The first two weeks of training camp are over for the New York Giants, and they are headed back to New Jersey from The Greenbrier in West Virginia.
Of the 90 or so players in camp, only 40 or so are locks to make the team’s 53-man roster come cutdown day, which is August 30.
So, which players got a leg up down in White Sulphur Springs and which ones didn’t? Here are a few observations.
Helped: WR Dalen Cambre
If you truly believe in special teams the way John Harbaugh does, then you can believe that Cambre will be on this team. Harbaugh said Cambre “got his attention” this week with his penchant to make an eye-popping play almost every day.
Hurt: OL Evan Neal
Neal is here on a one-year, look-see deal as part of Harbaugh’s “clean-slate” initiative. He never really had much of a shot to make the roster and is serving as a camp body on the third team so far. Neal could end up on the practice squad, but he’s not showing any marked improvement this summer.
Helped: WR Odell Beckham, Jr.
Yes, OBJ is a bubble guy this summer. He knows it, too. The question is, can the 33-year-old turn back the clock and win a job with the Giants this year? He’s slowly stamping out those doubts with each passing day, and his presence is an uplifting one for the rest of the unit and the team. Again, there are only so many wideouts the team can keep, and many of them will be asked to play on special teams. Can OBJ do that?
Helped: DB Raheem Layne
This is the third training camp with the Giants for Layne, who has been bouncing back and forth from the practice squad to the active roster since 2024. He’s not going anywhere. He’ll either be on one or the other come September. But just when he’s ready to be written off, he steps up to remind us that he can play this game. With the secondary in need of depth and his special teams value, get used to seeing him around.
Hurt: WR JuJu Smith-Schuster
The veteran wideout looked pretty good early on, but some knee swelling has kept him on the sidelines. The Giants have a crowded wide receiver room, and there’s no guaranteed spot for anyone not named Malik Nabers or Malachi Fields. JuJu could end up back on the street come August 30 if he can’t step up and make himself known.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants camp: Bubble players who helped or hurt their cause in Week 2
Reporting by John Fennelly, Giants Wire / Giants Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By John Fennelly, Giants Wire | USA TODAY Network
