New York Giants OTA No. 9 Takeaways

The Giants held a shorter practice for their ninth OTA.

The question came up regarding player evaluations and if head coach Brian Daboll and staff have begun to gain clarity regarding who can do what from the padless and contact-less practices.

The answer is no, not yet. Why? Because the coaching staff is aware the players are trying to learn a new system and get used to a new way of doing things and that the coaches are trying to get used to the players. As such, the focus has been on teaching so that everyone understands what's expected and where they fit in, so that come training camp, when the pads do go on, it's full steam ahead.

"Yeah, really, this is a teaching camp because, again, it's important," Daboll said before the team took the field for OTA No. 9 Thursday. "People are learning our language, our playbooks, how we want to do things here in terms of the building. So there's been a lot of teaching going on, which it needs to be."

The Giants, in the three OTA practices open to the media, have spent a lot of time on unit drills, with some practice periods going on as long as ten minutes. That hasn't left much time for the offense vs. defense drills, at least not initially, but that stuff has since increased ever so slightly.

That gradual increase of "offense versus defense," along with the individual drills that are run for every practice, is where Daboll and his staff have made some evaluations regarding how the players are grasping the system.

"The evaluation process is really more, ‘Can they take the stuff from the classroom to the field?’” he said. "Other than that, without any pads on and stuff like that, that will be more in training camp."

The Giants won't be in pads until about five days into training camp, so to make any firm judgments right now is premature.

But with football being a mental game, Daboll and his staff will at least have an idea moving forward as to whether they need to adjust their teaching methods and pace or if the players in question are simply just not getting it.

Offensive Hints

Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

We've been looking for hints as to what the offense will look like, and we might have picked up our biggest hint yet during the team portion of OTA No. 9.

It's been long thought that the Giants offense will have a heavy Buffalo flavor with just a sprinkling here and there of some Kansas City principles mixed in. Watching the play selections and some of the alignments appears to be the direction the Giants are headed.

For example, signs point to the Giants becoming a pass-happy team this year that focuses on getting the ball out of Daniel Jones's hands-on short and intermediate routes run by receivers as quickly as possible.

The Giants will take their shots down the field, but based on some of the formations and plays run in practice, there were several similarities between what the Giants were doing and what the Bills do were hard to miss.

The Giants are also running a lot of empty backfield sets of late, where they have Saquon Barkley split wide. And speaking of which, the deployment of skill position players has been interesting and creative.

Barkley was split wide with backup running back Matt Breida in the backfield on one play. On another, the Giants had tight end Daniel Bellinger split wide with receiver Wan'Dale Robinson in the slot.

And there continues to be a lot of pre-snap motion, all of which, when combined with Jones getting the ball out of his hand quickly, has the offense playing much faster and Jones appearing to be making fewer mistakes, which has helped his processing.

The offense is still a work in progress, but it's been an intriguing look.

Jones and Barkley Connection

Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Jones has been building a nice rapport with Saquon Barkley in the short passing game, connecting with the running back on several throws this spring.

Barkley, it seems, is going to see the bulk of his snaps in the passing game. He had 91 receptions on 121 targets for 721 yards and four receiving touchdowns during his rookie season.

In subsequent years, the Giants got away from deploying him as a receiver, which was a head-scratcher considering how elusive he is in space.

Daboll and company must have gone back and watched the film of Barkley from that rookie season. In every practice the independent media has been allowed to attend, Barkley gets probably as many pass targets as he does rushing attempts--and in some instances, maybe even more of the former.

We still don't know the exact plan for Barkley and if he will be more receiver this year than a runner. If Barkley is more of a receiver, that could help him with staying on the field as it should reduce the wear and tear of trying to constantly pound him up the middle as previous staffs have tried to do.

Short on Corners

Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

The Giants were a little short on cornerbacks for practice. Aaron Robinson, projected as the starter to replace James Bradberry, was in a red jersey, as was Michael Jacquet (unknown why, though Jacquet was out there for some team drills) and Rodarius Williams (ACL recovery). And unless I missed him, I didn't see Darnay Holmes out there.

(And no, defensive coordinator Wink Martindale didn't call DoorDash for corners. He just made do with what he had.)

Thibodeaux Appears to Be Moving Well

Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

I watched Kayvon Thibodeaux (red jersey) doing some running and agility drills. The Giants haven't said what Thibodeaux's injury is--it's thought to be something with his lower body--but it is not thought to be serious, despite Daboll's declining to say if the rookie would be available for next week's minicamp (probably not) or the start of training camp (more likely).

Thibodeaux, to my untrained medical eye, at least, seemed to move well. I'm not sure I saw enough of a burst from him, which could be a factor, but that he was able to do sprints and agility work is a welcomed sight.

Other Takeaways

Patricia Traina, Giants Country

Third-round draft pick Joshua Ezeudu has played left tackle with Andrew Thomas (ankle) recovering from an off-season procedure.

Hall of Fame Giants defensive end Michael Strahan stopped by practice and was spotted with general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll coming off the practice field.

Also present was former offensive lineman Kevin Boothe, who played on the 2007 and 2011 Super Bowl teams.

Darius Slayton, who is fighting for a roster spot, beat his man on a deep route only to drop the pass from Tyrod Taylor. If Slayton made that catch, it would have gone for six.

Slayton will get a chance to compete for a roster spot, but he needs to somehow find the magic from his rookie season to avoid a visit from the Turk.

Adoree' Jackson nearly came up with a pick-six when he jumped the route. Unfortunately, he couldn't find the handle, and the ball fell to the ground for an incompletion.

Defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence II, who was in a red jersey for OTA No. 6, was out of the red jersey for this OTA.

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