New York Giants Winners & Losers After 2023 Draft

The Giants roster should benefit tremendously from GM Joe Schoen's latest draft haul. On the flip side, some returning veterans' path to a roster spot might have become more challenging.

The arrival of the New York Giants 2023 draft class is widely celebrated across all corners of the organization as a sign of the team improving areas of weakness.

But for some existing veterans, the arrival of the rookies could mean either a reduced role or, in some cases, a lost roster spot if the rookies perform as is hoped.

While it's still very early in the process--the team needs to get through training camp to see how certain things shake out--let's look at some of those who either will benefit or whose road to a spot on the roster just got more challenging.

Winners

QB Daniel Jones

Talk about the rich getting richer! Quarterback He got his big payday, he got an infusion of veteran talent in tight end Darren Waller and receiver Parris Campbell, he’s getting his offensive coordinator (Mike Kafka) back, and now he’s getting even more goodies for his fifth NFL season.

General manager Joe Schoen added receiver Jalin Hyatt, running back Eric Gray, and offensive center John Michael Schmitz via the class. Hyatt gives Jones another speedster. Gray is versatile enough to fill multiple roles for the Giants as a runner, pass blocker, and receiver out of the backfield if the team needs to give Saquon Barkley a rest. And Schmitz should develop into the long-term answer at center, giving Jones further stability as he forges onward.

That’s quite an off-season for a player Schoen vowed to build around.

Outside Linebackers Elerson Smith and Tomon Fox

The Giants believe that Smith and Fox can help their pass rush, which last year, the edge rushers combined for 14 total sacks.

"We have Elerson (Smith) -- showed promise but had an injury last year. (Tomon) Fox is a guy we like. So those guys have all played snaps, and we're excited about them," general manager Joe Schoen said following the draft.

That’s a big boost for Smith, who has been unable to stay on the field since being drafted in the fourth round in 2021. That the Giants stood pat on the pass rusher front should make Smith feel good about his chances of working his way into the rotation.

That's also a nice vote of confidence for Fox, an undrafted rookie free agent last year who played in 327 defensive snaps and generated eight pressures.

RB Saquon Barkley

Since being drafted No. 2 overall in 2018, the plan has been to make Saquon Barkley the bell cow. Unfortunately, he’s had to deal with injuries, which has made things tough on him and has perhaps called into question how much more tread is left on his tires to potentially justify paying him for the long term.

By adding Eric Gray to a group that includes Matt Breida and Gary Brightwell (and Jashaun Corbin), it wouldn’t be surprising if the Giants are maybe eyeing more of a committee approach which would help extend Barkley's career.

ILB Darrian Beavers and Jarrad Davis

For months people were pounding the table for the Giants to add another linebacker to pair with free-agent acquisition Bobby Okereke. The Giants apparently felt otherwise and with good reason. There is optimism that Darrian Beavers, last year’s sixth-round pick, will be fully recovered from a torn ACL and will become the thumper in that defense that he was rounding into before his injury.

As for Davis, whom the Giants reportedly pursued for multiple weeks before finally convincing him to leave the Lions practice squad and join their team, he’ll also be in the mix at linebacker, where he should be much better once he gets into the playbook this off-season. That leaves maybe one more spot open for a youngster like Micah McFadden or Carter Coughlin to fill.

P Jamie Gillan 

There is no debate that last season was not the best for the Giants punting unit. Yet despite the struggles of punter Jamie Gillan, the Giants still went out and re-signed him to a two-year contract and don't appear to e planning to bring in competition for the role, at least not as of this writing.

That alone would be reason enough to include Gillan on the winners list. Still, there's another reason: the Giants added several players who can potentially help with covering punts, such as veterans Jeff Smith and Jamison Crowder, plus rookies like Tre Hawkins III, Eric Gray, and Gervarrius Owens. 

There are also others from among the undrafted free agent list reported to be attending this weekend's rookie minicamp that can potentially help with coverage.

 LOSERS

CB Darnay Holmes

Holmes hasn’t been a horrible player for the Giants since being selected in the fourth round of the __ draft, but that said, it seems that every year the team has tried to replace him as their slot man, only to turn back to him.

That said, the addition of first-round pick Deonte Banks means that the new starters on the outside project as Banks and Adoree’ Jackson, with Aaron Robinson—assuming he can stay healthy—likely to go back to the slot cornerback role he played in college.

 Robinson has more length and is taller than Holmes, who has a nearly $3 million cap hit this year thanks to a performance escalator kicking in on his contract. Add in Cor’Dale Flott, who can also play the slot cornerback role, and Holmes’s chances of sticking on the roster don’t look very promising.

WRs Collin Johnson, David Sills V

The Giants are loaded at wide receiver this year, even if they end up placing Sterling Shepard and Wan’Dale Robinson on the PUP list to start the season to give them more time to recover from their respective injuries.

That said, with the additions of Hyatt, Parris Campbell, Jeff Smith (for special teams), and Jamison Crowder, plus the returns of Darius Slayton and Isaiah Hodgins, Johnson, and Sills, two receivers who impressed last summer before their luck took a wrong turn—Johnson with the injury and Sills with the arrival of Isaiah Hodgins—could be on the outside looking in when the dust finally settles.

DL D.J. Davidson

D.J. Davison, a fifth-round draft pick last year, could find himself the odd man off the 53-man roster on a now-loaded defensive line to which A’Shawn Robinson and Rakeem Nunez-Roches were added. Davidson, recovering from a torn ACL, could land on the practice squad, though (assuming he’s healthy). 

Robinson is technically signed to a one-year deal. Davidson also will be competing with Jordon Riley, a seventh-round pick this year, for a lace somewhere with the team. 

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