The Hall of Fame game has come and gone and now the pre-season begins for the other 30 teams in the NFL. Tonight we'll see four of them in action: The Giants, Lions, Panthers, and Patriots. And since some of you may not be as much of a football sicko as I am, I thought I'd break down a few of the players to watch for on each side of the ball for the Giants/Lions matchup.
DET/NYG
Neither team is expected to play many, if any of their starters in this game this evening. While the fans may desire to see stud rookie WR Malik Nabers, they will have to wait until at least next week. Another reason we may not see any starters is the several fights that have broken out during joint practices between these two teams over the past week. Regardless, there are still several players of interest for both teams who could break out tonight and steal/secure roster spots.
DET
As always, I start by looking at the trenches. The Lions backup offensive line is not very impressive honestly. While I do like Giovanni Manu, the rookie left tackle, Im not a fan of Kayode Awosika, I don’t know much about Michael Niese at center admittedly, but I know Ike Boetteger isn’t great and neither is Colby Sosdal. Dan Skipper is certainly a solid 3rd stringer though and he can play multiple positions.
Detroit will be rocking with backup QB’s Nate Sudfeld and Hendon Hooker, likely 1 in each half. The Giants may still harbor a grudge against Sudfeld, as he reminds them of the game the Eagles threw away to knock the Giants out of playoff contention a few years back, but he isn’t bad, and we’ll see the first of Hendon Hooker that we’ve seen in the pre-season since he entered the year with an ACL injury in his rookie campaign.
I am a fan of the running back room that DET is bringing into this game with backups Craig Reynolds, Sione Vaki, Jermar Jefferson and Bam Knight. Look for Vaki to make a big impact here, he was a 2-way player in college but has fully committed to running back now.
On defense, there are quite a few players on Detroit I am looking out for tonight. On the defensive line, Mekhi Wingo is the 3rd string DT, a 6th-round pick this year from LSU, he had a very successful college career in both statistical and leadership measures and was presented the number 18 jersey prior to his last season which is a special honor for the Tigers. He also apparently played a lot of his final college season injured, so I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do fully healthy.
In the backup LB room, I am once again looking forward to watching former Hard Knocks media darling Malcolm Rodriguez, he stepped up for injured players several times last season and plays with a high motor.
For DB’s, I’m going to have fun watching Ennis Rakestraw Jr, a 2024 2nd round pick from Missouri who was stellar in his time in the SEC. His wiry frame does leave a bit to be desired but he 100% has the tools to become a starting corner in the league and I expect him to make a play or two if the ball is thrown his way.
NYG
Starting with the offensive line, the Giants have Josh Ezudu at LT, Jalen Mayfield at LG, Jimmy Morrissey at C, Aaron Stinnie at RG and Matt Nelson at RT, I'm not a fan of Nelson, Morrissey or Ezudu. Mayfield and Stinnie are OK for a preseason game, but for a team that has struggled with offensive line injuries in past years, this is not an encouraging depth chat.
Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito will be splitting QB time, and I feel pretty comfortable saying that the depth chart is already pretty locked in with Daniel Jones as the starter, Lock as the backup and DeVito in the 3rd string role again. While Lock will be interesting to watch to see how he assimilates with Daboll's offense, I wouldn't say QB is the position to watch for the Giants tonight.
At the RB spots, it’ll be interesting to see Tyrone Tracy Jr. take the field for the first time, the 5th round rookie from Purdue has apparently impressed several members of the coaching staff and has jumped up to 2nd on the depth chart over Eric Gray, so that will be a fun positional battle to to keep track of. Dante "Turbo" Miller is also an interesting back who should get some 2nd half work, he’s an undrafted speedster out of South Carolina looking to make his mark and already turning heads in training camp, so I'll be locked in on the backfield for most of, if not the entire game.
To the wide receiver room now. There is a large jumble of guys that are backups but I don’t expect to see a lot of snaps from because of their age/experience. For example, I don't see Darius Slayton getting onto the field much tonight, and while Allen Robinson may get some 1H snaps I dont believe he'll be a huge contributor tonight either. Look for Isaiah McKenzie to try and prove why he should be in the starting wide receiver rotation and for Bryce Ford-Wheaton to show why he should be more than a special teamer after a disappointing injury that ended his season very early on in 2023. Lastly (on the offensive end) rookie TE Theo Johnson should get some solid burn tonight as the current backup and has wow’ed quite a few people who have observed Giants training camp.
The defensive side of the ball for the Giants is less exciting here, but there are still some guys in backup spots to keep an eye on. DT Jordan Riley impressed a lot of people last year in pre-season and will want to make a similar impact this year, rookie S Tyler Nubin out of Minnesota is currently listed 2nd on the depth chart in a competitive secondary, he has been injured for most of camp, so we haven’t been able to see much from him yet, but he is supposedly ready to go tonight. Former Cardinals top 10 pick Isaiah Simmons is listed as the backup nickel corner, although he played everywhere from safety to linebacker last season when he got into the game, it will be interesting to see where new DC Shane Bowen decides to play him today and for the rest of the preseason. Lastly, reaching deep into the bag here, we should see 2nd half action from LB Darrian Beavers, who was a standout at Cincinnati in college, but got seriously injured in his rookie year and was out for the season, he was waived last season but brought back and is now the 4th string, I’ll be watching him to see if he can make enough noise to stay on the roster throughout the pre-season. Look out for a little bit of Azeez Ojulari in the first half as well.
It's going to be a rainy and windy night in New Jersey, so I would expect to see a lot of running and defense, but if you're anything like me, there's no problem with that.
Keep an eye out for another team preview tonight!
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