The New York Giants picked up their first win of the preseason on Friday night as they defeated the Carolina Panthers 21-19 at MetLife Stadium. With the exception of Saquon Barkley and Brian Burns, most of the starters from both teams played at least one series.
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As we all know, preseason games are not about wins and losses. It’s about developing players and getting the team ready for the grind of the regular season. With that said, there were still five major takeaways from both teams’ second game of the preseason.
Daniel Jones was in mid-season form for New York Giants
Daniel Jones has looked sensational throughout the summer, and on Friday night he seemed to be in mid-season form. He would only play the opening series of the game but completed eight out of nine passes for 69 yards and threw a four-yard touchdown to Daniel Bellinger.
It was as impressive of an opening drive as you could have in the preseason, especially when you consider the Panthers were playing most of their defensive starters. The 26-year-old quarterback completed passes to five different receivers and had a six-yard run.
Jones’ favorite target on the drive was tight end Darren Waller and he caught Jones’ first two passes of the game. He would’ve had three catches in a row if safety Vonn Bell didn’t dislodge the ball shortly after Waller had his hands on the ball. The tight end would make his third catch later in the drive which would finish his evening.
Bryce Young had a modest night
The Panthers were hoping that the number one overall pick in the 2023 draft Bryce Young would show strides after completing four out of six passes for 21 yards in Carolina’s 27-0 loss to the New York Jets last week.
But in the two series that he played Young once again had a modest night. He completed three out of six passes for 35 yards and was sacked once. Two of his passes sailed onto the sideline as there were miscommunications between him and his intended receivers.
On the second drive, he helped engineer a 15-play 62-yard drive that culminated in a Matthew Wright 37-yard field goal to give the Panther their first points of the preseason.
One of the positives you can take away from Young’s night is that he didn’t have any turnovers against the New York Giants starting defense, and he looked poised in the pocket against an aggressive defense. The Panthers are confident that their 22-year-old quarterback will continue to develop into a franchise quarterback as the season progresses.
Rookie Jalin Hyatt showed that speed kills
One of the reasons there’s excitement surrounding the New York Giants offense this season is because they now have one of the fastest players in the NFL in rookie third-round pick Jalin Hyatt.
Midway through the second quarter, Hyatt was able to get behind the Panthers’ secondary and hauled in a 33-yard pass thrown by Tyrod Taylor for a touchdown to put New York ahead 14-3. Blowing by defenders is nothing new to the rookie receiver as he’s made highlights in practice on a routine basis.
As the saying goes, speed kills, and Hyatt showed why he’ll be Big Blue’s big play threat in the passing game this season and for many seasons to come.
The Giants will likely start two rookies in the secondary
When the Giants moved up one spot to draft cornerback Deonte Banks with the 24th overall pick, the expectations were that he would be a Week 1 starter. However, nobody predicted that New York’s sixth-round pick Tre Hawkins III (209th overall) would be a starter as well.
But that appears to be the case at least when the Giants are in their nickel package as Hawkins and Banks played on the outside, while veteran Adroee’ Jackson played in the slot against Carolina.
Hawkins has been one of the biggest surprises in camp and the fact that he was starting with the first-team defense shows how much defensive coordinator Wink Martindale thinks of him.
It’s unknown at this time how much the starters will play in the Giants’ preseason finale against the Jets next Saturday, but the fact that Hawkins saw extended playing time with the rest of the starters appears to be an indication that he’ll be a starter in the season opener.
Giants offensive guards saw extensive playing time
New York has been shuffling their interior offensive line this summer in order to find the best start five to go along with tackles Andrew Thomas and Evan Neal. It appears the second-round pick John Michael Schmitz Jr. will be the starting center as he played the entire first half, but no one knows for certain who will be the starting guards.
Against the Panthers Joshua Ezeudu, Mark Glowinski, and Ben Bredeson all played over 20 snaps. Ezeudu played 23, Bredeson played 22, and Glowinski played 21 snaps. So it was almost dead even on the amount of snaps each took.
Generally starting offensive linemen seldom play in the final preseason game. So based on how head coach Brian Daboll played the best against the Panthers could determine who will be the starting guards.