Drilling in: Giants unit by unit analysis

QUARTERBACKS: Starter -- Eli Manning. Backups -- Davis Webb, Alex Tanney, Kyle Lauletta. The Giants are all in on Manning, who had a rough season last year, returning to his former game-winning form. The Giants' offseason strategy included upgrading the talent around Manning, from his offensive line to his receivers and running backs, while also bringing in a head coach (Pat Shurmur) and offensive coordinator (Mike Shula) who together have designed a system that is better suited to Manning's strengths. The Giants surprised many pundits when they chose not to draft a quarterback at No. 2 overall. That decision not only speaks to the faith they have in Manning, but also their confidence in Webb, the second-year player who has done everything under the sun to convince the team that he is a worthy heir to Manning's throne. Lauletta, the team's fourth-round pick, will spend this season as a redshirt, learning the ropes just as Webb did last year as a rookie. In time, the team hopes that he will be able to challenge Webb and whoever else is on the roster at the position once Manning calls it a career. RUNNING BACKS: Starter -- Saquon Barkley. Backups -- Jonathan Stewart, Wayne Gallman, Jalen Simmons, Robert Martin. The Giants are hoping their five-year streak without a 1,000-yard rusher comes to an end this year. To ensure it does, they plucked Barkley with the No. 2 overall pick, giving Manning something he hasn't had since 2012: a viable running game. Behind Barkley, who's expected to take about 75 percent of the reps, are Stewart and Gallman. Stewart, the veteran who came over from the Panthers, figures to be the short-yardage and goal-line back while Gallman is likely to handle the third-down duties. Undrafted rookie free agent Martin is intriguing, but there might not be room for him on the initial 53-man roster. Still, if they can get him onto the practice squad (assuming he has a solid outing), they would give themselves a solid crop of running backs. TIGHT ENDS: Starters -- Evan Engram, Rhett Ellison. Backups -- Kyle Carter, Jerell Adams, Shane Smith, Scott Simonson, Garrett Dickerson, Ryan O'Malley. Early indications are that the Giants are planning to deploy far less 11-personnel packages in favor of more 12-personnel. That means increased opportunities for Engram and Ellison, both of whom stepped up last year when the receivers were wiped out in Week 5. Engram led all rookie tight ends in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns, but he also led all tight ends league wide in drops, a factor that gnaws at him. Ellison meanwhile surprised many as a receiver, hauling in 85 percent of his pass targets. Still, he will probably take a back seat in the passing game and handle more of the run-blocking duties. Behind those two, the door is wide open for what is projected to be two more spots. Carter, who was on the Vikings practice squad last year, could be a surprise addition to the 53-man roster. During the spring, he showed promise as a red-zone target. Adams, the team's sixth-round pick last year, could have an uphill battle to stick around unless he starts to become a master at either pass blocking or route running. Smith, who is technically a fullback but who is listed as a tight end on the roster, might have a tough time sticking if the Giants go with four pure tight ends. Smith is a yeoman's type of blocker who has zero pass targets in his young NFL career. WIDE RECEIVERS: Starters -- Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepard. Backups -- Cody Latimer, Hunter Sharp, Roger Lewis Jr., Kalif Raymond, Travis Rudolph, Amba Etta-Tawo, Russell Shepard, Alonzo Russell, Marquis Bundy, Jawill Davis. The Giants are facing three key questions at this unit. The first is what Beckham will do if he doesn't get a new contract. A NFL Network report back in March claimed there was a possibility that Beckham wouldn't set foot on a practice field without a new deal in place, but so far, the Giants have been reluctant to talk turkey, perhaps waiting for Beckham to be fully cleared from his season-ending ankle injury. The thinking is that if Beckham can get through the summer in a controlled environment that likely won't include any preseason snaps, the team will then get down to business with his agent to discuss a long-term deal that would make him the highest paid receiver in the game. The second question has to do with Shepard, the team's slot receiver who has had all his touchdowns from the slot. Shepard is going to get an expanded role this year as an outside receiver. With the outside role being more physical than in the slot, will Shepard, who last year had injury issues of his own, be able to hold up? Lastly, much has been made about who the team's third receiver will be. It's very likely the Giants won't name a definite third receiver and will instead go with a committee approach, depending on the opponent. The reason for this is that with running back Barkley, and tight ends Engram and Ellison expected to contribute to the passing game, the Giants might not have as pressing a need for a clearly defined third receiver. OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: Starters -- LT Nate Solder, LG Will Hernandez, C Brett Jones, RG Patrick Omameh, RT Ereck Flowers. Backups -- G/C Jon Halapio, G/C Evan Brown, G/C John Greco, C/G Nick Becton, G Zac Kerin, G Malcolm Bunche, G John Jerry, G Chris Scott, G/T Kristjan Sokoli, G/T Nick Gates, T Chad Wheeler, OL Jarron Jones. The 2018 opening day offensive line will have five new faces at every position. Solder and Hernandez will form a duo on the left side while Flowers, last year's left tackle, will move to right tackle next to Omameh, who is making the move from left guard to right guard. That pairing is one to watch given their lack of experience paying on that side. At center, there is a battle brewing between Jones, who finished last season as the starter and who didn't embarrass himself, and Halapio, who received some experience at guard when the injuries began piling up. Jerry, who had been a starter, seems to be in trouble as far as a roster spot goes, particularly with promising youngsters like Becton and Gates lurking. Wheeler will be the swing tackle while Sokoli, listed as an offensive lineman but who also has experience on the defensive line, will try to find his niche. DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: Starters -- LDE Dalvin Tomlinson, NT Damon Harrison, RDE B.J. Hill. Backups -- DE Josh Mauro, DE Kerry Wynn, DT R.J. Mcintosh, DT Robert Thomas, DT A.J. Francis, DT Tyrell Chavis. The Giants are moving to a 3-4 defensive front, which means a return to his roots for nose tackle Damon Harrison, a prototypical 3-4 defensive tackle. The battle to watch on this unit will be who among Francis, Thomas and McIntosh emerges as the guy who will take some of the burden off the overworked Harrison to help keep him fresh. In the spring, Francis, the former Washington defender, took the lion's share of the first-team reps during Harrison's absence, but the Giants are hoping that McIntosh, a 2018 fifth-round pick, will be good to go after missing the entire spring with an undisclosed ailment that head coach Pat Shurmur said would require a procedure before the start of training camp. At defensive end, rookie Hill has surprised a lot of people by stepping in with the starters and holding his own in the non-contact practices. Hill and bookend Tomlinson are both big, athletic men who can move, so the hope is that in addition to setting the edge, they will both be able to penetrate and help generate a pass rush that was lacking last year. LINEBACKERS: Starters -- OLB Olivier Vernon, ILB B.J. Goodson, ILB Alec Ogletree, OLB Kareem Martin. Backups -- OLB Lorenzo Carter, LB Tae Davis, LB Mark Herzlich, ILB Calvin Munson, OLB Avery Moss, OLB Jordan Williams, OLB Romeo Okwara. With a move to a 3-4 base defense in the cards, the Giants have some new, yet familiar faces now taking up a spot in the linebackers meeting room. Those faces will include Vernon, who will switch to the edge rusher role that he excelled in while with the Dolphins and in part-time duty with the Giants; Moss, a fifth-round draft pick last year; Okwara, who flashed in his NFL debut, but who has shown over time that he's probably not an ideal fit for a 4-3 defensive end; and Williams, who spent most of last year on the practice squad. General manager Dave Gettleman also finally gave this unit some much needed offseason love by bringing in Martin, who had his best season last year in defensive coordinator James Bettcher's system in Arizona, and rookie draft pick Carter, a promising edge rusher who, as he develops, could help take some of the workload off Vernon's shoulders. The inside linebackers remain the biggest question mark, namely Goodson, who based on last year's showing, probably isn't a three-down linebacker and who thanks to an injury-filed season, has raised some questions about his durability. Ogletree will take over the quarterbacking of the defense, but the depth behind him and Goodson is of concern. DEFENSIVE BACKS: Starters -- LCB Janoris Jenkins, RCB Eli Apple, Slot CB William Gay, SS Landon Collins, FS Darian Thompson. Backups -- CB Grant Haley, CB Chris Lewis-Harris, CB Curtis Riley, CB B.W. Webb, CB Teddy Williams, CB Sam Beal, S Andrew Adams, S Sean Chandler, S Michael Thomas, S Orion Stewart. The Giants have quantity at the cornerback spot; the question is if they have quality behind projected starters Jenkins and Apple. Right now, it looks as though Gay, who lost his job last year with the Steelers, is going to line up as the slot cornerback, replacing Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who was a salary-cap cut. The Giants also got a head start on 2019 by plucking Beal in the third round of the supplemental draft. Beal is still somewhat raw and probably won't make much of an impact early on. Assuming the Giants stick with five corners, the fifth guy on the depth chart could end up being Haley, a top priority undrafted free agent out of Penn State who impressed during spring workouts. Meanwhile at safety, there figures to be a battle for the starting free safety position between Thompson and Adams. Thompson spent the spring minicamp sidelined with an undisclosed injury -- not a good sign for a guy who finished the previous season leading the team in missed tackles. Thomas, meanwhile, figures to add depth at safety as well as on special teams while Chandler, another priority undrafted free agent, turned a few heads during the spring with his gritty play. SPECIAL TEAMS: P Riley Dixon, P Taylor Symmank, K Aldrick Rosas, K Marshall Koehn, LS Zak DeOssie. The Giants brought in competition for both their kicker and punter spots, yet of the two, the picture currently seems a little bit clearer at kicker. Although Rosas struggled in his first full season with his field-goal conversion percentage and with his kickoffs, his powerful leg is not something the coaching staff seems ready to give up on. The punter spot is less certain. The Giants traded a conditional pick to the Broncos for Dixon, but he has been a picture of inconsistency, bordering on poor since coming East to kick in the lower altitude. Symmank, meanwhile, hasn't yet made his mark one way or another, but it's possible that if neither punter steps up, the Giants could be looking to hold auditions for this position.