New York Giants News

Comparing Giants’ 53-man roster projections: Who will be in, out?

It seems like everyone is projecting the roster, so let’s compare

By Ed Valentine@Valentine_Ed Jun 22, 2016, 12:00pm EDT

‘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.

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.

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