Giants hopes, as usual, rest on a healthy Daniel Jones 

The next time we see the Giants on the practice field will be when they report to training camp in July. So it's a good time to examine the biggest questions they are dealing with heading into the summer:

1. Will Daniel Jones be ready to start the season?

Jones answered that question as recently as Tuesday, saying: “I expect to be ready to go the first day of training camp.”

So there’s that.

Jones, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear in his right knee on Nov. 5 last season, spent the spring participating only  in 7-on-7s and did not take a snap in team drills (Drew Lock mostly handled those). That was by design as Jones and the Giants had time on their side, knowing the goal is to be ready by late July. Jones said he believes his cutting and change of direction might be better now than before the injury.

It will be interesting to how see Jones and the running game operate without Saquon Barkley. .

2. Is the offensive line improved?

Well, as it usually is with the Giants, the offensive line  again will be a focal point.

Evan Neal, coming off surgery in January on his broken left ankle, had a unique spring. On the field, he stood mostly on his own, away from teammates during the practices in which members of  the media were present. It’s hard to know when he will be able to contribute, but the Giants need him to be healthy.

According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), the Giants had the third-worst offensive line in the league last season, ahead of only the Jets and the Titans. The Giants used nine different configurations along the line last season, which is not ideal.

Former Raiders offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo has taken over the same role with the Giants.

In free agency, the Giants signed former Raiders tackle Jermaine Eluemunor and former Packer Jon Runyan, who didn’t miss a game in his first four seasons.

Can they make a difference? They’d better.

“Carm does a really good job putting guys in the right places at the right time,” Eluemunor said.

Perhaps the best attribute Bricillo could bring to the line would be stability. He is the eighth offensive line coach for the Giants in the last 10 years.

3. Is the passing game the focal point of the offense?

Say this for Malik Nabers, he knows how to make a first impression. The sixth overall pick in the 2024 draft was as advertised in the spring. With the media present, he seemed to never drop a catchable ball, and he also made some spectacular receptions.

“He’s dynamic with the ball in his hands,” Jones said, “and strong, fast, explosive, catches the ball well. Yeah, he does a lot well.”

It will be interesting to see if the receiving corps now becomes the essential aspect of the offense, especially with the Giants being thin at running back.

4. How much work is there to do on defense?

New defensive coordinator Shane Bowen clearly wants to see progress from his players. He’ll likely also want to see growth from the younger players who are going to be counted on to play at a high level.

But Bowen has a lot of work to do. The Giants' depth at cornerback, in particular, isn’t ideal.

“Bottom line: We need guys to start separating themselves,” Bowen said. “Maybe not the first week in training camp, but as we get going in those first few weeks in training camp, we’ve got to start defining roles. I want to see guys take opportunities, grab them and start to pull away. It's the NFL. Like everybody has to earn it. Go do it.”

5. Will Brian Daboll be the offensive play-caller?

You bet. It’s been trending in that direction since at least the scouting combine.

Mike Kafka will remain the offensive coordinator.

“Every year brings new opportunities,’’ Kafka said, “and so I’m taking this as an opportunity just to continue to grow as a coach and be an asset to those coaches and players.”

Daboll’s voice has been transmitted in the  quarterbacks’ helmets this spring. This could be seen as a bold move, but it’s been trending this way for some time. Daboll called the offensive plays when he was an assistant in Buffalo, and it’s almost surprising that it took this long for him to do so with the Giants.

By Kimberly Jones

kimberly.jones@newsday.comkimjonessports

Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.