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‘Tis the season to project the 53-man roster for the New York Giants. Yours truly recently did so, as have a number of writers who cover the Giants. Who will be right? Who will be wrong? Let’s compare and discuss those projections.
Here are the full projections from a trio of other Giants writers.
Now, let’s go position-by-position. I will list each prediction, including mine, and offer a brief comment.
Quarterback
Valentine — Eli Manning, Ryan Nassib
Kratch — Manning, Nassib
Ranaan — Manning, Nassib
Graziano — Manning, Nassib
Running back
Valentine — Rashad Jennings, Shane Vereen, Andre Williams, Paul Perkins
Kratch — Jennings, Vereen, Williams, Perkins
Ranaan — Jennings, Vereen, Perkins, Darkwa
Graziano — Jennings, Vereen, Perkins, Williams
Ranaan is the only one who apparently isn’t buying the Giants’ offseason praise of Williams. My $.02 is that Darkwa, as much as I like his ability, needs an outstanding camp to unseat him.
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Fullback
Valentine — Nikita Whitlock
Kratch — Will Johnson
Ranaan — Will Johnson
Graziano — Will Johnson
I am out on an island here, though I did say in my projection it would be no surprise if Whitlock doesn’t make it. Johnson is listed as a fullback, but played tight end throughout the spring.
Tight end
Valentine — Will Tye, Will Johnson, Matt LaCosse
Kratch — Tye, Larry Donnell, Jerell Adams
Ranaan — Tye, Donnell, LaCosse, Adams
Graziano — Donnell, Tye, Adams
Lots of disagreement here. The fullback/tight end situation will be one of the more intriguing to watch, and this is reflective.
Wide receiver
Valentine — Odell Beckham, Sterling Shepard, Victor Cruz, Dwayne Harris, Geremy Davis, Myles White
Kratch — Beckham, Shepard, Cruz, Harris, Davis, White
Ranaan — Beckham, Shepard, Cruz, Harris, Davis, Darius Powe
Graziano — Beckham, Shepard, Cruz, Harris, Davis, White
Ranaan has the last spot going to Powe. Can Powe, Roger Lewis or someone else unseat White? That’s probably the wide receiver battle to watch.
Offensive line
Valentine — Starters: LT Ereck Flowers, LG Justin Pugh, C Weston Richburg, RG John Jerry, RT Marshall Newhouse; Reserves: Bobby Hart, Adam Gettis, Shane McDermott, [one spot to be determined].
Kratch — Newhouse, Jerry, Richburg, Pugh, Flowers, Hart, Gettis, Ryan Seymour, Byron Stingily
Ranaan — Flowers, Pugh, Richburg, Jerry, Newhouse, Hart, Gettis, Seymour, Emmett Cleary
Graziano — Flowers, Pugh, Richburg, Jerry, Newhouse, Hart, Seymour, Stingiliy, McDermott
In short, nobody has a clue what the backups will look like.
Defensive end
Valentine — Jason Pierre-Paul, Olivier Vernon, Owamagbe Odighizuwa, Kerry Wynn
Kratch — Pierre-Paul, Vernon, Wynn, Odighizuwa, Romeo Okwara
Ranaan — Pierre-Paul, Odighizuwa, Vernon, Wynn
Graziano — Pierre-Paul, Vernon, Wynn, Odighizuwa, Ishaq Williams
Let’s see if the Giants carry a fifth defensive end.
Defensive tackle
Valentine — Damon Harrison, Johnathan Hankins, Jay Bromley, Montori Hughes
Kratch — Hankins, Harrison, Bromley, Louis Nix
Ranaan — Hankins, Harrison, Bromley, Melvin Lewis
Graziano — Hankins, Harrison, Bromley, Nix
Beyond Hankins, Harrison and Bromley we are all just guessing. We will see what happens with the pads on.
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Linebacker
Valentine — Devon Kennard, J.T. Thomas, Jonathan Casillas, B.J. Goodson, Jasper Brinkley, Keenan Robinson, Kelvin Sheppard
Kratch — Casillas, Brinkley, Kennard, Robinson, Goodson, Mark Herzlich
Ranaan — Kennard, Casillas, Brinkley, Robinson, Sheppard, Goodson
Graziano — Robinson, Brinkley, Casillas, Thomas, Kennard, Herzlich, Goodson
A little surprised, but not completely shocked, to see Kratch and Ranaan leave Thomas off their rosters. Lots of disagreement here between the four of us.
Cornerback
Valentine — Janoris Jenkins, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Eli Apple, Trevin Wade, Donte Deayon
Kratch — Jenkins, DRC, Apple, Wade, Deayon
Ranaan — Jenkins, DRC, Apple, Wade, Deayon
Graziano — Jenkins, DRc, Apple, Wade, Deayon
Apparently, everybody loves “Double D.”
Safety
Valentine — Landon Collins, Darian Thompson, Nat Berhe, Bennett Jackson, Mykkele Thompson
Kratch — Collins, Darian Thompson, Berhe, Jackson, Mykkele Thompson
Ranaan — Collins, Darian Thompson, Berhe, Jackson, Mykkele Thompson
Graziano — Collins, Darian Thompson, Jackson, Cooper Taylor
Graziano is the only one still showing love for Cooper Taylor. He also, stunningly, has Berhe not making the team.
Special teams
We all agree that Josh Brown will be the kicker, Brad Wing the punter and Zak DeOssie the long-snapper