For the New York Giants, summer break has arrived. The team concluded organized team activities on Thursday and rookies have only one more week remaining before they are free to go about their way and the offseason workout program officially comes to a close.
It’s hard to believe training camp is right around the corner, but that will be good news for several Giants players who want to carry their solid spring performances over into the dog days of summer.
For other Giants, the break provides an opportunity to reflect on what went wrong and what needs to happen when they return to East Rutherford in July.
And with those thoughts in mind, let’s take a look at some winners and losers from the team’s offseason workout program:
Winner: Daniel Jones
There was not a single player on the Giants’ 90-man roster who had a better spring than Jones, who chewed up and spit out nonsense scouting reports with a smile on his face.
The always-humble Jones was not only able to withstand the pressures of New York and a relentless media, but he dispelled any notion that he struggled with a weak arm and lack of accuracy.
On a daily basis, Jones wowed those in attendance, displaying a very strong arm and remarkable accuracy. He also picked up the team’s offense at a lightning pace and will head back to Duke for the summer confident that he can succeed in the NFL.
Loser: Kyle Lauletta
Overcoming some injuries, Lauletta was behind from the jump. He sat back and watched as Eli Manning took all first-team reps, Jones took most second-team reps and Alex Tanney picked up the scraps.
Lauletta is a bit of a forgotten man and does not appear long for New York unless the team decides to keep four quarterbacks on their 53-man roster.
Winner: Deandre Baker
Baker came in guns blazing and never once looked back, proving that his seeming overconfidence is absolutely warranted.
It took Baker just a few short weeks to find himself on the first-team alongside Janoris Jenkins, supplanting several other veterans for the starting spot, which now appears his to lose.
Baker dominated despite the lack of physicality in practice, which is his bread and butter. It also makes one wonder just how dominant he can be once the pads are put on.
Loser: Sam Beal
Although Beal started the offseason workout program hot, sharing first-team reps initially, he ended up missing a few practices for personal reasons and was never again able to overcome the presence of Baker.
It’s not as if Beal had a poor spring — he didn’t — but missing those few practices put him in a tough situation and opened the door for Baker, who burst through like the Kool-Aid Man.
Winner: Sterling Shepard
Even with the presence of Golden Tate, Shepard stood out above his teammates and was arguably the best player on the field not named Daniel Jones over the last several weeks.
With a fresh contract extension in tow, Shepard stepped up and lit the practice fields on fire, seemingly catching everything that was in his radius, displaying improved route running (that was already crisp) and finding success no matter where he lined up.
Shepard is a face of the franchise moving forward and he’s clearly taking that role very seriously.
Loser: Avery Moss
While players like Kareem Martin, Markus Golden and Oshane Ximines continued to make their presence felt, Moss seemed to fall into obscurity.
The former fifth-round pick didn’t necessarily do anything that stood out negatively, but he didn’t make waves in a way that would be considered positive. Rather, Moss was relatively quiet in both minicamp and OTAs, missing several practices with an undisclosed injury.
Moss is a long shot to make the 53-man roster.
Winner: Darius Slayton
Slayton could not have started rookie minicamp worse than he did, dropping several passes and easily standing out as the most overwhelmed player on the field.
However, Slayton managed to get his legs under him at the start of OTAs and rode that wave of momentum throughout minicamp and again on Thursday during the team’s final practice.
Head coach Pat Shurmur repeatedly raved about Slayton, saying he made the most significant strides of anyone on the field from rookie minicamp through the conclusion of OTAs. Slayton also earned some first-team reps for his troubles.
Loser: Evan Engram
While on the field, Engram looked as electric and game-changing as ever. The problem? Engram struggles to stay on the field that trend continued again over the spring.
Although Engram insists remaining sidelined was not his decision, it’s exactly how things played out. And considering the Giants are relying heavily on their young tight end this season, it’s easy to understand why him missing time — even during the spring — is a big deal.
Engram needs to get over his injury woes or the Giants are going to find themselves in trouble.
Winner: Jabrill Peppers
How in the world are the Giants going to replace Landon Collins?
That was question No. 1 on defense, but it took little time for Peppers to make people forget about Collins and, instead, find themselves intrigued for the future.
Maybe Collins just wasn’t a good fit in James Bettcher’s defense, but Peppers certainly appears to be. He had one of the best springs of any player on the team and made it abundantly clear what he can bring to the table and the locker room.
Peppers is one of the Giants’ most exciting young players and watching him on the field is a real treat.
Loser: Mike Remmers
The Giants signed Remmers a month ago with the belief that he would be able to get back on the field in relatively short order.
That did not occur.
Remmers was unable to participate in a single OTA practice and missed the entirety of minicamp, preventing the team from establishing some cohesion up front and putting the veteran behind the eight ball entering training camp.
Remmers is expected to start at right tackle this season, so he’ll have to speed things up over the next several months.
Other winners
Dexter Lawrence, Lorenzo Carter, Grant Haley, Will Hernandez, Corey Coleman, C.J. Conrad, Ryan Connelly, Rod Smith and Paul Perkins.
There’s not much that needs to be said about how each of the above players performed. They were solid at worst and highly encouraging at best, including the likes of Conrad and Connelly, who have genuinely positioned themselves for a spot on the 53-man roster.
Other losers
Tae Davis, Julian Love, Antonio Hamilton, Nate Solder, Chad Wheeler, Alonzo Russell and Wayne Gallman.
Here’s the thing: The placement of some of these guys on a “losers” list is really more a product of their positional competition than anything they did wrong.
Were their practices perfectly sound? No, but it wouldn’t otherwise have drawn attention if not for the stellar performances of Deandre Baker, Ryan Connelly, Corey Coleman and others.
Other appear on this merely because of injuries (Solder).
