New York Giants: Three Things to Watch for Against Jacksonville Jaguars
The New York Giants are set to open their preseason schedule tomorrow against the Jacksonville Jaguars down in Jacksonville. Here are three things to watch for tomorrow night:
1. The Running Game: Last season the Giants ranked dead last in the NFL in rushing with an 89.2 yard per game average despite having two former 1,000 yard backs on their roster in Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs. Jacobs is now gone but the questions about the Giants running game remain. The Giants selected David Wilson from Virginia Tech in the first round in the hopes of replacing Jacobs as well as hoping Wilson is their running back of the future. However, running backs tend to be only as good as the offensive line blocking in front of them allows them to be. That is where the real issue is with the Giants.
Injuries on the offensive line kept things in the trenches in a state of flux. Will Beatty, the left tackle, was lost for the season after getting poked in the eye and requiring surgery to reattach his retina. Beatty has not participated much in camp so far this summer as he has been battling back issues and Sean Locklear, a free agent signee, has been getting some looks at left tackle. The Giants will need a healthy year from Beatty, as well as one from center David Baas who spent quite a bit of time on the sidelines last season dealing with neck and head issues. David Diehl will also need to step up his game, whether it is at left tackle, or right tackle. Last season he struggled at times after shuffling over to fill in for Beatty. He is much better suited for the right side but has looked like a man out to prove something so far in camp.
As much as the offensive line is the key to the running game the Giants need to know who will be helping Ahmad Bradshaw carry the load. Wilson will get plenty of snaps this preseason as the Giants try to see how much he contribute when the games count. They will also lean heavily on Da’Rel Scott who was dynamic last year in the preseason but rarely saw the field in the regular season. Scott has home run ability and should push Wilson for playing time. There are also two veterans in the fight, D.J. Ware and Andre Brown. Ware is trying to expand his role after being the team’s third down back last season. He is adept at catching the ball out of the backfield and is excellent at picking up the blitz but he wants to make his mark in the NFL and time is running out. Brown is just trying to keep his NFL hopes alive at this point. Injuries derailed the former fourth-round pick his rookie year and he has not been able to stick on an NFL roster since then.
There is plenty to watch in the backfield and up front on the line. While nothing will be decided in the first preseason game it will set the tone for the remaining three games and give the Giants coaching staff an idea of what they have in real game conditions.
What I expect: I expect to see the Giants run the ball early and often. They already know what they have in Eli Manning and company as far as starting wide receivers. They need to see if the running backs in camp are going to make an impact and improve the offense. Given their ability, this could easily turn into the Scott and Wilson Show.
2. Domenik Hixon’s Knees and the Number Three Receiver Spot: Hixon is coming off of his second torn ACL in as many seasons. He was slotted to be the Giants number two receiver last year but by Week 2 he was out for the season, tearing his ACL on an acrobatic touchdown catch against the St. Louis Rams. Hixon’s injury opened the door for Victor Cruz to set Giants records as a receiver and now Hixon is fighting for the third receiver spot. He will have some competition. Ramses Barden, Jerrel Jernigan, and Rueben Randle are all going to be playing for time in the regular season and all want to take Hixon’s job away from him. It won’t be easy. Hixon has a history with the coaching staff who has seen what he can do when healthy. That, however, is the key. When healthy. Hixon has missed basically two years because of knee injuries and that has to be somewhere in the back of his mind. A third injury could ruin his career. The Giants love Hixon and will allow him to push himself as far as he feels comfortable. It will take a lot for the other three receivers to supplant Hixon. However, all eyes will be on his knees and see how he handles his routes in real-game situations. While this won’t be the only test for Hixon it will be his first. Practice is one thing. Scrimmage is yet another. However, a real game is a much different animal.
What I expect: I expect Hixon to show some initial timidity out there. It would be only natural. However, I also expect the competitor in Hixon to eventually take over and he will push himself to be the Hixon of old. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Giants coaching staff sits him down for long spells to limit his chances of pushing too hard. I also expect the Giants to limit the amount of cutting required of Hixon on his routes so I wouldn’t be shocked if there were some straight routes where Hixon might be able to blow past a defender and avoid as much contact as possible.
3. Mark Herzlich Will Put on a Show: I often wonder to myself if anyone was more pumped for camp to start than Mark Herzlich. Herzlich was an undrafted free agent who made the team last year and ended up as the starting middle linebacker at one point before an ankle injury put the kibosh on that. Herzlich believes the middle linebacker spot is his to lose. He could be on the depth chart as a punter, no offense Steve Weatherford, and think he was still the starting middle linebacker. He wants the job and wants it bad. He came into camp in better shape than he was last year and he is also another year removed from bone cancer in his leg. One important aspect to keep an eye on will be every time he drops into coverage. Herzlich has been beastly in coverage in camp and I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t continue to be so in the preseason. There are also nine other linebackers around him pushing for a spot at the table and Herzlich would start at all three linebacker spots at once if it were physically possible. If you can’t read the numbers and names on the jersey, Herzlich will be the one that appears as a white blur on your television screen.
What I expect: This is the first step in Herzlich claiming the middle linebacker spot. The talent was always there and now the strength is there to go with it. Cancer be damned, cancer ran away from Herzlich for fear of getting hit by Herzlich. The Giants might have a future all-pro on their hands, and yes, I believe he will see more than one Pro Bowl.
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