Giants training camp: 5 storylines for the week ahead

Let’s take a look at some of the things to watch for this week as the New York Giants continue their 2021 training camp.

Pads!

Monday is the final ‘acclimation’ practice, and the Giants are expected to be in shells. Tuesday, full pads come on for the first time. That means some real hitting, some real competition.

I used this quote from coach Joe Judge on Sunday, but it fits here.

“We’ll be in pads as much as we can be, even when it’s not a live contact day,” Judge said at the beginning of training camp. “Just get used to wearing the equipment, moving around, getting our players used to being out there.”

This, to be honest, is the real start of training camp.

New faces

The Giants added several new players over the past few days. It will be interesting to see where they fit.

• Interior offensive lineman Joe Looney is probably the biggest addition. Is Looney just depth? Could he challenge for a starting spot at center or left guard? Looney has primarily been a center for the past three seasons. He does, though, have 500 snaps played at left guard and 277 at right guard during his nine-year career.
• Linebacker Todd Davis is a seven-year veteran who has played 3,370 NFL snaps, mostly at inside linebacker. Reggie Ragland remains on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury list. I don’t think the Giants end up keeping a high number of inside linebackers, but if Davis has anything left in the tank he might be a better option than Devante Downs or T.J. Brunson.
• Wide receiver Damion Willis caught nine passes for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2019. He spent time last season on the practice squads of the Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars. Here is a look at Willis, a former undrafted free agent, from Cincy Jungle. Willis feels like a camp body, but you never know.
• Veteran running back Alfred Morris has not signed as of this writing, but is reportedly expected to rejoin the Giants this week. Maybe the Giants aren’t thrilled with Corey Clement to this point.

Kadarius Toney’s debut

Toney, the rookie first-round pick, who started training camp on the COVID-19 Reserve list, has been active for a few days but has only ridden the bike or worked on a back field with trainers. He did reportedly get on the field during Saturday evening’s walk-through.

The Giants have to begin to ramp up the 20th overall pick soon. Perhaps we see him make a real practice debut as early as Monday.

Right tackle Matt Peart also reportedly took first-team reps during Saturday after being activated from the PUP list. He should be on the field this week. Linebacker Blake Martinez is off the COVID-19 list, and he should also begin to see some action in the next couple of days.

Real line play

Probably the best part of fully-padded practices is that we get to see real competition along the offensive and defensive lines. How will Andrew Thomas hold up? What will we see from the rest of the offensive line? Does second-round pick Azeez Ojulari make his presence felt? Can any of the other edge rushers step up?

I’m excited to focus on that part of the action.

Progress from the offense?

The offense had a rough go on Friday. On Sunday, I wrote that no one should get all bent out of shape about that. The defense should be ahead of the offense at this point. Still, fingers crossed for some positive signs from Daniel Jones and Co. over the next few days.