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.
3. The Giants WR depth will dominate against the Lions secondary
Following a season in which the Giants had one of the worst receiving cores in the entire NFL, things are looking much different in 2023. Not only did Schoen acquire some starting-level talent in the form of Parris Campbell, but he also signed/drafted guys like Jalin Hyatt, Jamison Crowder, Cole Beasley, and Bryce Ford-Wheaton. The craziest part about this is that everyone besides Hyatt likely won't be a big contributor in the regular season.
When you consider how deep the Giants' WR room is, compared to the Lions' solid, but not great secondary, there is a real chance we see these guys dominate against Detroit. Players like Collin Johnson, Hyatt, and Ford-Wheaton are likely going to see a large number of snaps, giving them plenty of opportunities to dominate.
Johnson already has a history of dominating in the preseason, so we wouldn't be shocked in the slightest to see this trend continue. Imagine a WR trio in the preseason of the aforementioned three. Not only are they all incredibly gifted physically, but they also possess elite speed that will make them incredibly difficult to contain.
2. Darrian Beavers will dominate
One of the biggest stories from last preseason was how well sixth-round pick Darrian Beavers looked when on the field. Beavers was consistently making great plays in both coverage and against the run while showing off some instincts the Giants had not seen at linebacker in quite some time. Now, with Bobby Okereke officially taking over the LB1 spot, Beavers has a real chance to solidify his role as Okereke's running mate over the middle.
The competition behind Beavers may not be fierce, but he still has to prove he can be sustainably great against opposing teams. Unfortunately, he could have proved this last season, but an ACL tear cut short what could have been an incredible rookie season.
Now, fully recovered from said injury, Beavers is looking to start where he left off and dominate opposing teams once again. The Lions may be a good team, but this shouldn't be an issue for Beavers, especially once the starters go out and the bench comes in.
Hopefully, Beavers can both remain healthy, and dominate once again in order to secure his starting spot. Pairing a coverage specialist like Beavers alongside a dominant run-stopper like Okereke could be a match made in heaven for the Giants. We're incredibly excited to see how he performs against not only the Lions, but the Jets and Panthers as well.
1. The Giants will win by double digits
Not only were the Giants the better team than the Lions last season, but it's looking to be about the same in 2023. New York has better top-tier talent and appears to have MUCH better depth than that of Detroit. If this translates off the paper and on the field, the Giants could very well have a dominant win on their hands.
The Lions have some solid depth defensively, but when looking at the Giants' offensive depth, it's not even comparable. Several of the players on the Giants' offensive non-starters very well could be fighting for starting jobs on other teams. Even players like Crowder, Beasley, Matt Breida, and Tyrod Taylor were starting-caliber guys just a couple of years ago.
This, combined with the Giants' defensive depth, has us confident that the Giants will come out of this game on top in dominant fashion. Regardless, this will be an incredibly fun game to watch between two young, up-and-coming teams looking to start their seasons off hot.
Hopefully, the Giants will come into this game prepared and start their NFL calendar year off hot and potentially even carry this momentum into their next preseason matchup and on. For now, we're going to take the Giants winning this game 27-14.
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