Training camp is off and running and we have begun to see who the NY Giants have been sending out the most with the first-team unit. While some players have been thrust into the starting lineup due to injuries, others are players who have been starting for the majority of their careers.
With things getting more and more heated in terms of positional battles, some guys are really going to need to step their game up leading up to Week 1. Here’s how the G-Men looked early on both for offense and defense:
Starting defense: DL Williams, DL Lawrence, OLB Thibodeaux, OLB Ward, ILB Martinez, ILB Crowder, CB Jackson, CB Robinson, CB Holmes, S McKinney, S Love.
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) July 27, 2022
It is also worth noting that Dan Duggan later mentioned that Jon Feliciano started at center and Daniel Bellinger started at tight end. Despite this being the early starting lineup, things are likely to change, as we could see some players eventually be benched and replaced by guys behind them.
Here are three NY Giants starters who could potentially be replaced with the 1s before the start of the season:
3. LG Shane Lemieux
Fans have missed emotions about Shane Lemieux being the starting left guard as of now. While it may make sense to start the veteran Lemieux, he has struggled early on in his career and it’s been disappointing to see for the Big Blue supporters.
During his rookie season in 2020, Lemieux started nine games – allowing five sacks while posting a PFF player grade of 32.2. In addition to this, Lemieux missed almost the entire 2021 season due to a torn patellar tendon.
While there is a good chance that Lemieux has made significant improvements since his rookie season, his extreme poor level of play makes it difficult to believe that it will be enough to be worthy of being a starter.
Behind him is rookie guard Josh Ezeudu out of North Carolina, who could potentially steal Lemieux’s starting spot. In a way, we understand why Lemieux is starting right now, as he is the more experienced player. However, experience doesn’t equal skill. If Ezeudu plays well during training camp and preseason, we could potentially see him start by Week 1 going up against the Tennessee Titans. Ezeudu has loads of potential and it could lead to him snagging the spot from Lemieux.
2. ILB Tae Crowder
While statistically, Tae Crowder had a somewhat solid season in 2021, racking up 130 combined tackles, two interceptions, and 6 pass deflections, watching him play shows a completely different story.
Whether it be his painfully late reaction time, or complete inability in coverage, Crowder was a liability more often than not last season. Despite this, I am still a huge fan of his hustle and effort, it is just unfortunate that his skill does not match his drive.
After drafting Micah McFadden and Darrian Beavers in the fifth and sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, respectively, we could potentially see one of these two take the starting spot from Crowder due to their potential to play well in coverage. Similar to Lemieux, Crowder is likely starting due to his experience with the team. If Crowder continues to play poorly, though, he will quickly be replaced.
The 2022 NFL Draft saw the Giants bring in loads of talented players. While the focus has been on No. 5 pick Kayvon Thibodeaux and No. 7 pick Evan Neal, guys like McFadden and Beavers will 100 percent be ready to rock when they hear their number called. Both those players are studs fans should keep an eye on.
1. S Julian Love
After the NY Giants cut veteran safety Logan Ryan, it became likely that Julian Love would become the starter next to breakout star Xavier McKinney. However, in a somewhat similar fashion to Crowder, Love’s inability in coverage could harm his chances of starting, especially when fourth-round pick Dane Belton pans out to be a coverage specialist.
Don’t get us wrong, Love is a great run defender and tackler. However, in todays NFL, it is more important to have a safety be a better coverage player than run stopper. Despite the holes in Love’s game, he is still a very solid player. Does he have the potential to improve in coverage? Absolutely, Love just needs to put the work in. If he does not, he could quickly find himself being replace by a rookie.
Last season, Love tallied 66 combined tackles, seven pass deflections, and one interception while playing in 62 percent of the Giants defensive snaps. If he can just continue to improve on the couple of issues he has, he could potentially avoid being benched. With that said, Belton is a hungry, young player set to make a splash. Belton surely has what it takes to earn a starting job as well.