The New York Giants dropped their Week 1 preseason game against the Detroit Lions, 21-16, but head coach Brian Daboll felt like it was a productive evening.
The team’s rookie draft class played particularly well, although their undrafted rookies — at least most of them — left a bit to be desired.
Precious few starters appeared in the game, so it provided the Giants with a long look at the back end of their roster. It also provided the folks over at Pro Football Focus a first look and they’ve now handed out some grades.
Here are some of the highest and lowest PPF grades for the Giants in Week 1 of the preseason as well as a few other notable grades thrown in.
Top 5 offense
- WR Cole Beasley – 81.1
- WR Jamison Crowder – 80.8
- WR David Sills – 76.2
- OL Shane Lemieux – 74.5
- OL Sean Harlow – 72.4
It’s interesting to see three Giants receivers, and more specifically Beasley and Crowder, top the offensive grades. It reinforced what has already been said: the Giants have a problem at wide receiver and that’s a good thing.
Bottom 5 offense
- OL Wyatt Davis – 28.6
- OL Korey Cunningham – 37.0
- WR Bryce Ford-Wheaton – 46.6
- RB Matt Breida – 48.8
- OL Joshua Ezeudu – 51.5
There’s nothing here that’s going to come as a surprise. Davis, while playing out of position, and Cunningham were awful on Friday night. Ford-Wheaton also did himself no favors in a tightly-contested roster battle at wide receiver.
Top 5 defense
- S Jason Pinnock – 92.3
- LB Micah McFadden – 90.5
- S Alex Cook – 82.0
- LB Dyontae Johnson – 81.9
- S Dane Belton – 75.7
Pinnock dominated in five snaps and that is accurately represented in the PFF grades. Belton also had a good showing after two really impressive joint practices with the Lions.
Bottom 5 defense
- LB Cam Brown – 30.2
- CB Rodarius Williams – 31.0
- CB German Green – 42.4
- CB Zyon Gilbert – 48.3
- NT Donovan Jeter – 48.3
Brown and Williams bottoming out on this list seems fitting. Neither played good defensive football and that’s bad news for both as they’re battling for a roster spot. The grade on Green seems a bit harsh.
Top 5 special teams
- CB Cor’Dale Flott – 77.6
- WR Collin Johnson – 77.2
- CB Jashaun Corbin – 73.8
- LB Cam Brown – 71.3
- LB Carter Coughlin – 69.6
Coughlin playing well on special teams will greatly increase his chances of sticking over Brown, who is a noted special teams stud. Coughlin also out-performed Brown at linebacker, so that’s something worth noting as we head into Week 2 of the preseason.
Bottom 5 special teams
- WR David Sills – 42.9
- S Gervarrius Owens – 43.2
- CB Amani Oruwariye – 48.6
- LS Cameron Lyons – 49.3
- CB Zyon Gilbert – 49.7
Owens may have played well on defense but in order to earn a spot on the 53-man roster, the Giants are going to need more out of him on special teams. The same applies to the veteran, Oruwariye.
Other notables
- QB Tommy DeVito – 59.4
- RB Eric Gray – 54.7
- OL John Michael Schmitz – 53.5
- CB Deonte Banks – 70.5
- CB Cor’Dale Flott – 65.1
- CB Darnay Holmes – 65.0
- CB Carter Coughlin – 63.3
- LB Tomon Fox – 60.8
- NT Joron Riley 54.3
- LB Oshane Ximines – 48.4
The grade for Riley seems a bit low. Ditto Fox. Both played well in their limited snaps and felt like genuine positives coming out of the game. Banks’ grade also reflects his solid preseason debut.
