5 under-the-radar players who could make a big impact for the Giants this season
Giants lineman Marcus Mbow during training camp in East Rutherford, N.J, on Aug. 2. Credit: Ed Murray
Everyone is going to have an eye on Jaxson Dart and Malik Nabers this season. It’s hard to ignore Cam Skattebo and Odell Beckham Jr. And there is a lot of excitement about Abdul Carter, Brian Burns, Arvell Reese and Tremaine Edmunds across the middle of that defense. But there are plenty of other Giants players who are a little under the radar heading into the opener but should make an impact on this upcoming season nonetheless.
Here are five to watch – if you can spot them! – as the season begins:
Darius Alexander, DT
He was drafted to help Dexter Lawrence along the defensive front but now has to help replace him there. The third-round pick last year didn’t live up to expectations with just 20 tackles in 16 games, although he did have 3 1/2 sacks (including two in one game against the Lions). He's being counted on for more this season and has shown a good knack for batting down passes this summer.
Marcus Mbow, OL
The team’s sixth offensive lineman comes into his second season as one of the best insurance policies any team has for its starting tackles. Mbow showed he can play either the left or right side at a high level as a rookie last year and has improved since. If either Andrew Thomas or Jermaine Eluemunor has to miss any snaps this season, the Giants should be able to manage their absence.
Jordan Stout, P
It’s been a long time since the Giants had a true weapon at punter. You’d probably have to go back to Steve Weatherford or Jeff Feagles, the punters on the Giants' last two Super Bowl champion teams. Stout has the ability to flip the field like no one else has for the Giants since them. He nearly had an 81-yard punt downed inside the one-yard line in the preseason game against the Jets, providing a quick glimpse of the kind of kicks he should provide on a weekly basis.
Jameis Winston, QB
Anyone who follows me on X/Twitter knows how I feel about Winston. Dart is clearly the Giants’ starting quarterback and their immediate if not long-term future at the position, but he also has a proclivity for being sent off the field by concussion spotters and a history of being a bit reckless as a runner. Ideally, neither of those trends will continue this season, but if they do, having a capable backup to come in — whether it’s for a snap, a series or a month — is one of the most indispensable positions for the team. For many years, the joke about being Eli Manning’s backup was that it came with the perk of having weekends off. Being Dart’s backup may require a little more game action, and as long as the Giants have Winston with his helmet always within reach, they should be fine with that.
Ben Mann, LS
Everyone knows the risks involved with having Dominic Zvada as a rookie kicker, but the Giants also are going into the season with a rookie long-snapper. Gulp. Mann, though, has managed to do something extraordinary since signing with the Giants as an undrafted free agent in April: He’s gone completely unnoticed. That’s exactly what you want from a position where anonymity is job security. Mann may be a rookie, but he does have an NFL pedigree: his grandfather is Chuck Mercein, who was a third-round pick as a fullback for the Giants in 1965 before he went to the Packers. He was supposed to get the handoff to beat the Cowboys in the Ice Bowl in 1967, but Bart Starr decided to keep it himself for a QB sneak. Mercein was left raising his hands — either to signal the touchdown or to show the officials that he wasn’t pushing his quarterback across the goal line — in the famous pictures of that moment.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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