Giants roster cuts 2015: How much did the roster bubble players play against New England?

The Turk is coming.

Training camp is closed and preseason is over. The New York Giants' regular season opener against the Dallas Cowboys looms. That means that it is one of the hardest times in the NFL calendar:

Final Cutdowns.

Earlier in the week rosters were trimmed from 90 to 75 players. NFL teams have to be down to their final roster 53-man rosters by 4:00 pm (EST) Saturday. Some of the decisions facing the New York Giants will be relatively easy, such as which quarterbacks to carry. Other decisions will be agonizing for the Giants' coaches and personnel executives. Over the course of pre-season and camp, the Giants have had several position groups show themselves to be very deep. How many snaps some of the players on the roster bubble got could give us some insight into who the Giants might be trying to find a place for.

Jayron Hosley - Few Giants have earned more vitriol from fans than Hosley. Granted, despite some promising flashes, his play has largely been poor. But in Spag's new defense a more mature Hosley has seen his level of play improve every week. In the Giants' preseason finale he played 56 snaps  -- 76% of the defensive snaps -- and 13 special teams snaps.

Orleans Darkwa - Who has been the Giants' best running back? Not 2014 starters Rashad Jennings or Andre Williams. Neither has it been 2015 free agent acquisition Shane Vereen. Nope, Orleans Darkwa has been far and away the Giants' best running back. And yet the brutal numbers game of the NFL means that he is still on the roster bubble. Against the New England Patriots Darkwa played the 2nd most snaps among running backs, 22 offensive snaps -- 31%-- and 14 special teams snaps.

Bobby Hart - Before the preseason got started, Hart was considered a long-shot for the roster. The Giants stated when he was drafted that he would be transitioning to guard. But with a variety of injuries hitting the Giants offensive line, Hart got time at right tackle as well as right guard, and impressed. In the final pre-season game, Hart played the fourth most snaps among offensive lineman, 36 snaps, as well as 3 special teams snaps.

Adrien Robinson, Jerome Cunningham, Daniel Fells - The Giants have four tight ends vying for (probably) three spots. That likely puts each of the tight ends not named Larry Donnell on the roster bubble. In the GIants' final preseason game, Cunningham played 39 offensive snaps and 5 special teams snaps, Robinson played 36 offensive snaps and 8 special teams snaps, and Daniel Fells played 8 offensive snaps, and 4 special teams snaps.

Nikita Whitlock - The last player to whip up fan fervor as quickly as Nikita Whitlock was Victor Cruz in his stellar 2010 preseason. Of course, the difference between Cruz and Whitlock is position. It is much easier for a modern NFL team to find a roster spot for a playmaking wide receiver than a second fullback. To improve his chances, Whitlock became the living embodiment of the mantra "The More You Can Do". Against the Patriots, Whitlock played 13 snaps on offense (one fewer than Henry Hynoski), 12 snaps on defense, and 19 snaps on special teams (the most on the team).

Final Thoughts

What does all this mean? Maybe something, maybe nothing.

A larger number of snaps could mean that the Giants are looking to see more from.

The Giants could give a player just a few snaps if they feel they have seen enough from him Eli Manning and Odell Beckham played precisely 0 snaps. A few snaps might also mean that they have made up their mind and he isn't in their plans for 2015.

The wait to find out how much of an indicator snap counts are won't be a long one. The deadline of 4:00 pm September 5th will be here soon enough.