It's time to start hitting some other people. Over the past two weeks, the NY Giants were hard at work in East Rutherford at training camp. Now, the preseason opener vs. the Lions is coming on Friday night, but before then, there are some joint practices to look forward to.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the G-Men and Lions will get to work and look to take the next step before the summer comes to a close. There are going to be some fun battles and tough matchups on both sides of the ball. Here are four things in particular we'll be keeping our eyes on over the next couple of days:
4. Darren Waller going up against the Lions defense
Throughout the summer, much of the talk surrounding the New York offense has been the exceptional play of tight end Darren Waller. Acquired this offseason for only a third-round pick, Waller arrived to East Rutherford with plenty of hype and he has backed that up with his outstanding abilities catching the pigskin.
Waller was pretty much unguardable at training camp going up against the New York defense. Now, though, it's going to be a completely different animal trying to make plays against the Lions. There's a big difference between action at training camp and going live against an opposing defense. So, what can we expect from the big-bodied tight end?
Hopefully, Waller continues his electric display and records some impressive plays against Detroit over the next two days. If Waller is locked down, or gets a bad case of the drops, then a lot of Big Blue supporters will be brought back down to earth a bit. However, we're hopeful the veteran tight end will be able to make some noise in Detroit.
3. How will the Giants offensive line look against the Lions?
Leading up to Week 1, there is going to be a lot of mixing and matching for the starting offensive line. Unfortunately for head man Brian Daboll, some adversity has arrived in the form of right tackle Evan Neal suffering a concussion. With Neal unable to practice, Matt Peart has gotten run with the 1s at the spot.
When Neal returns from his injury, he'll jump right back in with the starting unit, as the former No. 7 overall pick is hoping to record a bounce-back season. Elsewhere, though, other jobs are up for grabs. Most recently, Joshua Ezeudu has been starting at left guard, while Ben Bredeson has been at center and Mark Glowinski has manned the right guard position. Andrew Thomas is the superstar at LT.
However, Bredeson has also spent plenty of time at left guard and John Michael Schmitz, a rookie second-rounder, has manned things at center. There's still going to be a lot of movement like we said, but remember that the Lions defensive front is impressive, led by former No. 2 overall pick Aidan Hutchinson. There's a tall task ahead for the NY offensive line. We'll see how they do.
2. Tre Hawkins will hope to prove camp wasn't a fluke
In addition to Waller, one of the main standouts from camp was rookie cornerback Tre Hawkins III. A sixth-round pick out of Old Dominion, not many people thought that Hawkins would be one of the best defensive backs during camp. However, that's exactly what ended up happening, with him turning countless heads.
Hawkins has gone from a youngster who a lot of people weren't too excited about, to a CB who could see significant action once Week 1 of the regular season arrives. In order for that to happen, Hawkins will need to continue his strong play in the preseason. Not only that, some strong practices against the Detroit offense will also help his case.
The Lions feature a pretty strong offensive unit. While quarterback Jared Goff has countless haters out there, you can't deny that he's also got a cannon for an arm. Goff will look to build even more chemistry with his receivers this week. Hawkins and the other NY DBs will be tested. Hawkins will have a challenging couple of days ahead of him.
1. Daniel Jones will need to have a strong showing vs. the Lions defense
Lastly, we of course want to see how quarterback Daniel Jones will fare facing off against Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn's unit. Just like Goff, countless doubters are ready to try and bring down Danny Dimes whenever they have the chance. People are just waiting for Jones to slip, then they'll race to social media to bash him.
Luckily, Jones is in the middle of an incredible summer and he will be ready to light up the Detroit defense on Tuesday and Wednesday. On top of Waller, new additions Jalin Hyatt and Parris Campbell will help this offense take things to the next level. Jones is already having a ton of fun hitting his new targets in stride. More will be on the way facing off against the Lions defense.
Jones was on fire during training camp and that's a positive sign with the regular season sneaking up on us. Soon enough, Jones will lead the team out onto the MetLife Field turf in hopes of living up to his $160 million extension. The pressure is through the roof, but Jones is calm about things. And for those of you nervous about his play moving forward, pay close attention to him this week.