5 questions facing the Giants as training camp begins
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones throws a pass at the Quest Diagnostics Center, Tuesday, June 13, 2023, in East Rutherford. Credit: Corey Sipkin
The Giants should be a better team this season, given that it is Year 2 under the leadership of coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen. That Saquon Barkley is back is unquestionably good news. As the Giants open training camp, there are questions to answer.
What should the Giants expect from Daniel Jones this season?
In a word? More.
Since the end of the 2022 season, the Giants stocked the wide receiver position and traded for tight end Darren Waller from the Raiders.
Barkley’s return Tuesday, on the day Giants veterans were scheduled to report, was significant, obviously.
Entering his fifth season, Jones will be asked to live up to his new four-year, $160 million contract. But he won’t have to do it alone.
Having been part of Giants teams that could not win — for multiple reasons — Jones has to believe these Giants can. And that should breed team-wide confidence.
“I’ve been very impressed with Daniel,” Waller said this spring. “He has the arm talent, the intelligence, he’s a funny guy. He’s got a lot of personality that you really get to see once you get to know him more. Getting extra throwing sessions in, workouts in the weight room. A lot of jokes. Just having lunch together. You can tell guys are really close around here, and he kind of leads that energy.”
Integrating explosive plays into the offense would open a whole new world for Jones & Co. The Giants ranked last in that category last season. The expectation this season has to be this: Last is no longer an option.
What does linebacker Bobby Okereke bring to Wink Martindale’s defense?
“I'm big, I'm fast and long,” Okereke said. “But then just from a mental processing standpoint, [I understand] how offenses are trying to attack you and where I fit in coverage with my teammates. Just kind of putting it all together.”
Okereke fits the mold of a linebacker in defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s scheme. The Giants ranked 25th in run defense in 2022.
Martindale has a saying: “If you have a slow [middle linebacker], you have slow defense.”
Okereke isn’t slow.
“I love playing fast and physical,” he said. “And I think that’s why coach Martindale blitzes so much, so players can play free. There’s not a lot of thinking, and that’s what you want to eliminate. You want to eliminate thinking and just have fast decision-making.”
He’s the type of linebacker should thrive in a aggressive scheme. Martindale is counting on it.
Can they dent the division?
The Giants finished 9-7-1 last season, but they struggled mightily in the NFC East, going 1-4-1. The win and tie were against Washington. Solving the Eagles' and Cowboys' pass rushes would seem like a good place to start when it comes to turning those results around. The Eagles did lose Javon Hargrave, a terrific interior rusher, in free agency. But they seem to have restocked. And the Cowboys have said they are committed to using Micah Parsons as a rusher, where he could be lethal. So, for now, that task remains easier said than done.
How much will be expected of first-round draft pick Deonte Banks?
Plenty. As a rookie cornerback, he’ll be pegged to start opposite Adoree’ Jackson. Banks will be expected to emerge as the Giants' No. 1 cornerback by the start of next season, if not before. That’s why the Giants were delighted to draft Banks with the 24th pick in the draft after moving up from 25th. Martindale’s take on Banks: “He's very instinctive. What’s Ted Lasso say? He lives life like a goldfish. He’s got a short memory when things don't go right. He’s tough-minded, he’s physical, he can tackle and on top of that, he can run. So, we're excited. I was obviously really excited that we got him. It was like winning a scratch-off ticket.”
This will be offensive coordinator Mike Kafka’s second season with the Giants. Will it be his last?
Conceivably, yes. Kafka was sought after as a head-coaching candidate following last season. He interviewed with the Cardinals, Colts and Panthers. The 36-year-old Kafka was the quarterbacks coach for Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. He’s also a Northwestern graduate who worked on that staff as a graduate assistant. He could have myriad opportunities again after the season.
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.
