The New York Giants are set to report to training camp on July 25, and Giants.com is counting down the summer break with 30 questions in 30 days. Here is today's question:
28. Who is your sleeper player to watch?
JOHN SCHMEELK: I'm going with a deep sleeper with Josh Banks. Banks is a smaller but very mobile 6-foot-3, 290-pound defensive tackle who signed as an undrafted free agent out of Wake Forest last year. He was placed on injured reserve right before the start of the regular season and has hit the ground running this spring. Even though there aren't any pads, his activity level was obvious and he was often exactly where James Bettcher wants his defensive linemen -- in the backfield. He might not be big enough to play nose tackle in Bettcher's 3-4 scheme, but he should be fine as a defensive end. These days the league is far more interested in mobile defensive linemen than your traditional space eaters.
DAN SALOMONE: Curtis Riley is a name you should get familiar with heading into training camp. He is a fourth-year pro making the transition from corner to safety, a position the Giants took a good look at with Landon Collins limited this spring as he recovered from a second surgery on the arm he fractured last Christmas Eve in Arizona. Riley, who spent time on and off the Titans' practice squad and has appeared in 11 career games, lined up with the first team next to Andrew Adams for much of the spring. Defensive coordinator James Bettcher likes Riley's feet, hips and range stemming from his corner skillset, but he was also impressed with how he picked up the new position in a defense known for its many formations.
"Some of the checks and the communication and one minute you're in the post, the next minute you're down, or you're playing in the half field, or you're blitzing off the edge and some of the different duties that our safeties have to handle here -- he's done a really nice job with that," Bettcher said. "So I'm excited for him, getting to training camp just like all these guys, and he's competing his butt off with a group of guys that I've really seen grow over these last two months."
General manager Dave Gettleman is known for finding diamonds in the rough, but everyone usually associates that with hog mollies like Shaun O'Hara and Andrew Norwell. He can find defensive backs, too.
LANCE MEDOW: Behind Odell Beckham and Sterling Shepard every wide receiver job is very much up for grabs heading into training camp. That's why I'd keep close tabs on Hunter Sharp. He was signed off the Broncos' practice squad in December and wound up catching a touchdown in Week 17 against the Redskins. Sharp took advantage of his additional reps during the offseason program and was one of the consistent playmakers in practices. If his production translates to training camp and the preseason, I think he has a legitimate shot to make the team.
29. Who will be the top three tacklers on the team?
JOHN SCHMEELK: Alec Ogletree and Landon Collins are shoo-ins here. If they aren't the top two tacklers, either something strange happened or one of them suffered some sort of injury. Last year, for example, linebacker Karlos Dansby and safety Tyrann Matthieu were the top two tacklers for the Cardinals followed by Deone Bucannon and Budda Baker. The third leading tackler for the Giants will probably be either B.J. Goodson, the second inside off-ball linebacker, or Damon Harrison. Usually nose tackles don't rack up tackling numbers, but Harrison has done just that the last two years as a 4-3 DT with 76 and 86 in 2017 and 2016, respectively. He had 72 in his final year with the Jets as a 3-4 nose tackle. Olivier Vernon is a sleeper to watch here as well.
DAN SALOMONE: Newcomer and "defensive quarterback" Alec Ogletree has been a lock for well over 100 tackles when he plays all 16 games in a season. You can mark him down as the leader, but two-time Pro Bowl safety Landon Collins won't be too far behind in what would be his first season not leading the Giants in that department. With Ogletree roaming sideline to sideline, Collins will be free to make plays elsewhere in James Bettcher's scheme. That leaves the matter of third place. I think you have to look at B.J. Goodson. The third-year pro will be lining up next to Ogletree as an inside linebacker and he should rack up the tackles with guys like Damon Harrison, Dalvin Tomlinson and B.J. Hill clearing the way in front.
LANCE MEDOW: Landon Collins has led the Giants in tackles in each of his first three seasons in the league and, given how he'll likely be moving around a lot in James Bettcher's new scheme, I don't see that trend ending. I think Alec Ogletree will finish second and Damon Harrison will round out the top three. In each of Snacks' first two seasons with New York, he's finished in the top three on the team in tackles.
30. How many touches do you think Saquon Barkley will average per game?
JOHN SCHMEELK: 23 -- Oh, you want to know why? Fine. I broke this down specifically to around 18 carries per game and five catches in the passing game. You can throw in a handful of kickoff returns throughout the season as well. I think Barkley is going to play the predominant number of running back snaps this year (75 percent or more), but not all of them. Pat Shurmur has said a number of times that "it takes a village" at the running back position in the NFL. Barkley is easily the best third down back on the roster so I would assume he gets all of those snaps. He is not a short yardage back that is comfortable lowering his shoulder and pushing a pile (he left his feet and went over the top a lot in short yardage situations in college) so I think an easy way to give him a break is to use Jonathan Stewart in short yardage. I would also expect to see Stewart, and even Wayne Gallman on some first or second down situations.
DAN SALOMONE: I think everyone will agree on the mid-20s average, but whatever the actual number turns out to be, it is going to be a lot. That's my guesstimate -- a lot of carries, a lot of catches. They won't be for short distances either. He can break the long runs as well as catch deep passes on wheel routes. Head coach and offensive architect Pat Shurmur has to be just itching to tap into the season and let him go full speed. I talked about this in last week's Fact or Fiction; the reception numbers for running backs were pretty crazy last season. Le'Veon Bell had 85, Alvin Kamara had 81, and Christian McCaffrey had 80. The latter two were rookies by the way, and they were not second overall draft picks.
LANCE MEDOW: When you look at some of the top rookie running backs from 2017, their numbers fluctuate across the board. The Panthers' Christian McCaffrey averaged 12 touches per game, Alvin Kamara of the Saints 13 and the Chiefs' Kareem Hunt 20. I think Barkley will match Hunt with about 20 touches per contest. I don't think he'll record as many catches as McCaffrey (80) and Kamara (81) did last season but he should be in the same ballpark as Hunt (272) with respect to carries. Keep in mind, last year, Barkley averaged 21 touches per game at Penn State so that type of workload isn't a stretch.
