The New York Giants have reached the midpoint of the 2026 season. They’re in their bye week coming off of an upset victory over the Houston Texans and in sole possession of first place in the NFC East.
The Giants work in the 2026 NFL Draft was widely praised and the immediate reaction held that they had one of the league’s strongest draft classes.
That’s proving to be one of the keys to their success.
One of the more impressive, and under-discussed aspects of the Giants’ 4-2-1 season is how much they’ve
been relying on young players. The Giants are currently fourth in the NFL in offensive and defensive snap share going to rookies at 14.6%.
That’s actually up from their 2025 numbers, when they were 13th in rookie snap share (11.8%).
In other words, the performance of the Giants’ rookies has had a direct, and significant, impact on how their season has unfolded.
Arvell Reese (LB)
- 438 defensive snaps (99%)
- 29 special teams snaps (1%)
We don’t need to belabor the point when it comes to Arvell Reese. He’s already a star and the fifth overall pick is an absolute home run.
Reese is still new to the position with all of 21 starts combined between Ohio State and the NFL. But he’s still proven to be all that the Giants could have possibly hoped he would be when he surprisingly fell to them. Reese is is a true “3-D” defender who’s a factor in run defense, pass coverage, and as a pass rusher. It doesn’t matter where the play is if it’s at the first or second level, Reese is seemingly always around the ball or making the play himself. He has a truly freakish blend of length, speed, and play strength that’s quickly turning him into a boogeyman as far as opposing tight ends, fullbacks, and running backs are concerned.
His explosiveness has also made him an instant factor in the Giants’ pass rush. His ability to simply take over game when attacking gaps sparked the Giants’ defensive shift against the Arizona Cardinals and has helped to transform their defense under Dennard Wilson.
Reese still needs to continue to develop as a space player, and he does occasionally get a bit out of control at times (see: his almost-sack of C.J. Stroud). But that will come in time, and perhaps not much time given how quickly he’s developing. It’s incredibly exciting to see what he might become even on the other side of this BYE week.
Sisi Mauigoa (RG)
- 490 offensive snaps (100%)
- 31 special teams snaps (16%)
Mauigoa hasn’t been quite the instant star that Reese was, but his trajectory is promising.
Sisi got out to a hot start against the Dallas Cowboys, easily handling their defensive line. He showed off his elite power as well as his excellent movement skills (for a guard) in opening up running lanes as well as in his pass protection. Mauigoa struggled and his play was uneven over the next four weeks, with rough games against Aaron Donald and the Rams, as well as against the Washington Commanders and New Orleans Saints.
There were still flashes of excellence, with him simply burying defensive linemen.
However, there were also too many instances of him losing to professional defensive tackles that led to negative plays, poor runs, or sacks.
The good news is that he seemed to get back on track against the Houston Texans. Mauigoa had a great game and was a big reason for the Giants’ renewed run success, which is particularly encouraging considering it came against the NFL’s fourth-best run defense.
Colton Hood (CB)
- 125 defensive snaps (34%)
- 46 special teams snaps (30%)
There’s no two ways about it, the Giants’ second round pick has struggled when called upon this year. He’s been targeted 13 times and given up 10 completions (76.9%) for 102 yards and 3 touchdowns.
The silver lining for Hood is two-fold. First, the Giants don’t currently need Hood to be excellent this year like they do some of their other rookies. Tae Banks and Greg Newsome II have both played very well as the starters and Paulson Adebo looked much improved when he came off the IR against the Texans. That gives Hood time and space to hone his craft during practice and take the lessons he learned in his two starts to heart.
And in that, the second silver lining is that Hood seems to be getting excellent coaching. Dennard Wilson, Donald D’Alesio, and Addison Lynch have gotten great results out of the rest of the Giants’ defensive backs. That, and his spot on the depth chart, give confidence that (with time and work) Hood can play like the (fringe) first round prospect he was projected to be when the Giants’ drafted him.
Malachi Fields (WR)
- 370 Offensive snaps (76%)
- 17 special teams snaps (9%)
Fields is quickly becoming a quality secondary option behind Malik Nabers and Isaiah Likely. He isn’t ready to be a primary option just yet, but Fields is proving to be too dangerous for defenses to merely ignore.
He is remarkably fluid for a receiver his size, which could mean good things if he continues to develop as a route technician. Fields could be a very dangerous receiver once he learns to use his routes as a weapon, but he isn’t there just yet. He’s only 54th in the NFL in average separation (2.7 yards) and 20th in tight window throw percentage. The good news is that his size, play strength, and 38-inch vertical mean that he’s open even when he’s covered. He can play through tight coverage, extend to expand his catch radius to haul in well-placed passes, and fight through tackle attempts.
Fields’ task over the bye week and the next 10 games is to work on becoming more consistent and improving his 53.3% catch rate. Considering Fields is also averaging 15.5 yards per catch, he could become one of J.J. McCarthy’s best friends.
Bobby Jamison-Travis (iDL)
- 42 defensive snaps (32%)
- 12 special teams snaps (19%)
The Giants’ first sixth-round pick has only played in two games, which doesn’t give us a whole lot to go on. He’s only appeared in two games, playing 21 snaps against the New Orleans Saints and 21 against the Texans.
He played reasonably well against the Texans and was squarely in the mix of the Giants’ defensive line rotation. Jamison-Travis spent most of his time at nose tackle, playing either 0 or 1-technique over the center, though he did align at the 3-technique on occasion as well. Interestingly, Jamison-Travis had multiple snaps where he was on the field along with DJ Reader, and played both nose tackle and 3-technique.
Jamison-Travis is a big, stout young man and he’s obviously a load for offensive linemen when he’s playing with good leverage. He’s capable of pushing centers and guards into the pocket or holding up against double teams. He understands how to put his hips in a gap to close it, and is strong enough to disengage and make plays on the ball carrier.
His homework for the bye week (and beyond) is to continue to work on playing with consistently good leverage. He can be a bit too easy to move off the ball when he allows his pads to rise.
J.C. Davis (OT)
- 25 offensive snaps (18%)
- 8 special teams snaps (13%)
As with Jamison-Travis (and Jack Kelly), we don’t have much to go on with Davis. He’s only appeared in two games and played just 33 total snaps, all of which came in relief of Andrew Thomas against the Saints.
Davis played “okay” against the Saints, all things considered. He can’t be compared to Thomas, even an injured Thomas, but did his job in a desperate comeback attempt. Davis put some good things on tape against the Saints, dealing with stunts relatively well and showing some impressive play strength in how he took on defenders. He also showed some great competitive toughness in his play as well. Davis looks like a glass eater who, even when he doesn’t win, can manage to not-lose out of pure bloody-mindedness.
There are, of course, teaching points he can take into the bye week and work on throughout the year. Most notably, his hands had a real tendency to drift high and wide, with little attempt to win inside leverage. That will open him up to holding calls as well as make it too easy for prepared pass rushers to get under his pads and control him.
All told, a solid performance that could lead to improvement if he’s able to work on his technique.
Jack Kelly (LB)
- 154 special teams snaps (81%)
Kelly has yet to play a snap on defense, but he’s played more than Jamison-Travis or Davis.
Kelly is quickly proving to be a core special teams player for the Giants. And while that isn’t glamorous, it’s a great outcome for a late sixth-round pick. He’s a tough and disciplined defender on the coverage teams, and that’s sure to get him in Harbaugh’s good graces.
It will be interesting to see if Kelly’s play on special teams earns him defensive snaps in the second half of the season. The Giants are building a culture of meritocracy, and Kelly could see an opportunity with Tremaine Edmunds out for the season.
Dominic Zvada (K) and Ben Mann (LS)
I’m going to keep these two handcuffed, but start with Mann as he should be quicker.
Mann has been surprisingly solid for a rookie long snapper. His snaps appear to be crisp and accurate, delivering the ball to Jordan Stout right where he wants them and allowing for a smooth operation on punts and holds for field goals. Mann also does a great job of hustling down the field to cover Stout’s (often incredible) punts.
Now, on to Zvada…
Dominic Zvada looked like an incredible find through the first four weeks of the season. He was accurate and consistent kicking field goals with the kind of range that Giants fans have been wanting for years. On top of that, his kick-offs were legitimate weapons, consistently dropping the ball inside of the 5-yard line and setting the coverage team up for success.
Then the game against the Washington Commanders happened and Zvada has suddenly looked lost.
John Harbaugh has publicly supported the undrafted rookie, trying to build his confidence rather than fire shots across his bow. And it’s worth remembering that the kicking operation is incredibly finicky. The best kickers aren’t the ones with the strongest legs, but rather almost inhuman consistency in their mechanics. A difference of even an inch in where the plant foot lands can lead to missing one way or the other, as can a difference of a degree in foot angle.
The reason for confidence in Zvada is that Harbaugh is a special teams coach at heart and he himself was confident in Zvada even after watching him go through similar struggles at Michigan. We’ve seen that Zvada has the potential to be an excellent kicker for the Giants and was their sole offensive weapon against the Titans and much of the game against the Cardinals.
So hopefully Harbaugh’s patience will be rewarded and Zvada can reset and settle in over the bye week. But those patience won’t last forever, and the Giants can’t afford to leave points on the table as they enter the meat of their schedule.
