The first week of New York Giants training camp is officially in the books.
It's tough to tell whether it's been a good camp for Big Blue, but it's certainly been an exciting one. With new head coach John Harbaugh now leading the charge, it's hard not to feel excited about the new era of Giants football.
Even though it's been mostly shorts-only practices so far, there have been several takeaways heading into Week 2 when it's pads city. The real fun is about to begin, but before we dive headfirst, it's only fitting we look at who stood out -- and who didn't -- during the opening week of camp.
Biggest winners and losers from Week 1 of Giants training camp
Winner: Dominic Zvada's leg-day gains
Nobody necessarily wants to spend their summer evaluating kickers, but Dominic Zvada all but forces you to pay attention. As such, I volunteer as tribute.
The undrafted rookie out of Michigan cleared the first major hurdle of his career following a pretty brutal opening day. He looked visibly shook on Day 1, missing two of his five attempts (from 34 and 43 yards, respectively). He adjusted quickly over the next few days, finishing the first week of camp going 8-of-11 overall (72.7%).
Harbaugh and Co. gave the 22-year-old the perfect opportunity to bounce back later in the week with a 57-yard game-winning try to close a two-minute drill. Zvada put it straight through the uprights with room to spare. Consider that the kick that likely changed everything. His competitor, Ben "Better Call Sauls" Sauls, made nine of his 12 attempts (75%) but lacks the leg power needed to run away with the job.
Zvada has the distance, which might just put him in the driver's seat for the starting kicking job.
Winner: Abdul Carter's breakout
Abdul Carter wants to win NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2026. That usually sounds like classic player speak for a former top-five pick who had four sacks as a rookie. Yet Carter spent the first week at The Greenbrier looking borderline unblockable. He routinely beat starting left tackle Andrew Thomas (even getting in his face a little bit), registering three "would-be" sacks against the All-Pro in one practice.
It sure looks like the 22-year-old is finding a way to convert his 72 rookie quarterback pressures into actual results.
Last year, Carter relied heavily on an undeveloped speed rush, which made him predictable to block and even easier to wash out of run plays. However, this past week, Thomas noted that Carter actually set up his counter-moves and played with better leverage.
Defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson moved him all over the front seven during red-zone and two-minute drills to hunt for matchups, rather than just leaving him on the weak side. Forcing one of the league's best left tackles into survival mode day after day showed that Carter is finally ready for the massive second-year jump everyone has been waiting for.
Winner: Malik Nabers' knee
An entire offseason of speculation suggested Malik Nabers wouldn't be ready for the start of the year following his ACL and meniscus injury. New York crushed that narrative by keeping him off the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list to start camp.
Instead of watching or participating from the sidelines, Nabers jumped right into drills at full speed, flashing the damn-near same cutting ability he had pre-injury. He ran routes with little visible hesitation or lingering fear. The team managed his workload with scheduled on/off days, but his Week 1 availability has never felt better than it does right now.
Just seeing him back on the field was a win. Watching him go full speed was just house money.
Winner: Arvell Reese, LB
Big Blue's fifth overall pick arrived in West Virginia looking like he wanted to punch everyone in the mouth. Arvell Reese treated the early, non-padded training camp sessions like a full-contact go and never looked back.
The 20-year-old consistently flew downhill from the middle and stopped running backs Cam Skattebo and Tyrone Tracy Jr. at the line of scrimmage. His unapologetic play style immediately set the tone for what would be arguably the best week out of any individual performer.
Harby raved about his rookie linebacker's week, going as far as to say he's been doing this the whole week:
"He's been playing well the whole camp since he got here. He gets things right pretty much all the time, makes very few mistakes. He's a very serious-minded guy, and he's very determined. I mean, he's doing things well."
Right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor and defensive tackle D.J. Reader both backed up the coach's praise, noting that Reese's instincts were already blowing up run plays before the offensive linemen could even react.
Winner: Dennard Wilson's defense
Defenses almost always look better than offenses during the first week of training camp, but Dennard Wilson took that reality to the extreme in the best way possibl.
He spent the opening chunk of sessions running an aggressive scheme centered around what reporters called "organized chaos". Wilson completely threw out the passive approach of former DC Shane Bowen, opting instead to put the defensive front into better positions to feast. Mission accomplished.
The philosophy change paid off almost instantly, especially in the turnover department, as the first-team secondary and linebackers routinely got their hands on footballs during 11-on-11 work.
Kayvon Thibodeaux tipped a pass to himself for a pick-six, defensive tackle Darius Alexander pulled down a leaping interception to finish a two-minute drill simulation, and linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and Micah McFadden even joined with party with a pick each.
Beyond the turnovers, Wilson made sure that accountability, or lack thereof, wouldn't go unpunished.
He implemented a rule forcing the entire defense to do 10 post-practice push-ups for every single penalty committed during training sessions. Wilson had this group hunting for big plays from the jump, leaving a completely overwhelmed offense scrambling for answers all week long. If this is how they're playing now, I can't wait to see where they're at come opening weekend.
Loser: Ben Sauls' encore
The NFL is a zero-sum game, which means if Zvada is winning, Sauls is losing. The kicker battle has looked competitive on paper, with Sauls quietly hitting a reliable 9-of-12 on his field goal attempts over the opening stretch of team periods.
But field-goal kicking in camp is about ceiling just as much as it is about consistency, and Sauls watched his counterpart flash a tier of leg strength that he simply cannot match.
While the second-year kicker remained solid on his short and intermediate tries, he lacked the field-stretching distance that Zvada put on tape with his practice-ending 57-yarder. Harbaugh's a special teams guy, so this competition is going to be earned, not given. That being said, Sauls' solid but limited range significantly hurts his chances of making the roster. Harbs isn't afraid to roll into the season with an unproven rookie kicker with leg power.
Someone get Sauls on the squat rack with a protein shake and some creatine.
Loser: Giants' starting offense
If defenses almost always look better than offenses during the first week of training camp, might I present to you the biggest loser of Week 1: the starting offense.
And boy did this past week look rough for the first-team unit.
Franchise quarterback hopeful Jaxson Dart seemed lost, struggling to find any rhythm while constantly trying to, and failing to, adjust to Wilson's exotic blitz packages and looks. The offensive line blew multiple protections, which forced Dart to throw under pressure before his wideouts could even finish their breaks. Aside from some good plays here and there, it looked rough.
A few specific moments on the field showed just how far behind this group really is:
- The quarterbacks couldn't stop turning the ball over, throwing multiple interceptions over the course of the week.
- Not one weapon truly stuck out, making Leek's injury status for Week 1 more pressing than ever.
- The offensive line missed blitz pickups, allowing Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Carter to collapse the pocket almost instantly for multiple sacks.
- The first-team unit completely sputtered whenever the field shrunk and they got into the red zone, failing to find a rhythm or punch the ball into the end zone.
- The offense killed its own momentum before plays could even start by collecting pre-snap penalties like they're Pokémon cards.
It was a stark reminder of just how much ground this offense has to make up under new offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. If they don't clean up the little things and get it together soon, it's going to be another long season.
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