Andrew Thomas may miss Week 1 as he ramps up from the pup list, paving the way for James Hudson to start at left tackle. The Giants will lean on quicker throws to offset protection gaps and preserve the run game early.

Jackson Dart’s development is center stage, with Brian Daboll personally guiding him while Winston and Wilson provide veteran ballast. The team named five captains—Wilson, Burns, Lawrence, Slayton, O’Carrick—creating a strong leadership spine for fantasy owners tracking who stabilizes the offense and depth-chart moves.

The Giants enter 2025 with a promising offense and a revamped pass rush, but the run defense remains the unit under the most scrutiny. Through two preseason games, Pro Football Focus grades and depth-chart realities paint a picture of a defense that still leaks yards on the ground, with opponents grinding out four-plus yards per carry and many tackles coming with unfavorable angles. Dexter Lawrence anchors the interior, but when he's out, the line struggles to hold the point of attack, forcing linebackers to scrape through clutter and miss more tackles than coaches would like. The roster battle plan centers on practical depth pieces who can step up when the lights are brighter in the regular season. Segment-by-segment breakdowns lean into interior offensive line battles (Joshua Isudu vs Jake Kubas), tight end intrigue (Thomas Fidoni, Greg Doulick, Daniel Bellinger), and the shifting group of linebackers and defensive backs who must contribute on all three downs. Cap space looms as a practical constraint, with the team weighing pay cuts or restructures for veteran pillars to fund the year while keeping core pieces intact. The takeaway for fantasy and betting is clear: the Giants likely lean on a tighter rotation up front, but meaningful improvement hinges on a cleaner, more disciplined run defense that can free up the pass rush to do what it was built to do.

Two joint Giants Jets practices yielded clear fantasy angles. Giants offensive line depth showed progress on day two with Evan Neal back at guard and a more cohesive run game, even as Thomas and Luminar missed action. Dexter Lawrence II anchored the interior, strengthening run defense, while Dane Belton began to flash as a versatile subpackage piece. Jalin Hyatt offered burst potential but struggled to separate consistently amid a deep Giants WR corps, and Sauce Gardner’s absence on day two gave Giants’ receivers extra looks in the interim.

Defensive wrinkles emerged for New York, with Belton sliding into the slot and safeties like Belton and Dexter Lawrence guiding the coverage. Jets blitzes and edge looks varied, though their secondary depth was tested without Gardner. The positional fragility around the Giants' O-line depth and corner depth remained a theme, while Hyatt’s development and Belton’s role stood out as potential fantasy pivots as the preseason unfolds.

Overall, expect Giants to lean on interior run-stopping and Belton’s hybrid role to maximize defensive versatility, while Hyatt and the receiver group compete for snaps. Jets will rely on a developing secondary and creative blitzes, with Gardner’s health a key variable for their defensive ceiling. Main takeaway for fantasy: monitor OL health, Belton’s slot usage, Hyatt’s development, and Gardner’s practice availability as the summer progresses.