The Giants’ 2026 roster is still being shaped, but the picture is starting to come into focus in a few key spots. New York’s average age sits at 26.7, which puts the team right in the middle of the league at No. 14, according to Spotrac. That number lands almost exactly where the NFL as a whole sits, with the league average at 26.6.
What stands out is how much of the roster’s future is already tied to younger core players. Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo are both heading into their second seasons, while Malik Nabers is entering his third year in the league. On the other side of the ball, Brian Burns, Greg Newsome II and Jevon Holland are positioned as the veteran voices for a group that includes Arvell Reese and Abdul Carter.
The Giants also made some practice squad moves that keep adding layers to the depth chart, including Braxton Berrios and Jalin Hyatt.
At wide receiver, Darius Slayton remains one of the more interesting names on the roster because his place still isn’t fully settled. He hasn’t been far removed from leading the team in receiving yards in consecutive seasons, piling up 724 yards in 2022 and 770 in 2023.
He has also served as a steady presence for Nabers, helping sort out responsibilities in the huddle so the young receiver can stay focused on playing fast. And with one more receiver injury, Slayton could be back in the mix in a hurry.
The bigger question is how long he stays around.
There’s also a different kind of uncertainty along the offensive line, where the backup center job went to Austin Hudson over John Michael Schmitz’s competition. The Athletic noted that Hudson, 25, beat out Patrick even though Patrick had appeared ahead after getting the first turn to replace Schmitz in the preseason finale.
Hudson’s edge is youth, though not experience - he has played only three career snaps. Patrick could still circle back to the practice squad, but the report also pointed out that he may have other chances because center injuries are popping up around the league.
The draft classes from 2022 and 2023 have thinned out considerably, too. Schmitz, a second-round pick in 2023, is the only locked-in starter left from the 18 selections made across those two drafts. Kayvon Thibodeaux, Micah McFadden and Deonte Banks are the only other holdovers from that group who could start this season.
Banks, in particular, was labeled a winner after the roster cuts. His first three seasons have not lived up to the billing of a No. 24 overall pick, and he has allowed passer ratings above 120 in each of the past two years.
But under John Harbaugh and defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson, he appears to have found a better fit. Wilson’s press-heavy approach has suited him, and while the summer wasn’t perfect, Banks has moved from the bubble to having a real shot at starting in Week 1.
Evan Neal, by contrast, was pegged as a loser. The No. 7 overall pick from 2022 has not settled in as a dependable starter at tackle or guard, and much of his summer came with the third-team offense. At this point, he has plenty of ground to make up.
There was also one bright spot from the preseason on the defensive side: safety Tyler Nubin. The 47th pick in the 2024 draft started all three preseason games and turned in a 91.4 grade from PFF, including a 91.3 coverage grade. He gave up just one catch when he was the primary defender in coverage.
And the optimism around Dart continues to build. Yahoo Sports listed him among its top breakout candidates, pointing to a rookie season that included 2,272 passing yards, 15 touchdowns, five interceptions, 487 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns in 12 starts. With Malik Nabers expected to be available for most of the season and a better coaching staff around him, Dart has a chance to make the question about his future go away.
Some of the outside chatter has gone even further. CBS Sports made a bold call that the Giants will make the Super Bowl in their first season with John Harbaugh, citing the talent around Dart - including Skattebo, Nabers, Andrew Thomas, Francis Mauigoa, Abdul Carter, Burns and Reese - and comparing New York’s setup to the 2025 Patriots. The case hinges on a veteran coach, a second-year quarterback and the idea that the pieces are there for a big jump.
For now, though, the Giants are still in roster-building mode, with enough young talent, a few unresolved battles and plenty of moving parts left to sort out.
In Other News...
Giants Added A Massive New Lineman With More Upside Than Expected
The Giants made a quietly interesting addition up front, sending a 2028 seventh-round pick to Baltimore for defensive lineman C.J. Okoye before moving him onto the 53-man roster. At 6-foot-6 and 365 pounds, Okoye arrives with the kind of frame that naturally turns heads, and his path through the International Pathway Program has already given him a different kind of NFL background than most young linemen.
Okoye spent much of the 2025 season on the Ravens active roster, and the Giants are betting there is more to work with than the usual depth-piece profile. He has flashed enough as a rotational defensive lineman to warrant a closer look, even if his game still comes with clear areas to refine, which makes this a classic low-cost gamble on size, traits and untapped upside. [Read more 🡒]
Malik Nabers Just Put The Giants In A Tough Week 1 Spot
Malik Nabers is sounding better by the day, but the Giants still do not have a clean answer on their top receiver's availability for Week 1. Nabers said his surgically repaired right knee feels good with two weeks left before the regular-season opener, and he has made clear that he wants to be fully healthy before he gets back on the field after surgery to repair a torn ACL and meniscus, plus a follow-up procedure to address scar tissue.
Head coach John Harbaugh had already left open the possibility that Nabers could be ready for the Dallas Cowboys, which only sharpened the anticipation around his status. For now, though, Nabers is not giving the Giants the certainty they would like, and the next stretch of practices will go a long way toward showing whether he can truly return in time or whether the team will have to wait a little longer for its most important pass catcher. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Practice Squad Decisions Just Clarified Their Week 1 Roster Plan
The Giants filled out part of their early-season depth chart by adding four players to the practice squad, a group that brings a little bit of everything to the back end of the roster. Wide receiver and kick returner Charlie Jones gives the team another option in the return game, cornerback Elijah Jones adds to the secondary, and offensive linemen Kingsley Eguakun and Darian Kinnard bolster the trenches as New York keeps building out insurance behind its Week 1 roster.
The mix says a lot about how the Giants want to cover themselves in the opening weeks, especially with special teams, cornerback depth and offensive line flexibility all accounted for. The full practice squad is now set, and while these moves do not change the headline names on the active roster, they help clarify the teams thinking as it pieces together the first wave of in-season protection against injuries and weekly roster churn. [Read more 🡒]