With three weeks of training camp complete and the preseason opener in the books, the New York Giants’ roster picture continues to sharpen under head coach John Harbaugh. Longer practices, increased physicality, and the first live game action have provided clearer evaluations of positional battles and special-teams contributions, prompting further adjustments from earlier projections.
This updated 53-man outlook reflects those developments while maintaining Harbaugh’s emphasis on versatile players, depth, and reliable contributors across the roster. Performances in the preseason loss offered additional insight into how certain players handle game situations, influencing several close calls.
The team remains early in the evaluation process, but the current snapshot captures the strongest consensus following three weeks of camp and the first exhibition contest.
Quarterbacks (2)
Rinse and repeat. This is not going to change unless there is an injury, and Brandon Allen did very little to state his case in Saturday’s loss to the Vikings.
In: Jaxson Dart, Jameis Winston
Out: Brandon Allen
Running backs (4)
Skattebo looked pretty good against the Vikings. Ditto Singletary. Tracy Jr. made one major pass-protection error, and boy, oh boy, did that almost turn ugly.
In: Cam Skattebo, Tyrone Tracy Jr., Devin Singletary, and Patrick Ricard
Out: Eric Gray, Damon Bankston, Dante Miller (groin), Grant Finley
Wide receivers (7)
Some came away from Saturday’s loss more impressed with Berrios. I was not one of those people, despite his solid punt returns. On the other hand, I was very impressed with both Beckham Jr. and Cambre, who I now feel controls his own roster fate.
In: Malik Nabers, Darius Slayton, Darnell Mooney, Malachi Fields, Calvin Austin III, Odell Beckham Jr., Dalen Cambre
Out: Braxton Berrios, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Isaiah Hodgins, Jalin Hyatt, Xavier Gipson, Ryan Miller
Tight ends (3)
It wasn’t a great game for Johnson, but he’s not at risk of losing a spot. Likely looked good, and it’s easy to forget how good a blocker Manhertz is until you watch him and you’re reminded. Fidone possibly sealed his fate with an ugly game.
In: Isaiah Likely, Theo Johnson, Chris Manhertz
Out: Tanner Conner, Thomas Fidone II
Offensive line (9)
Faalele did not look like a player who belonged, and he’s been bumped down the line a bit. Davis looked solid, Hudson was so-so, and, believe it or not, Neal played a good game. Stinnie gets the call over Faalele this time around, and if Patrick can heal up, he’ll get the nod over Hudson. Rising: Neal and Kubas.
In: Andrew Thomas, Jon Runyan Jr., John Michael Schmitz, Francis Mauigoa, Jermaine Eluemunor, Marcus Mbow, Aaron Stinnie, J.C. Davis, Bryan Hudson
Out: Daniel Faalele, Josh Ezeudu, Lucas Patrick (knee), Evan Neal, Jake Kubas, Ryan Schernecke, Jarrod Gray, Brenden Jaimes
Defensive line (5)
Pro Football Focus was more impressed with Tupou than I was. The Vikings ran right at him early in the game and picked up some chunk yardage. Later in the game, he did eat a pair of double teams, but it wasn’t enough to bump him up in the 53-man projection.
In: D.J. Reader, Darius Alexander, Shelby Harris, Leki Fotu, Bobby Jamison-Travis
Out: Josh Tupou, Zacch Pickens, Marlon Davidson, Anquin Barnes Jr.
Outside linebackers (4)
Ford played a good game, but I just don’t see the Giants keeping more than four players here. And while some are oddly out on Golston, Dennard Wilson’s defense seems to be the perfect fit for him. He also played well on Saturday.
In: Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Chauncey Golston
Out: Trace Ford, Khalid Kareem, Caleb Murphy
Inside linebackers (5)
How about Jack Kelly? Impressive performance. Meanwhile, the battle between Muasau and Barnes rages on. After the Vikings loss, Muasau is back out ahead, but barely. This one may go down to the wire.
In: Tremaine Edmunds, Arvell Reese, Micah McFadden, Jack Kelly, Darius Muasau
Out: Darius Muasau, Anfernee Orji, Zaire Barnes
Cornerbacks (6)
Green maintains control of the final spot at cornerback despite his costly penalty on Saturday. His special teams value keeps him around, but this might be an area the Giants address after cutdown day.
In: Paulson Adebo, Greg Newsome II, Dru Phillips, Deonte Banks, Colton Hood, Art Green
Out: Korie Black, Nic Jones
Safeties (5)
I strongly debated trimming the safety spot to four players and adding a bubble player elsewhere, but opted to stick with five players for now. That could change next week. For now, I am swapping Campbell for Brade, who was solid defensively and on special teams.
In: Jevon Holland, Tyler Nubin, Ar’Darius Washington, Jason Pinnock, Beau Brade
Out: Raheem Layne, Elijah Campbell, JT Woods, Ugochukwu Amadi
Specialists (3)
I’m keeping Zvada over Sauls, but the latter is making this a much tighter competition than it was just a few short weeks ago. Also, Mann did not play well against the Vikings, and there is some rising concern about the long snapper position.
In: Dominic Zvada (K), Jordan Stout (P), Ben Mann (LS)
Out: Ben Sauls (K)
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: New York Giants 53-man projection: What’s changed after preseason opener?