This week, NY Giants playmakers are back on the field for OTAs and several guys aren't wasting time in making noise for head man Brian Daboll. While star running back Saquon Barkley is away from the team due to his contract issues, others are turning heads on offense.
At the same time, studs on defense are also impressing. With so many different guys looking sharp, it only has Big Blue supporters even more excited for Week 1 of the regular season to get here. With that said, here's our look at four guys who are looking pretty darn good in East Rutherford this week:
4. TE Darren Waller
Easily one of the biggest additions for the Giants this offseason, Darren Waller really started things off with a bang on Monday. According to the Giants website, Waller caught two early touchdowns from Daniel Jones during drills and then added another one not too long after. With his massive frame, Waller is no question an elite red-zone target for Danny Dimes.
He's a matchup problem for Giants defensive backs right now at OTAs and that's going to be the exact same case for other DBs across the league once the campaign arrives. Waller has an incredible amount of potential to be a major threat in Mike Kafka's offense. The main question surrounding him is his health.
Waller has missed a lot of action over the past two years with multiple different injuries. General manager Joe Schoen knew all about this when trading for him, as he's not overly concerned with his health issues in the past. If Waller can stay close to 100 percent from start to finish in '23, then he'll be so much fun to watch for this team. He's off to a great start at OTAs.
3. CB Nick McCloud
When you think of the Giants cornerbacks room, Adoree' Jackson and first-round pick Deonte Banks come to mind. Even Darnay Holmes, who was fantastic during Day 2 of OTAs, is another big-name guy that fans have their eyes on. Well, go ahead and add CB Nick McCloud to your list of intriguing guys to focus on this season.
McCloud is an under-the-radar guy who can make quite the impact on this team. According to the Giants website, McCloud posted multiple pass deflections during the first day of OTAs, including one going up against Waller that prevented the Giants TE from celebrating yet another touchdown. That's big time right there.
Last season for the Giants, his first with Big Blue, McCloud appeared in 14 games for Daboll, making eight starts. He finished the year with 43 total tackles and 1.5 sacks. Again, he may not be the biggest name on this Giants defense, but he's impressing the staff at OTAs and he's never going to make life easy for opposing pass-catchers. He's a hard working dude who's also easy to root for.
2. WR Jalin Hyatt
On Monday, Jalin Hyatt started his first OTA with the Giants with a touchdown pass from fellow rookie Tommy DeVito. Hyatt also saw reps returning punts. While this may be a small sample size, there's no denying that Hyatt has people excited about what he can do with this team moving forward. His impressive wheels are the main reason why.
Hyatt has blazing speed - no one can argue that. What's so exciting about Hyatt is that he somehow fell to the third round in this year's NFL Draft. When the Giants were on the clock at No. 57 overall in the second round, they were ready to go with Hyatt if center John Michael Schmitz was off the board. Luckily, JMS is also in East Rutherford.
With Hyatt still available in the third round, Daboll and Schoen worked their magic to trade up and get him as well. Whether it be catching balls from Jones or making plays on special teams, Hyatt figures to be a big-time contributor for this team in '23 and beyond. With him hoping to add some muscle before Week 1 too, it's only going to help him become tougher to bring down.
1. TE Daniel Bellinger
We're focusing on offense quite a bit for this last, as one guy we can't forget about is tight end Daniel Bellinger. While there's so much excitement surrounding Waller, one of the best TEs in the game when healthy, Bellinger is coming off a strong rookie season and he'll hope to do some big things for Daboll and Co. in Year 2 too.
What really prevented Bellinger from taking off last season was the serious eye injury he suffered during the upset win over the Jaguars in Jacksonville. Bellinger missed a large chunk of the campaign, but a lot of people were impressed with Bellinger, a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, when he was on the field.
He may be best known for his pass-blocking abilities, but he still hauled in two TDs from Jones last season, while adding a rushing score vs. the Packers in the London game. On Monday, Bellinger posted two touchdown catches at OTAs too. A lot of defenses will focus on Waller when he's on the field, but we think Bellinger can still be an impact dude for this squad.
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