit and those trying to unseat them.
Aldrick Rosas
The Giants were quick to re-sign Rosas, an exclusive rights free agent, this offseason, and although they initially had signed some competition for him, he’s slated to enter camp as the team’s only kicker.
Even if the Giants were to bring in competition, there’s no chance Rosas will be removed from his post as the team’s starter following a wildly impressive season in which the argument could be made that he was the best in business.
Rosas connected on 32 of 33 field goal attempts and 31 of 32 point after attempts a season ago, with his only missed PAT coming as a result of an errant snap. As a result, he was voted to the Pro Bowl and named a Second Team All-Pro.
Needless to say, Rosas is a lock if there was ever a lock.
Riley Dixon
The Giants acquired Dixon from the Denver Broncos in exchange for a sixth-round pick last year, replacing Brad Wing, who had a terrible 2017 campaign and has not re-appeared in the NFL since.
Although there were some concerns that Dixon would suffer without the Denver air, he averaged 45.4 yards per punt, which was good for 11th in the league, and 41.8 net yards per punt, which was good for seventh in the league.
It was an improvement across the board for the Giants, and while Dixon didn’t go to the Pro Bowl like his kicker counterpart, he played well enough that the decision-makers didn’t really have to think twice about it.
Dixon’s path to the 53-man roster isn’t completely smooth, however. He will have some competition from Ryan Anderson, who we will address in this article shortly.
Zak DeOssie
DeOssie appeared in all 16 games for the Giants last season, once again serving as a captain and performing about as well as one could. Save for one errant snap, he was near perfect.
While some take issue with the Giants using a roster spot on a long-snapper, DeOssie eliminates a potential concern for the team and remains consistent year after year. Why would 2019 be any different?
Yes, the Giants will bring in a little competition for DeOssie this season, but that’s only because he’s beginning to wind down. At 35 years old, his football clock is ticking, but for the time being, there’s no reason for the Giants to fix what’s not broken.
Other players
As mentioned previously, the Giants have brought in competition for both Riley Dixon and Zak DeOssie by way of Ryan Anderson and Taybor Pepper, respectively.
Anderson went unselected in the 2018 NFL Draft out of Rutgers, briefly joining the New England Patriots for their rookie minicamp. However, he did not sign a deal with the Patriots or any other NFL team a year ago, ultimately sitting out his rookie season.
The 6-foot-1, 2013-pound Anderson became the seventh Scarlet Knight across all sports platforms to earn CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America status in 2017. He was also named the Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year.
Pepper, meanwhile, went undrafted in 2016 and sat out that entire season before signing with the Green Bay Packers in 2017. He would later have a cup of coffee with the Baltimore Ravens before returning to the Packers.
Pepper would go on to sit out the 2018 season before signing a reserve/futures deal with the Giants in January.
In total, Pepper has appeared in four career games.
