Giants first unofficial depth chart: What can we learn?

In advance of Thursday’s preseason game against the New England Patriots, the New York Giants have released their first UNOFFICIAL depth chart of 2022. Let’s review and see what we can learn.

By the way, in releasing the depth chart the Giants PR Dept. issues this statement:

“As always, it is subject to change. It simply serves as a guide, more so for the media than the coaches.”

Just keep that in mind. You may see things unfold differently on Thursday.

My first thought here is that you can see in print how much of a mess the offensive line depth is. Will Holden and Eric Smith just signed as replacements for injured Matt Gono and Marcus McKethan, and will likely be relied upon to play significant snaps. No offense to either of them, but that’s probably not good since neither will have a full grasp of the playbook.

Rookie Joshua Ezeudu was held out of practice on Monday, and per Aaron Wilson on Twitter the Giants held yet another offensive line workout. So, there could be one more new face before Thursday.

Darius Slayton fans will see Darius Slayton listed as second team, and think all of the doom and gloom forecasts about him perhaps not making the team have been silly. Watching practice throughout camp, though, it’s clear that C.J. Board and Collin Johnson — listed behind him — have gotten more opportunities and thus far played better.

I also found it interesting that the Giants actually list undrafted free agent Jeremiah Hall as a running back. He and the now-injured Andre Miller are both, technically, tight ends. They have, though, recently been sharing fullback responsibilities.

For me, the real defensive takeaway is how thin and inexperienced the Giants are when it comes to depth in the secondary.

The listing of punt and kickoff returners in relatively meaningless. If he is on the 53-man roster, one of those jobs is going to Richie James. Maybe both.