New York Giants: Winners and losers from Preseason Week 1 vs. Jets
Winners from Preseason Week 1
Daniel Jones, QB
I’ve been as critical as anyone of the Giants for taking Daniel Jones with a top-10 pick and he made me look absolutely silly in his preseason debut. The rookie looked composed and highly effective on his one series of action and torched the Jets defense in the process.
Jones’ one series on the night saw him go 5-of-5 for 67 yards and a touchdown pass to Bennie Fowler. For such a small sample size, Jones showed everything you’d want to see from a rookie quarterback to try and inspire some optimism about his future. Put simply, he was the star of the night for what he did in just one possession.
Jake Carlock, DB/LB
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Many around Big Blue this offseason have sung the praises of do-it-all safety-linebacker hybrid Jake Carlock. On Thursday night, he showed that wasn’t just smoke. Carlock was all over the field as he notched a tackle for loss, a sack, another quarterback hit and an impressive 59-yard interception return for a touchdown.
He’s a perfect, versatile piece for defense in need of playmakers and is in line to carve out a role for himself.
T.J. Jones, WR
Russell Shepard was big for the Giants and their depleted wide receiver corps in this game, to be sure. However, T.J. Jones was on the field more and made the most of his opportunity. The 2014 sixth-round pick hauled in all six of his targets on the night for 72 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown from Kyle Lauletta late in the action. If he can continue to produce like that, he’ll have a role in this downtrodden group of pass-catchers.
Corey Ballentine, CB
Admittedly, there were plenty of bad moments for Corey Ballentine on Thursday night. The sixth-round pick fumbled on a punt return, got beat in coverage and missed his share of tackles. None of those are things you want to see.
At the same time, though, Ballentine also made a handful of splash plays for the Giants, headlined by a 40-yard punt return and an interception. Coming out of Washburn, Ballentine clearly has a lot of growth left ahead of him for him to be a reliable contributor. Having said that, he showed in his preseason debut that the talent is there for him to develop into that type of player.