There were a few interesting story lines in the New York Giants’ 34-25 pre-season victory over the Buffalo Bills. Let’s look at Pro Football Focus grades to see who their analysts thought played well or not so well and see how well it matches up with our own impressions. A large number of players saw the field yesterday; let’s just focus on the ones who distinguished themselves (grades 60 or higher), and we’ll say a bit about the ones who may have one foot out the door.
Your eyes didn’t deceive you. Jaxson Dart played well yesterday, leading all Giants’ offensive players with an 80.7 passing grade. You may be wondering how that compares to his fellow Class of 2025 members:
Dart trailed only undrafted Jacksonville free agent Seth Henigan. Dart seemed comfortable in the Daboll-Kafka offense and had one big-time throw, the TD pass to Lil’Jordan Humphrey.
The offensive line grades were mostly promising. Aaron Stinnie led the pack at 81.8. Joshua Ezeudu played very well at 79.8, with a (surprise!) 88.5 pass block grade. He surrendered only one pressure. Center Bryan Hudson also had a strong game in extended play (77.7). Marcus Mbow, in his first NFL action, graded a solid 71.9, also with only one pressure. At the other end, Jake Kubas was the Giants’ lowest graded offensive player at 32.9, including an awful 15.5 pass block grade. He gave up a hit and a hurry (one of those was on Dart’s TD pass).
Tyrone Tracy graded the highest of the running backs (75.1). Dante Miller came in at 68.6, but with an excellent 91.3 receiving grade.
Among the wide receivers, Montrell Washington led the pack at 70.9 while Lil’Jordan Humphrey, who caught Jaxson Dart’s TD pass, graded 63.5. Thomas Fidone II led the tight ends at 71.4. Greg Dulcich (44.7) graded the lowest of the tight ends.
Abdul Carter (82.2) had an insane professional debut in the short time he was on the field. He rushed the passer three times, getting a pressure each time. Two were as an edge defender, beating Bills’ left tackle Dion Dawkins (No. 42 in the NFL Top 100 list) to the inside once and to the outside once. On the other he lined up inside and beat guard O’Cyrus Torrence.
The highest defense grade among the edge defenders, though, went to Trace Ford (84.3), who had a hit and 2 hurries. Brian Burns didn’t have any pressures but graded 73.6.
The highest overall defense grade went to Micah McFadden (92.1), who only played a few snaps but had a pass breakup and a great tackle. At the other end of the scale, LB Chris Board graded an awful 28.6.
On the interior defensive line, D.J. Davidson (77.9) had the highest grade, including a sack and two hurries, with Elijah Garcia (73.0) close behind.
At cornerback, Paulson Adebo and Deonte Bankls had almost identical average grades, as did safeties Jevon Holland and Dane Belton. Only Tyler Nubin graded above average (72.0). Most of the Giants’ CBs graded below average, including T.J. Moore (50.7), Nic Jones (50.2), Dee Williams (45.2), and O’Donnell Fortune (35.4).
Before looking at individual player snap counts, here is a nice general summary of the approach both teams coaches took toward this pre-season game, from Anthony Reinhard’s Substack The Stat Butler:
Courtesy The Stat Butler, Anthony Reinhard
The Giants played more than half of their first-string (orange) offense to open the first quarter, and almost all of their first-string defense, but after about the first 10 plays, hardly any starters saw the field. Buffalo kept their starters on the field a little longer. By the second quarter, though, the Giants almost exclusively played second stringers (purple) and back end of the roster (white) players.
Unlike the regular season, the players getting the most snaps are generally the ones the coaching staff wants to get a hard, long look at, often with spots on the 53-man roster on the line:
No one got more work than the backup offensive linemen. The ostensible starters (Eluemunor, Runyan, Schmitz, and for now at least, Van Roten and James Hudson) all played 13 snaps, while those either competing for a spot on the roster or rookie draftees (Ezeudu, Stinnie, Mbow, Bryan Hudson, Schlottman, Kubas) played the majority of the game.
There is an interesting competition for the backup wide receiver slots, with Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Montrell Washington getting a lot of playing time along with Dalen Cambre, Da’Quan Felton, Zach Pascal, Juice Wells Jr., and Jordan Bly. Ihmir Smith-Marsette and Gunner Olszewski, expected mainly to be special teamers, also got some receiver snaps.
The running back competition may turn out to be interesting. Dante Miller got an extended look yesterday and made the most of it. Starter Tyrone Tracy only played a little, and Devin Singletary not much more. Assuming that Cam Skattebo has a roster spot, it will be interesting to see whether Miller and Singletary are competing for a roster spot or not.
There is also a tight end competition at the back of the roster. Theo Johnson and Chris Manhertz, who are probably on the roster, played little. So did Daniel Bellinger, whose roster spot has been cloudier. The TE snaps were mostly divided among draftee Thomas Fidone II, Greg Dulcich, and Jermaine Terry II.
As on offense, most of the starting defense only played in the first quarter. The only exception was CB2, where with Cor’Dale Flott out, Deonte Banks got 20 snaps to make his case to either be CB2 or to ride the bench. Nic Jones got an extended look at CB, as did TJ Moore and Dee Williams. O’Donnell Fortune was the other CB to see action.
At the middle level, Dyontae Johnson, K.J. Cloyd, and Chris Board all got an extended chance to show what they could do, while Darius Muasau played only a few more snaps than the starters. Likewise, on the interior defensive line, Elijah Garcia, Jeremiah Ledbetter, D.J. Davidson, and third round draft pick Darius Alexander all got an extended look, with Jordon Riley and Elijah Chatman playing less. Trace Ford and Tomon Fox shared most of the snaps in competition for a backup edge defender spot.
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