{"id":332578,"date":"2026-08-29T10:32:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T10:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/332578\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T10:32:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T10:32:16","slug":"giants-jets-winners-and-losers-odell-beckham-makes-his-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/332578\/","title":{"rendered":"Giants-Jets winners and losers: Odell Beckham makes his case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">The New York Giants finished their preseason on Friday with a 23-6 victory over the New York Jets. Odell Beckham Jr. had a big night. Dominic Zvada learned he had won the placekicking job. Let\u2019s review the action in our unique \u2018Kudos and Wet Willies\u2019 style.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Odell Beckham Jr. \u2014 Is anyone still questioning whether or not Beckham is making the 53-man roster? Beckham nearly had a 73-yard touchdown reception, but Jameis Winston slightly overthrew him and the ball fell incomplete.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Beckham still had an outstanding night. He caught three passes for 53 yards, an average of 17.7 yards per catch, with the longest being a 23-yard grab. He has enough juice to be a useful player for this Giants team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">John Harbaugh said after the game that Beckham has done enough to make a roster, but stopped short of anointing him as part of the Giants\u2019 53-man roster.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Tyrone Tracy \u2014 The third-year running back needed a big night after mishaps in the first two preseason games. He got one with four carries for 37 yards, including a 16-yard run, and a 6-yard touchdown. He also survived an injury scare, passing a concussion test and seeming to be fine while on the sideline in the second half.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Offensive line \u2014 There were holes to run through and pockets to pass from all night. The Giants traded offensive linemen Daniel Faalele and Josh Ezeudu over the past week, because they liked their depth. Friday night you could see why. Sisi Mauigoa was outstanding in his brief stint. Guys like rookie J.C Davis, Evan Neal, and Jake Kubas all played well. It was fun, and sort of mystifying, to watch Neal push guys backwards all night. Where has that been for the last four years?<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Zaire Barnes \u2014 Barnes capped off an excellent summer with a tremendous, athletic interception. The fact that he was also a game captain was a massive pre-game hint that he is making the 53-man roster.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Trace Ford \u2014 I don\u2019t know if there is a place for Ford on the 53-man roster, but he certainly made a case on Friday for the Giants to find one. Ford, an edge defender, had five tackles, three for loss, a sack, two quarterback hits, and two passes defensed. Question is, will he have a roster spot on Sunday night?<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Dominic Zvada \u2014 Zvada has won the placekicking competition with Ben Sauls. Zvada made field goals of 23, 46, and 53 yards, and added two extra points. It didn\u2019t hurt that short-time Giant Jason Sanders missed an extra point and was short on a 54-yard field goal try. John Harbaugh made it official after the game that Zvada will be the placekicker.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Jake Haener \u2014 After just joining the Giants a couple of weeks ago, Haener was impressive in his only game action of the preseason. He went 6 of 7 for 101 yards, a touchdown, and a perfect 158.3 passer rating. Haener\u2019s touchdown was a beautifully directed and thrown ball to wide receiver Xavier Gipson. Did Haener do enough to take a practice squad spot away from Brandon Allen?<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Jordan Stout \u2014 Thanks to a penalty, Stout was forced to re-kick after a 63-yard punt. He responded with an amazing 81-yard punt that was nearly downed at the 1-yard line by Darius Muasau and Dalen Cambre.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Najee Harris \u2014 The newly-signed running back got his first game action, and looked good. He carried 11 times for 39 yards, with a long run of 9 yards, as the Giants got him ready for Week 1.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Run defense \u2014 Not sure that the Giants need to be scouring cuts for defensive line help? All you had to do was watch the Jets\u2019 opening 10-play, 36-yard drive to know that the answer is absolutely. The Giants need rotational players to join D.J. Reader and Shelby Harris, and they are sorely lacking in capable run defenders on the interior defensive line.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Darius Alexander, Bobby Jamison-Travis, Leki Fotu, and pretty much everyone the Giants put out there left a lot to be desired in run defense. Jamison-Travis and his sack celebration are fun. His job, though, is run defense. He needs to get better at it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Turnovers \u2014 The Giants committed two. One, a Jameis Winston interception after a pass bounced off Beckham\u2019s hands, set up the Jets\u2019 touchdown. The other, a red zone fumble by Braxton Berrios, denied the Giants a scoring opportunity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Giants finished their preseason on Friday with a 23-6 victory over the New York Jets.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[12269,9,7692,11,10],"class_list":["post-332578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-kudos-wet-willies","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-giants-analysis","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}