What a way to close out the preseason, huh. The New York Giants dominated their crosstown rivals, the New York Jets, in an emphatic 23-6 win that couldn’t have been more one-sided if it tried.
The Giants whooped their you-know-whats from start to finish, looking unrecognizable from years past. The win gave Big Blue a 2-1 preseason record, but more importantly, it was another encouraging showing from a team that suddenly looks unrecognizable from years past.
Now that the preseason is officially in the rearview, the G-Men can turn their attention to the Dallas Cowboys and their Week 1 Sunday Night Football showdown on September 13. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, it’s time to hand out -- for the last time this year -- some good ol’ fashioned preseason hardware.
6 winners and 1 loser from NY Giants’ preseason finale annihilation of the Jets
Winner: Najee Harris
Najee Harris hadn’t played on an NFL field since September 21, 2025, until Friday night. It wasn’t necessarily the most impressive showing, but the 28-year-old finished the game with 39 rushing yards on 11 attempts with a pair of nine-yard runs.
He even had a solid block on a blitz he picked up on third-and-10 to give Jameis Winston the time to complete a 13-yard dime to Odell Beckham Jr. for the first.
Harris is coming off a season-ending Achilles injury and only signed with the Giants earlier this month. He got his feet wet, took some hits, showed a little juice, and most importantly, walked off the field healthy. That’s a win.
Winner: Tyrone Tracy Jr.
After back-to-back games being the center of attention for all the wrong reasons, Tyrone Tracy Jr. needed a bounce-back game in the biggest way. Well, ask, and you shall receive.
The 26-year-old put together an impressive stat line, running the ball four times for 37 yards and a touchdown. The next series after his rushing touchdown, there was a major injury scare when he stayed down on the field after a hard hit and had to be assisted off the field by trainers.
He was checked and cleared for a concussion, so he should be good to go moving forward.
After a missed blitz pickup against Minnesota and a fumbled handoff against Miami put him under the microscope, this was exactly the type of performance Tracy needed to remind everyone what he brings to the offense. He finally made headlines for the right reasons.
Winner: Odell Beckham Jr.
The OBJ comeback tour officially has some life.
Odell finished the game with three receptions for 53 yards on six targets, but the stat line doesn’t really tell the whole story. The 33-year-old looked fast and consistently created separation, getting open on seemingly every route -- he was dogging Gang Green's backups.
Would it have been awesome if he came down with the deep ball Jameis Winston put just beyond his fingertips? Obviously. But oh no, he didn’t make a ridiculous highlight-reel catch in the preseason. What ever will we do?
He also couldn’t come away with the pass that ultimately turned into Winston’s interception, but that’s not exactly one I’m going to lose sleep over, either. Not now.
The important part was seeing Beckham move the way he did. He looked like someone who can still contribute to an NFL offense, and after Harbaugh said afterward that he believes OBJ has done enough to make an NFL roster (eye emojis everywhere), his Giants comeback suddenly feels a whole lot more real.
Winner: Trace Ford
Trace Ford, take a bow.
Nobody helped their case more than the 2025 undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma. Ford finished with five tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, two passes defensed, and two quarterback hits.
He. Was. Everywhere.
He’s firmly in a backend battle with guys like Darius Muasau, Zaire Barnes, and Caleb Murphy, but he might have climbed over all of them after Friday’s performance. Helping his case is that he’s also a willing and able special teams contributor.
If Ford doesn’t make the 53-man roster after that performance, it won’t be because he didn’t give the coaching staff something to think about.
Winner: Giants' defense
It’s only the preseason, but holy moly, has New York’s defense looked the part of a championship team.
Throughout three games, they allowed only 22 total points -- that’s crazy good. As if things couldn’t get better than their 26-3 effort against the Dolphins, the G-Men stumped the Jets for 139 total yards and six points.
The defense was flying around the field all night.
It’s easy to write this off as backups against backups, and that’s fair. But defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson has this team gassed up and ready to go for its Week 1 primetime showdown against the Dallas Cowboys.
We’ll find out pretty quickly if the preseason dominance actually means anything, but as we saw just last preseason, looks can be deceiving.
Winner: Dominic Zvada
Dominic Zvada attempted all five of Big Blue’s kicks on Friday (three field goals and two extra points). Two of the tries were rather pedestrian – a 46-yarder and a 23-yarder – but the 53-yard bomb he sent through the uprights and to the moon all but confirmed the undrafted rookie kicker out of Michigan will be the team’s kicker in 2026.
Harbaugh even verified it after the game when speaking with the media.
Conversely, Jason Sanders -- whom the Giants signed and then cut earlier this offseason -- missed two kicks (a 54-yard field goal and an extra point). Harbs had reservations about Sanders’ leg strength entering the offseason, which could have played a role in them making Zvada-matic a priority UDFA signing post-draft. Sanders gave Harbs all the validation he could ever want.
There’s a method to the madness.
Loser: Braxton Berrios
Nobody’s stock fell harder on Friday than Braxton Berrios’.
Just when you thought he had his roster spot locked following Calvin Austin III’s unfortunate season-ending knee injury, the 30-year-old came out and put on an absolute stinker. It started with a 15-yard reception that turned into a fumble inside the Jets’ five-yard line.
He was targeted four times on the night, with only one catch to show for it. He just sort of looked off all night.
Meanwhile, 2025 undrafted free agent Dalen Cambre -- who plays a similar role as Berrios -- impressed in his time on the field. He caught all three of his targets for 33 yards, even impressing on the punt coverage team.
It begs the question: are we sure Berrios is a better receiver than Cambre?
We’ll find out soon enough when the Giants trim their roster from 90 players to 53, but Berrios could find himself on the outside looking in when it's all said and done.
Add us as a preferred source on Google