Pete's Training Camp Preview

QB
Eli Manning is the entrenched starter, Andre Woodson is the developmental guy.
David Carr and Anthony Wright are competing for one roster spot.

RB
The RB by committee will continue; Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw and Derrick Ward are locks for the roster leaving probably one roster spot.

Danny Ware has the inside running, the Giants rejected a trade offer for him from the Falcons earlier in the year.

Reuben Droughns and Kay Jay Harris are probably on the outside looking in.

FB
Madison Hedgecock is the starter and will be back clearing the way for our RBs
Robert Douglas will almost certainly be a roster casualty.

WR
Plaxico Burress are the returning starters. Steve Smith and Sinorice Moss will compete for the #3 WR and could even push Toomer. Shockey’s departure almost certainly will see much bigger roles for our 3rd and 4th WR.

David Tyree is along way off being ready to go, he will almost certainly be added to the PUP list soon; this opens up another opportunity for our youngsters.

Mario Manningham will likely be given time to develop, which means Domenik Hixon, Craphonso Thorpe, Brandon London and DJ Hall are probably competing for one roster spot (perhaps two if they have one for the kick returner). Hixon and Thorpe are decent returners, DJ Hall has decent skills and Brandon London is a talented WR with genuine size (6-4, 210) and speed.

Michael Jennings is almost certainly on the outside looking in.

TE
Kevin Boss, Darcy Johnson and Michael Matthews are a
Jerome Collins and Eric Butler are probably on the outside looking in

Don’t be surprised if we add a roster casualty from another team or trade for a solid veteran.

OL
The starters from last year are all back and signed: David Diehl, Rich Seubert, Shaun O’Hara, Chris Snee and Kareem McKenzie. But there will be a lot of competition.

The Giants signed Shane Olivea. He is reportedly in excellent shape and extremely motivated. He is young (26) and experienced, starting 57 of 60 games over four seasons with the Chargers (paving the way for Ladanian Tomlison). Olivea will add serious competition for spots, most likely RT and LG.

And then there is Guy Whimper; he has the best physical tools of all our lineman; last year our oline didn’t miss a beat when he stepped in both at RT and LT. He will give serious competition for Diehl and could push Diehl to LG.

With seven roster spots locked up, Adam Koets, Grey Ruegamer, Na’Shan Goddard and Digger Bujnoch are competing for the one roster spot

Kevin Boothe, Jonathan Palmer and Kurt Quartermain are probably on the outside looking in.

The big thing with our offensive line is there is exceptional depth at versatility; although the actual mix will be determined through tough competition.


DE
The big question is how to replace Michael Strahan. Osi Umenyiora is entrenched as one starter. The Giants defence is built around exceptional pressure up front.

Justin Tuck is a hybrid DE/DT, and I think is probably better served rushing from the inside where he is awesome.
Renaldo Wynn is a run stopping DE who will also be used inside. Robert Henderson is likely to be given a chance to develop. Both Wynn and Henderson are similar to Tuck in that they can play inside and outside.

Dave Tollefsen, Wallace Gilberry and Alex Morrow have an uphill battle.

Alot will depend on what happens with Matthias Kiwanuka. Tuck is a hybrid DE/DT, and Kiwanuka is a natural DE who is explosive and plays well in space. On the surface, Kiwanuka should be moved to DE and Tuck retains the same role as last year (where he excelled); the Giants can find other guys at LB. But that is not what I think the Giants want to do…

I think the Giants want to use Tuck at LDE, but lining up inside the TE over the RT; there he plays very much like he did inside. The Giants want to use Kiwanuka at SLB, but playing closer to the LOS (In many ways this would be like a 3-4 alignment).

Alford will also likely see some time at LDE.

DT
Fred Robbins, Barry Cofield and Jay Alford are a very solid DT rotation. Also our DEs will spend time at DT; particularly in passing situations.

Rodney Leslie, Nate Robinson and Ogmedi Nwagbuo are probably competing for a single roster spot.

This is the other position where we may add a roster casualty from another team or trade for a solid veteran.

LB
This will be interesting, as I mentioned above, I think the Giants want Matthias Kiwanuka at SLB; with Antonio Pierce entrenched at MLB, two of our starters are well established. Our WLB is not a traditional 4-3 WLB, it is more like the 3-4 Mo LB. Gerris Wilkinson is an ideal fit to replace Mitchell and has the inside running to start. Danny Clark adds veteran depth and can play any of our positions. Zak DeOssie, Jonathan Goff and Brian Kehl add talented depth. With seven roster spots established, Chase Blackburn’s position is very precarious; Tank Daniels is almost certainly on the outside looking in.

CB
Corey Webster, Aaron Ross and Sam Madison will compete for the starting spots.
Terrell Thomas will be worked in and Kevin Dockery will almost certainly be back.

That means that Darren Barnett, Geoffrey Pope and RW McQuarters are relying on a sixth roster spot almost certainly based on special teams ability.

S
The key will be how the Giants replace Gibril Wilson, who has been the cornerstone of their secondary since 2004.

James Butler and Sammy Knight will compete at SS and Michael Johnson and Kenny Phillips will compete at FS.

I expect we will see some different things here. I think our FS will be more of a deep centre-field role; Phillips will likely hit the field sooner than later. This will free up our SS to play more in the box. This plays to the strengths of James Butler, allowing him to play outside Kiwanuka, giving him extra support; particularly in coverage. Butler will do fine covering the TE.

Terrance Stringer and Nehemiah Warrick are on the outside looking in, but could win a spot based on ST play.

ST
No change here Jeff Feagles will be back for his last year; Lawrence Tynes will be kicker.
Alford and DeOssie will LS.
The return duties will be very open, with a lot of contenders.

Roster spots

51 Roster spots are likely set (see below)

This means that 2 roster spots are up for grabs, they will likely come down to ability on special teams. My guess is one spot for a return guy (likely Hixon/Thorpe/McQuarters) and one for a stud special teamer (likely LB (Blackburn), CB (Barnett/ Pope) or S (Warrick/Stronger) - most probably a gunner with Tyree out) . It will be an interesting battle.

QB 3
RB 4
FB 1
TE 3
WR 6
OT 8
DE 4
DT 4
LB 7
CB 5
S 4
ST 2