Giants release first unofficial depth chart ahead of 2021 season

The New York Giants released their first unofficial depth chart of the 2021 season and it’s about as predictable as one would think.

BASE OFFENSE


Position	Player	Player	Player	Player
WR	Kenny Golladay	Darius Slayton	David Sills V	C.J. Board, Austin Mack, Damion Willis
TE	Evan Engram	Cole Hikutini	Rysen John
RT	Matt Peart	Nate Solder
RG	Will Hernandez	Chad Slade	Jake Burton
C	Nick Gates	Jonotthan Harrison	Brett Heggie
LG	Shane Lemieux	Kenny Wiggins	Kyle Murphy
LT	Andrew Thomas	Nate Solder	Jackson Barton
RB	Saquon Barkley	Devontae Booker	Corey Clement	Alfred Morris, Gary Brightwell*, Sandro Platzgummer
FB	Eli Penny	Cullen Gillaspia
WR	Sterling Shepard	John Ross	Kadarius Toney	Dante Pettis, Alex Bachman, Matt Cole
TE	Kaden Smith	Nakia Griffin-Stewart	Jake Hausmann	Kyle Rudolph
QB	Daniel Jones	Mike Glennon	Clayton Thorson

BASE DEFENSE


Position	Player	Player	Player	Player
SLB	Lorenzo Carter	Trent Harris	Ifeadi Odenigbo	Cam Brown
DE	Dexter Lawrence II	B.J. Hill	David Moa	RJ McIntosh
MLB	Blake Martinez	Reggie Ragland	Carter Coughlin	Cale Garrett
NT	Austin Johnson	Danny Shelton
WIL	Tae Crowder	Devante Downs	TJ Brunson	Ryan Anderson
DT	Leonard Williams	Raymond Johnson III
OLB	Oshane Ximines	Azeez Ojulari	Niko Lalos	Elerson Smith
LCB	James Bradberry	Isaac Yiadom	Madre Harper	Sam Beal, Aaron Robinson
SS	Jabrill Peppers	Julian Love	Quincy Wilson	Montre Hartage, Chris Johnson
FS	Logan Ryan	Xavier McKinney	Joshua Kalu	Chris Milton, Jordyn Peters
RCB	Adoree’ Jackson	Darnay Holmes	Rodarius Williams*	Jarren Williams

SPECIALISTS


Position	Player	Player	Player	Player
LS	Casey Kreiter	Carson Tinker
H	Riley Dixon	Ryan Santoso
P	Riley Dixon
PR	Jabrill Peppers	Adoree’ Jackson	Kadarius Toney	Dante Pettis
KOR	John Ross	Jabrill Peppers	Kadarius Toney	Dante Pettis
K	Graham Gano	Ryan Santoso

The biggest surprise, if one can call it that, is the Giants listing Oshane Ximines as the starter at outside linebacker ahead of rookie Azeez Ojulari. Ximines was just activated off the physically unable to perform (PUP) list alongside star running back Saquon Barkley on Monday while Olujari has been able to spend the first portions of training camp with the first-team defense.

Behind Barkley at running back is free-agent signing Devontae Booker — a career backup with the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders — and Corey Clement, who went from undrafted free agent to an important depth rusher with the Philadelphia Eagles in recent years. Meanwhile, veteran, former 1000-yard rusher, and the Giants’ second-leading rusher last year, Alfred Morris, is listed fourth on the depth chart alongside rookie Gary Brightwell and Sandro Platzgummer.

Of course, there’s plenty of time for the order of the things to change, according to head coach Joe Judge.

“I tell our guys all the time, when they come in, the depth chart is really blank,” he said. “And as we start practicing and they start putting together things on tape, you start filling in names based off of what they’re doing. That can change every day. It’s really just cumulative.

“It’s what you do consistently day in and day out. Some guys may flash one day, some guys may flash another day, but ultimately you want to go ahead and measure who’s consistently dependable, who’s productive for you on the field.

“But in terms of filling those names in, yeah, the answer is as we start practicing, the names start getting filled in. Now, they’re not written in permanent marker, so at any point, based on who is playing, the best get in that spot.”