4 players who disappointed in the NY Giants preseason opener

The NY Giants played their first preseason game Thursday night in Foxborough, defeating the Patriots yet again, 23-21, thanks to Davis Webb’s game-winning drive that was capped off by Graham Gano’s buzzer-beating field goal.

While it was nice to see the Giants record a win, the preseason is all about sorting out who will make the Giants roster and who has earned themselves a spot as a contributor this season. While you have to take the players who performed well in the preseason opener with a grain of salt, because they played against the Patriots 2’s and 3’s, it is fair to have concern about the players who struggled against that level of competition. Here are four players who disappointed in the Giants preseason opener.

4. WR Kenny Golladay

The list of disappointing players for the Giants has to start with Kenny Golladay. Last offseason, ex-Giants dreadful general manager Dave Gentleman signed Golladay to a four-year, $72 million contract. While there is plenty of time for Golladay to turn it around with the Giants, the first year was disastrous. Golladay caught less than 50 percent of the passes thrown to him a season ago and scored zero touchdowns.

The start to the 2022 season was not ideal for Golladay. After not being able to gain any separation on Patriots backup cornerback, Terrance Mitchell, on a deep ball thrown by Daniel Jones, Golladay dropped a pass from Jones that could have potentially been a TD.

As Brian Daboll noted, Jones did throw that ball a little low. However, Golladay has to haul that ball in. After all, Golladay ranks in the top five of wide receiver salaries in the NFL in 2022 and it is time he starts living up to that.

3. CB Aaron Robinson

The Giants secondary depth has been the team’s biggest concern heading into the new campaign and the first preseason game did nothing to help cure that concern. After James Bradberry was cut as a cap casualty this offseason, the Giants are left with Adoree’ Jackson and a bunch of inexperience at cornerback.

Aaron Robinson, last year’s third-round pick, is the favorite to snag that second cornerback position, but he performed horribly on Thursday night. Playing against the Patriots second team offense, on the first drive of the game, Robinson was beat by Patriots wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson for a 33-yard deep ball.

Robinson then broke up an end zone fade to Wilkerson, but was given a penalty flag for taunting. A couple plays later, Tyquan Thornton burned Robinson for a touchdown and Robinson was also flagged for holding on the play. All in all, it was a night to forget for him.

2. OG Shane Lemieux

Disappointment comes in many different forms. While, Lemieux looked good in his limited action on the field at left guard, he injured his toe and was spotted wearing a walking boot on the sideline in the second half.

Lemieux, the 2020 fifth-round pick, played well his rookie season, appearing in 12 games. After being named the starting left guard last training camp, Lemieux suffered a serious knee injury in the season opener against Denver and missed the rest of the year.

After Joe Schoen rebuilt the offense line this season, Lemieux was slotted to be the starting left guard. The Giants’ projected starting offensive line of Andrew Thomas at left tackle, Lemieux at left guard, Jon Feliciano at center, Mark Glowinski at right guard, and Evan Neal at right tackle was slated to be the best Giants offensive line since they defeated the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. While the Giants starting offensive line is a solid group, they are severely lacking on depth.

Rookie third-round pick Josh Ezeudu took Lemieux’s spot at left guard after he was injured but struggled. It is imperative for the Giants season that Lemieux’s injury is not serious and that he will be ready for the opener at Tennessee.

1. CB Zyon Gilbert

The entire Giants secondary disappointed during this game. Gilbert, an undrafted rookie cornerback out of Florida Atlantic, had been receiving rave reviews during training camp, leading to great expectations for this first preseason game.

Similar to Robinson, Gilbert is another young, inexperienced player who the coaching staff hopes could be a depth piece in the secondary this season. With a lack of proven players in the secondary, Gilbert had a chance to prove to the coaching staff that he deserved a big role, but he failed to do so.

Late in the fourth quarter, Patriots rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe threw a big completion down the field against Gilbert. A couple plays later, with Gilbert getting reps at safety, Zappe threw a go-ahead touchdown to Lil’Jordan Humphrey with Gilbert in coverage.

Gilbert still has plenty of opportunity to show the coaches he deserves a spot on the Giants roster, but there’s no doubt he has a hole to climb out of.

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