The New York Giants released their unofficial depth chart ahead of their Week 1 showdown against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.<\/p>\n
While some things are to be expected \u2014 like Jaxson Dart being QB1 while Brian Burns and Abdul Carter are listed as the starting outside linebackers \u2014 there are also a few things we need to note.<\/p>\n
Deonte Banks takes advantage of his clean slate<\/p>\n
Most observers left Banks\u2019 career \u2014 or at least his career with the Giants \u2014 for dead after the 2025 season. He had been completely unseated by Cor\u2019Dale Flott and it was widely assumed that Banks would just be a kick-off returner while Greg Newsome II and Paulson Adebo started at corner.<\/p>\n
Instead, Banks has knocked off Adebo and will be starting next to Newsome.<\/p>\n
He has clawed his way up the depth chart with a renewed attitude and determination. He consistently played well when he got the opportunity and was sticky in coverage in preseason games. There was doubt among some in the media whether the Giants would commit to playing Banks against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1, but John Harbaugh\u2019s staff seems to be confident in Banks after his work this summer.<\/p>\n
Chauncey Golston jumps Darius Alexander<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll likely see an active rotation on the defensive line, but Golston is listed as the starting defensive end in base defense.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll likely see quite a bit of 2-4-5 nickel looks with just two down linemen, and it\u2019s interesting that Darius Alexander is listed as the primary backup to both Golston and Shelby Harris. That suggests that we\u2019ll be seeing plenty of him as the Giants shift alignments and subpackages.<\/p>\n
The Giants also list Kayvon Thibodeaux as the backup to both Brian Burns and Abdul Carter. The Giants will get all three of their edges on the field plenty, both to keep them all fresh and to overwhelm opponents with waves of rushers.<\/p>\n
Dealer\u2019s choice at running back<\/p>\n
It isn\u2019t a surprise that Cam Skattebo is the Giants\u2019 starting running back. However, it\u2019s definitely interesting that Tyrone Tracy, Najee Harris, and Devin Singletary are all listed as the second string running back.<\/p>\n
That could be the Giants\u2019 way of saying that while Skattebo will take the first snap, their running game will be varied. We could see them tailor their running back usage to their opponents and not favor any runner in particular.<\/p>\n
Calvin Austin III was set to be the Giants\u2019 primary slot receiver when he was lost for the season with a torn ACL. We immediately began to ask who would replace him as the Giants\u2019 primary slot receiver. The answer? Nobody, apparently.<\/p>\n
At least not on the unofficial depth chart.<\/p>\n
In reality, we\u2019ll likely see a combination of TE Isaiah Likely, WR Malik Nabers, WR Odell Beckham Jr., WR Darnell Mooney, and RB Tyrone Tracy will all line up or motion into the slot. We\u2019ll also likely see far more 21 (two back), 12 (two tight end), and 13 (three tight end) personnel sets than we have in recent years. The Ravens frequently used non-receiver options as pass catchers, and we could see that with the Giants this year.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also somewhat jarring to see a modern NFL depth chart with just four wide receivers on it. We\u2019ll likely see one of the Giants\u2019 three return specialists elevated off the practice squad each week.<\/p>\n
Full unofficial depth chart<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Giants released their unofficial depth chart ahead of their Week 1 showdown against the Dallas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":341030,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,7692,67779,9093,11,10],"class_list":["post-341029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-giants-analysis","tag-new-york-giants-depth-chart","tag-new-york-giants-roster","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341029","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=341029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}