Big Blue View
Who will make this a better team? Who should start packing their bags?
There’s nothing quite like the start of NFL training camp to get a football fan’s juices flowing. The NFL does a masterful job making itself a year-round source of attention, with the Combine, then free agency, then the draft, then the schedule reveal, then OTAs and minicamps during the offseason. This week, though, is when we get our first taste of what the 2025 New York Giants may actually look like on the field.
Highest among the questions to be answered is whether the holes in last year’s team have been filled, and by whom. We won’t have answers to those questions for a while, but as camp begins we can start to get clues from who’s on the field and who’s still rehabbing, who’s getting snaps with the first, second, or third teams, who is distinguishing themselves with their play, and how players are being used.
With that in mind, let’s discuss five players who either might be Day 1 starters, or might be off the team, depending on how training camp goes. I’m not going to include a quarterback among them. You’re probably salivating to see Jaxson Dart out there against a real NFL defense, but when Brian Daboll was Buffalo’s offensive coordinator the Bills started Nathan Peterman in Game 1 and not rookie Josh Allen in 2018. This time he has a possible Hall of Famer in Russell Wilson on the roster. We’ll all be interested to see Dart in training camp, joint practices, and exhibition games, and he’ll probably start at some point this season, but he will not be the Day 1 starter.
The Giants desperately need someone to line up next to Dexter Lawrence and fill the Leonard Williams-sized hole in the Giants’ interior defense. In the off-season they signed veteran Roy Robertson-Harris, who is a favorite of defensive line coach Andre Patterson. Alexander is the future, though, if he shows he can make the jump from Mid-American Conference competition to the NFL.
Alexander finished third among IDLs in Pro Football Focus’ FBS run defense rankings last season, behind only Mason Graham and Walter Nolen. He was ninth in pass rush among IDLs with at least 300 pass rush snaps, with 37 pressures and four sacks. If he can do anything like that in the NFL, one of the two major questions about the Giants’ defense will have been answered. He’ll probably start camp with the second team, maybe even the third, so I’ll be looking to see whether he begins to get some first-team snaps as camp progresses.
This is surely Evan Neal’s final chance to remain a Giant in 2026. He improved some at right tackle last season, but his pass blocking is still not at the level required of an NFL tackle. All the weaknesses we have come to know and not love were there in college. For example, Pro...
