Giants News: Breaking down the initial 53-man roster for Joe Schoen
NY Giants offensive line
Andrew Thomas, Evan Neal, Ben Bredeson, John Michael Schmitz, Mark Glowinski, Joshua Ezeudu, Matt Peart, Shane Lemieux and Marcus McKethan: This is where the Giants could look to make some changes in terms of depth. A surprise from cut day was that Tyre Phillips was released. A lot of people thought he would have been around this season. The starting unit looks sharp for the Giants, but again, depth is needed, especially after how poor the backups looked in the preseason.
Lemieux is back? That feels like a bit of a stunner, but fans will trust Schoen. Andrew Thomas is the leader of this group, as he's coming off his Second Team All-Pro campaign. It earned him a $117.5 million extension. Neal busted his hump this offseason to improve. A strong, bounce-back season is needed from the young RT.
NY Giants defensive line
Dexter Lawrence, Leonard Williams, A'Shawn Robinson, Rakeem Nunez-Roches, DJ Davidson and Jordon Riley: Speaking of depth, that's what the defensive line has up front thanks to a strong offseason plan from Schoen. Lawrence and Williams are stars, everyone knows that, but adding Nunez-Roches and Robinson was great business from the second-year GM. Also, how about the emergence of Riley? The seventh-round pick played some head-turning football during the preseason. Kudos to him.
NY Giants outside linebackers
Kayvon Thibodeaux, Azeez Ojulari and Jihad Ward: This group formed with a major change on Tuesday morning - the trade with the Bills for Bashan (more below). With that deal being made, it led to Oshane Ximines being released. On top of that, Schoen also decided to let go of Tomon Fox and Habakkuk Baldonado. All three felt like guys who had a shot of making the roster. Thibodeaux and Ojulari will be your starters on the outside and the hype is real for those two.
NOTE: Bashan hasn't officially been named to the 53-man roster, but his trade from Buffalo is expected to be finalized soon. Once things are made official, he'll be locked in as part of the squad.
NY Giants inside linebackers
Bobby Okereke, Micah McFadden, Isaiah Simmons, Cam Brown and Carter Coughlin: After signing his $40 million contract with the G-Men this offseason, Okereke is being looked at as the savior for the ILBs. He was also named a team captain on Tuesday. McFadden and Beavers battled for the starting job next to Okereke, but Schoen bringing in Simmons for a seventh-round pick has been the talk of the town since things went down. Beavers getting cut remains a bit of a stunner, but it's clear he wasn't quite the same following his ACL tear last preseason.