An Early 53-Man Giants Roster Projection

The Giants have a long way to go before unveiling their 2019 53-man roster. Numerous factors will go into the team's makeup such as injuries, performance, and players currently on other rosters who might become available and present an upgrade over what the Giants have at a specific spot.

But if the 53-man roster were to be unveiled tomorrow, here, based on what was observed during the spring practices, is a very early look at who's in and who's out.

Quarterbacks (3)

In: Eli Manning, Daniel Jones, Alex Tanney

Out: Kyle Lauletta

No matter what his detractors want, Eli Manning will be the starter for as long as the team is alive in the playoff race (unless of course, Manning suffers an injury and can’t play).

And yes, that's what Pat Shurmur tried to tell reporters after the final open OTA this spring.

"I think we are going to play the very best player," he said. "Right now, Eli is getting ready to have a great year, and Daniel (Jones)) is getting ready to play. You see what happens with it.

"We feel good about where Eli is. He is our starting quarterback, and we have a young player that we think is going to be an outstanding player, getting himself ready to play."

Shurmur's comments about Jones that have seemingly sparked a quarterback controversy in some people's minds mean that he expects Jones, like everyone else who will make the 53-man roster, to be ready to go as of Day 1.

If Jones isn't fully ready by Day 1 of the season, figure Alex Tanney, who’s had some solid practices this spring, will begin as the primary backup.

Another reason why Tanney will likely stick around ahead of Kyle Lauletta—more on him in a moment) is for down the line.

If the Giants move on from Manning after this year, they’re probably going to want a veteran behind Jones. Tanney, remember, signed a two-year deal to stay with the team, so it wouldn’t exactly be a stretch to pencil him in as Jones’ backup in 2020 if Manning and the Giants do go their separate ways after this season.

What about Lauletta? To his credit, he did what he could during the spring despite recovering from an off-season knee procedure, but he wasn’t quite ready to do all the team drills.

Since he presumably passed a physical—if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have been allowed to do anything in the workouts at all—one can’t help but wonder if Lauletta might be a potential candidate for the practice squad if he is indeed the odd man out in this competition.

Running Backs

In: Saquon Barkley, Paul Perkins, Wayne Gallman, Rod Smith

Out: Jon Hilliman, Eli Penny (fullback)

Saquon Barkley is locked in as the starter and the primary back, but the competition behind him is going to be very interesting.

The player to watch is Rod Smith, who will likely be involved in two competitions this summer.

The first is at fullback, where he’ll go head-to-head with Eli Penny, the fullback on last year’s team.

According to Pro Football Focus, Smith played a few snaps as the fullback last season. Given that the Giants rarely use a fullback on offense (they tend to prefer a tight end or, in the case of short yardage/goal-line, an extra offensive lineman as a blocker), Smith, who like Penny has special teams experience, could have an advantage over Penny for a roster spot.

Another battle to watch involving Smith is for the No. 2 running back behind Barkley. As a receiver, Smith caught 81.8% of his pass targets last year and has a career 85.7% catch rate over four seasons, the best of the Giants running backs competing behind Barkley.

Smith also figures to share the short yardage and goal line work to help lessen the pounding on Barkley.

Last year, Smith converted five of seven short yardage attempts (71.4%) of two or less yards needed, scoring one touchdown.

Want another reason to like Smith as a potential No. 2 behind Barkley? How does no drops in 30 receptions and no fumbles in 102 carries sound?

If Smith projects as the No. 2 back, it then comes down to Perkins and Gallman for no. 3. Perkins has had a solid spring, both as a receiver and as a runner.

The deciding factor could be ball security; with each player having recorded two seasons apiece, Wayne Gallman has five career fumbles to Perkins’ one.

If Gallman, a fourth-round pick by the Giants in 2017, doesn’t get his ball security issues under control, he could be a candidate for the roster bubble.

Tight Ends

In: Evan Engram, Rhett Ellison, C.J. Conrad, Scott Simonson

Out: Garrett Dickerson, Eric Dungey

Barring something unexpected happening, C.J. Conrad is making this team. All the undrafted free agent out of Kentucky has done is catch just about everything thrown his way, even if the ball was off target.

Because of that, he was bumped up to the first team special teams unit late in the spring.

Given Evan Engram's injury history—Shurmur revealed that the tight end missed the last two weeks of the spring with a hamstring strain—the Giants will likely keep four at this position.

If Conrad is one of the four, then that leaves Scott Simonson, who started to pick up momentum down the stretch last year, and Garrett Dickerson, who bounced back and forth between the 53-man roster and practice squad, as the two competing for the final roster spot.

If that's the case, it's hard not to give Simonson the edge in that competition.

Eric Dungey, listed as a quarterback/tight end on the Giants roster, missed the bulk of the spring.

While the idea of turning him into the next Taysom Hill is undoubtedly intriguing, the Giants might have to shelve that idea for this year given all the practice time Dungey missed.

Receivers

In: Golden Tate, Sterling Shepard, Corey Coleman, Cody Latimer, Russell Shepard, Darius Slayton

Out: Bennie Fowler, Brittan Golden, Alonzo Russell, Alex Wesley, Reggie White Jr.

There were a couple of difficult decisions to make at this unit.

The first was whether to keep five or six at the position. Usually if a receiver is going to be a punt return specialist, it's wise to keep an extra guy at that position.

With that said, if the Giants decide to have safety Jabrill Peppers fill the punt return role, then barring injuries at the receiver group, it's possible to get away with five receivers instead of six.

The other too-close-to-call competition is between Russell Shepard vs. Bennie Fowler.

Both standing 6'1" tall, Fowler joined the team last year with the season already in progress and ended up with better numbers than Shepard (68% catch percentage to Shepard's 55.6%).

But Shepard is a core special teams player, and every year about 10 spots are earned by guys who play on all the special teams.

So for now at least, it's advantage Shepard.

Offensive Line

In: Nate Solder, Mike Remmers, Kevin Zeitler, Will Hernandez, Jon Halapio, Spencer Pulley, James O'Hagan, Chad Wheeler, George Asafo-Adjei

Out: Victor Salako, Nick Gates, Chad Slade, Paul Adams, Evan Brown, Austin Droogsma

I have nine offensive linemen making it in this first edition because despite the optimism that tackles Nate Solder and Mike Remmers will be good to go for camp after taking optimal time recovering from their respective surgeries, as of right now I can see the Giants keeping an extra tackle just in case.

If it comes down to Chad Wheeler or George Asafo-Adjei as I think it will, I think Wheeler gets the nod as the swing tackle, and Asafo-Adjei heads to the practice squad where he'll continue to get seasoning playing both tackle spots.

I have James O'Hagan, a New York State wrestling champion who, according to Pro Football Focus, finished tied last season with the draft class' lowest pressure rate allowed among centers, ahead of Evan Brown for a roster spot.

O'Hagan can long snap and play guard, and I think that versatility is going to give him a leg up in the competition against Brown, who quietly hung around on the 53-man roster all of last season after Jon Halapio was lost for the year to a broken ankle suffered in Week 2.

Defensive Line

In: Dexter Lawrence, Dalvin Tomlinson, B.J. Hill, John Jenkins, R.J. McIntosh, Chris Slayton

Out: Olsen Pierre, Jake Ceresna, Alex Jenkins, Freedom Akinmoladun

There’s a lot of youth in this Giants defensive line, but there is also a lot of versatility.

Dexter Lawrence, for example, has seen snaps this spring at the nose, the shade, the 3-tech, and even some 5-tech. That versatility should make for some exciting personnel packages still to come from defensive coordinator James Bettcher.

The Giants signed Olsen Pierre, a former Cardinal from Bettcher’s system a couple years ago, to help with getting these youngsters comfortable.

The problem is Pierre hasn’t practiced all spring due to an undisclosed ailment. If he can overcome whatever it was that kept him on the sideline, then he makes the roster ahead of John Jenkins.

Based on the spring, the best ability is availability, and Pierre just wasn’t available on the practice field to where I can put him in this edition of the 53-man roster right now.

Off-ball Linebackers

In: Alec Ogletree, B.J. Goodson, Tae Davis, Ryan Connelly

Out: Jonathan Anderson, Mark McLaurin, Josiah Tauaefa

I split the linebackers into off-ball (inside and edge (outside) to give you a better idea of where players have been working this spring.

At the off-ball spot, I believe that the fourth spot will come down to Connelly, the rookie draft pick, or Stupar.

According to Pro Football Focus, Stupar played 65 defensive snaps and managed just three tackles and no pressures, and in coverage, allowed seven of eight pass targets to be complete for 52 yards and two touchdowns.

Obviously, special teams is another factor, but if all things are equal in this regard, Connelly, who showed a nose for the ball and came up with a handful of plays, probably has more upside.

Edge Rushers

In: Markus Golden, Kareem Martin, Lorenzo Carter, Oshane Ximines, Avery Moss

Out: Jake Carlock, Keion Adams

You can never have too many pass rushers, which is why I see the Giants keeping five. And the guy who can be the surprise of this year's group is Avery Moss.

Moss, drafted in the fifth round out of Youngstown State in 2017, showed some potential as a pass rusher in 2017.

In 152 pass rush snaps that year, Moss has 12 total pressures and knocked down two balls at the line of scrimmage (something he did at least once in the spring practices).

He also had nine tackles in the run game (out of 88 run defense snaps), including seven tackles for a loss.

So why did Moss spend all of 2018 on the team's practice squad?

Two possible reasons. First, Moss suffered an injury as a rookie that derailed his development. And second, the Giants switched for a 4-3 front to a 3-4 which necessitated getting him caught up and helping him to expand his toolbox.

Moss will have to continue showing that he's grown in his role as an NFL edge rusher, but based on his spring showing, he's certainly off to an encouraging start.

Safeties

In: Jabrill Peppers, Antoine Bethea, Michael Thomas, Corey Ballentine

Out: Kamrin Moore, Kenny Ladler, Tenny Adewusi, Sean Chandler

I have rookie Corey Ballentine with the safeties rather than the cornerbacks.

With the Giants already stacked at cornerback (see the next section), I believe that adding free safety to his resume (a role he played at Washburn) will be Ballentine's ticket onto the 53-man roster.

I also have Sean Chandler, who last year made the team as an undrafted free agent out of Temple, not making the team.

As mentioned earlier, the best ability is availability, and Chandler has missed the entire spring with an undisclosed ailment.

Last year in 102 coverage snaps, Chandler, who is more of a box safety, struggled, finishing with a 155.8 NFL Rating.

Ultimately, the Giants are going to want younger, more long-term options to replace Antoine Bethea and Michael Thomas when both move on. Ballentine over Chandler potentially gives them an answer.

Cornerbacks

In: Janoris Jenkins, DeAndre Baker, Julian Love, Sam Beal, Antonio Hamilton

Out: Grant Haley, Tony Lippett, Ronald Zamort, Henre’ Tolliver

I debated whether to carry six cornerbacks because I don't think Grant Haley has done anything to lose his roster spot this spring (other than not being a draft pick, that is).

But I couldn't find a way to justify keeping six corners after trying to anticipate how this position might shake out over the next two years.

Janoris Jenkins and one of Sam Beal or DeAndre Baker will be the starting outside corners, with the runner up penciled in to eventually replace Jenkins as the starter in 2020.

I also think that Julian Love edges Haley out for the nickel back role and that the fifth spot among this group will go to Antonio Hamilton, a key special teams player last year prior to suffering a season-ending injury.

Hamilton will most likely reprise his role as one of the core special teams players.

Specialists

In: K Aldrick Rosas, long snapper Zak DeOssie, P Riley Dixon

Out: P Ryan Anderson

Very early on in the sessions open to the media, Anderson, a left-footed punter, put together a couple of good practices.

However, in the back end of the spring, his punting has tailed off—he kicked a few shanks and lame ducks that have gone off the side of his foot.

While it’s easy to understand the appeal of having a left-footed punter on the roster, Anderson looks to be nothing more than someone that can help share the workload with Dixon and give the returners a left-footed punter with whom they can practice fielding punts.