After nearly six long months of waiting, the NY Giants' first on-field action since their Divisional Round loss at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles is coming on Friday night. While it's just the preseason, we're still as excited as ever to watch the Giants finally play again.
To kickoff the preseason, the Giants are set to face off against the Detroit Lions, who took down New York in their regular season matchup last season. While unfortunately the Giants won't be able to get their revenge when it matters, the preseason will have to do for now.
With what we've seen from the Giants through training camp and joint practices with Detroit, we're rather confident in New York's odds to start the preseason with a win. However, we think things could get a little crazy and have these four bold predictions about what could happen during the matchup:
4. Tre Hawkins will see a large number of snaps
Arguably the most pleasant surprise from this year's training camp is the sudden rise of rookie sixth-round pick Tre Hawkins. No matter who he's gone against, Hawkins has looked dominant and many fans are hopeful that this will translate to the regular season. Despite this, Hawkins still needs to prove he can continue this dominance against WRs from opposing teams.
In order to show that he can do this at a sustainable level, we wouldn't be surprised if Hawkins played a heavy amount of snaps against the Lions on Friday. Typically, starters or high-level backups only play for a couple of possessions in the preseason. However, Hawkins has a lot more to prove than most starters, so don't be shocked to see him play quite a bit.
Hawkins will face some tough competition against the Lions in the form of Amon-Ra St. Brown (if he plays), Marvin Jones, and Khalif Raymond. This will be a perfect opportunity for Hawkins to put his tools on display and show that he can be a consistent starter for the regular season.
Hopefully, Hawkins can continue the high level of play we've seen out of him through training camp thus far. If he does, then Joe Schoen will have done what Dave Gettleman failed to do over five years. That being to draft an impact player on Day 3.