CB Aaron Ross has resigned with the Giants after playing for the Jaguars last season. Contract details are not yet available. He joins Terrell Thomas, Corey Webster, Prince Amukamara, and Jayron Hosley in the secondary.

TE Martellus Bennett has left the Giants and signed with the Bears. Bennett had 55 catches for 626 yards and five touchdowns last season. The Giants remaining TEs are Bear Pascoe and Adrien Robinson.

The Giants have also resigned RB Ryan Torain. The current running backs are Andre Brown, David Wilson, and Da’Rel Scott.

WR Domenik Hixon has received an offer from the Lions and he is waiting for more offers before making a decision.

The questions that remain are can All Time Great Tight Ends Coach Mike Pope turn “The JPP of Tight Ends” Adrien Robinson into a starter and every down player?  Does Bear Pascoe give you enough versatility and talent to hold you over through injuries and changes in formations?  Will Travis Beckum ever get healthy enough to contribute the big play ability we have been told about, and seen on one play?  Will Larry Donnell at 6’6″ and 269 out of Grambling be the next guy to step in and perform?

Theses are the questions facing the Giants, along with at what price they can retain Martellus Bennett who is currently a free agent?  The team and Bennett have expressed interest in working out a new deal….but if that can be done remains to be seen.

The tight ends position has been a strong one in recent drafts, and this one is no exception.  The issue is do you spend the pick at 19 on a tight end, or hope someone lasts to pick 51?  Tough decisions ahead for Jerry Reese and the Giants.

August 24, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants tight end Martellus Bennett (85) and wide receiver Ramses Barden (13) and center David Bass (64) celebrate Barden

Well, there was not quite as many questions entering this season as compared to last year, but there were still some areas of concern. With training camp drawing to a close and the season only being a week away let’s look at what we got out of  the preseason and who is poised to help this team.

On the offensive side of the ball the Giants had questions and TE, WR and RB. So what did we learn? The biggest concern was at TE,and the aquisition of Martellus Bennett turned out to be huge. The big TE had a monster preseason and showed great hands and physical toughness that has made me long forget about Kevin Boss and Jake Ballard. He looks like exactly what the Giants needed and should make his presence felt immediately against his former team in week one.

At WR the two players that impressed me this year were Ramses Barden and rookie Rueban Randle. I had hoped Barden would finally step his game up this year And live up to some of last years hopes that he could be a bigger part of the offense. Randle looked impressive in his route running especially for a rookie. The Giants have missed that receiver who could go up and get the jump ball since Burress left and height of both Barden at 6’6″ and Randle at 6’3″will help in the green zone this year. And both will see significant playing time this year and could move up past Jernigan and Hixon respectively.

With Brandon Jacobs gone this year it was time for Ware or Scott to finally step up and take control of the number two RB spot. Well, both backs had unimpressive training camps and that opened the door for rookie David Wilson who seized the opportunity and is clearly a head above the other two backs to be behind Bradshaw. Wilson showed a lot of burst and vision against the bears as well as a few nice catch and runs in the preseason and will help the run game improve this year.

Once again the defense has suffered some injuries that is a cause for concern. With T2 and Prince starting the season injured once again it could be a little make shift in the defensive back field again early on this year. But a few new players have shined bright in the preseason, namely Keith Rivers at OLB and Jayron Hosley at nickle back and will add depth to what could be the number one defense in the NFL. The DL will be a beast again especially with Osi starting the season on the field and the contract out of the way.

This could once again be a very special year for the NY Football Giants and have to be on everyone’s board when it comes to post season picks.

The Giants running attack will have a different look to it this season as Brandon Jacobs has moved on to the San Francisco 49ers. Ahmad Bradshaw now has the spotlight as the Giants will use the preseason to determine who else fills out the backfield. D.J. Ware received the first chance at backing up Bradshaw and he looked impressive when called on to carry the ball. Rookie and first round pick David Wilson had a team high 43 rushing yards on 7 carries and looked explosive at times. The battle for the backup running back spot is going to be fun to watch.

Eli Manning completed four of eight passes for 60 yards.

What stood out to me in the passing game for the Giants was solid play from their new tight end Martellus Bennett.

Bennett has the size, the speed, and the potential to be an impact player in this offense. The flipside to that is he also had that potential in Dallas. A change of scenery might be just what Bennett needs to maximize his potential. He’s off to a good start so far, catching 3 passes for 27 yards including a 12-yard touchdown catch from backup quarterback David Carr.

The first-team defense looked shaky in the beginning as the Jaguars seemed to move the ball with ease on them in their opening drive.

One key position to watch for will be at cornerback.

Prince Amukamara is getting a chance to step up because of the injury to Terrell Thomas. Amukamara was burned on the Jaguars opening drive when he gave up 3-yard touchdown pass to Cecil Shorts. However, he showed that he could shake that off and redeemed himself later in the 1st quarter when he stripped Shorts on an end-around which led to a Giants recovery.

Head coach Tom Coughlin wasn’t pleased with how his punt return game looked out there and who can blame him? Misplays by rookie Jayron Hosley and receiver Jerrel Jernigan led to Jacksonville points that definitely contributed to the ultimate outcome of the game. If there is one thing that will bring Coughlin to angry levels, it’s turnovers and mental mistakes.

The Giants were in control of this game and mistakes and lack of execution at critical times cost them. However, training camp and the preseason is for fixing those problems before they come up again in September when the games do count and the Giants begin defense of their Super Bowl championship.

Aug 10, 2012; Jacksonville FL, USA; New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) looks for a receiver during the first quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Douglas Jones-US PRESSWIRE

So the first preseason game of the 2012 NY Giants campaign is over and it wasn’t the prettiest ending to a game. I know it’s preseason and the games don’t count, but you have to think Coughlin is probably not thrilled to give up such a big lead, even if it was the back ups who gave it up. But let’s look at the bright spots.

The new TE Martellus Bennett looked very good. He made some tough catches Including a 12 yd TD over the middle and showed he may be able to be the piece the offense was looking for. Although he needs to keep it up and still has more to prove.

There were some good moments from the WR’s as the coaches look to solidify the third wideout spot. Rueban Randle showed he is talented with two catches for 27 yds including a TD and could be the answer, but he is a rookie and will most likely have some growing pains. I thought Ramses Barden showed a lot of promise and a few big blocks down field.

The biggest bright spot was in the running game. The spot to back up Bradshaw is being tightly contested. Rookie RB David Wilson looked very good and lead the team in rushing on 7 rushes for 43 yds and had a nice catch and run in the final possession. Both DJ Ware and Andre Brown ran the ball hard and had a combined 12 rushes for 55 yds. I look forward to watching this battle throughout the rest of camp and should make all three better.

The starting Defense looked dominating as it should. They had a few sacks and some forced fumbles. The secondary looked extremely good and I even saw a few CB blitzes, one for a sack by Hosley, thats something the D had been lacking in recent years. Mark Herzlich looked very good and he will add depth at ILB and could help in pass coverage over the middle.

Special teams was a big problem with both Hosley and Jerrigan muffing a punt. Considering how important ball security is I believe this area will get a lot of attention and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some new faces back there fielding punts.

After the first look it appears that the areas of preseason concern may have been addressed, but it is still to early to tell. And there is still a lot of work to do for the Giants to make it back to the promised land.

May 11, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants tight end Adrien Robinson (81) signals during a play during minicamp at the Timex Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-US PRESSWIRE

So the Patriots claimed Jake Ballard off waivers.  Maybe to needle the  GMen after beating them in 2 superbowls, but Probably to fill a spot when they have to make a decision about Hernandez. Either way, what does it mean for Eli Manning and the Giants Offense?

Immediately it means nothing as Ballard was not going to play this year, and long term it doesn’t mean much more. After all Its not like Ballard was Mark Bavaro. But there is still a huge hole to fill at TE and it appears that not taking  tight end Coby Fleener early in the draft could be costly.

So what do we have now? There is TE/FB Bear Pascoe, he is a good blocker and has shown some glimpses in the short passing attack but nothing to make anyone think he will be the go to guy down the seam. Then you have Martellus Bennett who may or may not have a weight issue. He played at 270 last year and is now up to 291, which according to Mike Popecould be one reason why he has had ahamstring injury. He is a bit of a wild card since playing behind Witten he does not get a lot of balls thrown at him. And lastly there is Rookie Adrien Robinson. He missed most of mini camp due to finishing school and will need to add some muscle and work on blocking. Needless to say he will not be a big factor early in the season.

The tight end position is the biggest question mark for the 2013 season and unless someone steps up to become a reliable target it could be our Achilles heel in the road to a repeat.

On Thursday Legendary  Tight Ends Coach Mike Pope stated that it seems that “We may run a little more than he is used to.”  That statement may explain all you need to know about the Dallas Cowboys the last ten years.  The fast starting Cowboys have been known to win few games in December and January.  As a matter of fact in the past 12 years they have had 6 winning seasons, and have one two playoff games since 1996.  Many place this at the feet of Tony Romo, which I do not.  I place it at the feet of Jerry Jones and his coaches.

The evidence of this for me comes from a statement made by Wade Phillips after the 2007 Cowboys lost to the New York Giants in the playoffs.  He continually stated that the best team had lost that day.  He was convinced that the Cowboys were better than the Giants, and any other team in the league.  He continued to defend his troops even after all the stories of them vacationing BEFORE the playoff game during their bye week.  Heck, the Cowboys didn’t need to practice, they had it all wrapped up.  Jerry Jones had the plans made for the following weeks game and all would be right in Dallas…..Well, the Cowboys lost again in the playoffs.  When a coach continues to tell his players that they are better, that they “Should” have won, that they played great, they tend to not work so hard the next time around.  Why work hard when you are already the better team, even though you still haven’t won anything.  Of course the next year they went 9-7 and finished third in the eastern Division.

Wade Phillips is gone, but it seems the culture has remained.  Only work as hard as you want…not as hard as you have to.

Martellus has a great chance here to make a name, and become a great player, I hope he works as hard as he has to, not only as hard as he thinks he needs to.

Regardless, there are still important moves to be made that could impact whether the Giants are able to defend their Super Bowl title against the likes of the rest of the NFL.

As of March 16th, the Giants have made some minor, but important moves:

• Domenik Hixon re-signed 
• Steve Weatherford franchised
• Jake Ballard re-signed
• Brandon Jacobs cut
• Justin Tryon re-signed
• Terrell Thomas re-signed (4 years)
• Michael Coe re-signed
• Martellus Bennett signed
• David Carr re-signed

These are the same moves that Jerry Reese makes each year. He knows which free agents need to be re-signed and which need to be let go. His big signing thus far was that of Martellus Bennett, former Dallas Cowboy, who will serve as the Giants primary tight-end with both Travis Beckum and Jake Ballard expected to start the season on the PUP list.

Ex-Dallas Cowboys tight end Martellus Bennett (80) during the second half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bennett signed a contract with the New York Giants on March 14th, 2012.

The free agency period is still young, so expect Reese to bring in a few more veterans to round out the rest of the corps. After that, you can expect Reese to focus the rest of his energy on the April draft.

For more news, updates, and analysis… Follow me on Twitter (@ERobertsNY)

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Bennett is listed at 6’6″ 275 lbs. His deal is for one year at 2.5 million. In four seasons, Bennett, a second-round pick in 2008, caught 85 passes for 846 yards with four touchdowns, all of which came in his rookie year. A solid blocker, Bennett was never able to become a regular part of the passing game and he was unable to take advantage of the limited opportunities he had behind Jason Witten in Dallas.