The New York Giants have released their first unofficial depth chart ahead of their opening regular-season game in Dallas.
It’s now less than a week until the New York Giants travel to Dallas to take on the Cowboys for their Week 1 matchup. Who will edge out the other in this NFC East showdown in order to get off to a good start? How will the Giants fare without Golden Tate in the first of his four-game suspension? Will Ezekiel Elliott even play?
So many questions to answer. So much excitement leading up to this game. In the meantime, however, the Giants have released their first unofficial regular-season depth chart, courtesy of Dan Schneier of CBS Sports.
Offense
| STARTER | BACKUP | DEPTH | DEPTH | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Eli Manning | Daniel Jones | Alex Tanney | |
| RB | Saquon Barkley | Wayne Gallman | Paul Perkins | Eli Penny |
| LWR | Sterling Shepard | Darius Slayton | Cody Core | |
| RWR | Cody Latimer | Russell Shepard | ||
| SWR | Bennie Fowler | Golden Tate (SUS) | ||
| TE | Evan Engram | Rhett Ellison | Garrett Dickerson | Eric Tomlinson |
| LT | Nate Solder | Chad Slade | ||
| LG | Will Hernandez | |||
| C | Jon Halapio | Spencer Pulley | ||
| RG | Kevin Zeitler | Nick Gates | ||
| RT | Mike Remmers | Eric Smith |
Defense
| STARTER | BACKUP | DEPTH | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DE | B.J. Hill | RJ McIntosh | |
| NT | Dalvin Tomlinson | ||
| DE | Dexter Lawrence | Olsen Pierre | |
| OLB | Markus Golden | Kareem Martin | |
| ILB | Alec Ogletree | Nate Stupar | David Mayo |
| ILB | Tae Davis | Ryan Connelly | |
| OLB | Lorenzo Carter | Oshane Ximines | |
| LCB | Janoris Jenkins | Grant Haley | Sam Beal (IR) |
| RCB | Deandre Baker | Antonio Hamilton | Corey Ballentine |
| SCB | Grant Haley | Antonio Hamilton | |
| FS | Antoine Bethea | Sean Chandler | Julian Love |
| SS | Jabrill Peppers | Michael Thomas |
Special teams
| STARTER | BACKUP | |
|---|---|---|
| K | Aldrick Rosas | |
| P | Riley Dixon | |
| LS | Zak DeOssie | |
| KR | Cody Latimer | Corey Ballentine |
| PR | Jabrill Peppers | Darius Slayton |
Pretty standard, no real surprises here from what’s been known with this team as of late. However, I did do a double-take on Antonio Hamilton taking the spot above Corey Ballentine for the backup right cornerback position. I thought Ballentine had a great summer and progressed through both training camp and the preseason.
I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on Markus Golden’s role as the starting outside linebacker opposite of Lorenzo Carter. It’s definitely possible Golden and Kareem Martin will switch in and out of that role as the season progresses. However, Golden is the more talented option for that spot right now, at least with what the team sees.
For one, I am excited to see what Jabrill Peppers will be able to do at the punt returner spot.
Big Blue kicks off against the Cowboys this Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET.
