Cover 3: First impressions of initial 53-man roster

The Giants.com crew reacts to the initial 53-man roster, which was announced on Tuesday:

John Schmeelk: I am struck by the youth on the initial roster. Of the 53 players, only nine are older than 27. Of those nine players, two are special teams players in Graham Gano and Casey Kreiter. Four of that group play on the offensive line, where having more of a veteran presence is essential. All four of those offensive linemen were additions this offseason: Jermaine Eluemunor, Aaron Stinnie, Greg Van Roten and Austin Schlottmann. Of the other three, one is the Bobby Okereke, who is a captain and the signal-caller of the defense. Tight end Chris Manhertz is another and defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches is the third. Most of those spots are positions where veterans are preferred.

On the other end of the spectrum, 29 of the 53 players are 25 or younger, with 25 only 24 years old or younger. Thirty-two of the initial 53 players on the roster have four years of experience or fewer, which means they are essentially still on their rookie contracts and haven’t hit free agency yet.

The other striking part of looking at this roster sorted by age is how many of the essential players on this roster are also some of the youngest. Malik Nabers is the only 21-year-old on the roster and he is expected to be one of the focal points of the offense. Jalin Hyatt is 22, and he should have a prominent role at wide receiver. Wan’Dale Robinson is only 23. Dru Phillips is the other 22-year-old, and he is expected to start at nickel cornerback.

Deonte Banks, Cor’Dale Flott, Dane Belton and Tyler Nubin are all 23, and they are expected, along with Phillips, to be the primary players in the secondary. Nick McCloud (26), Jason Pinnock (25) and Gervarrius Owens (24) are the other two pieces in what must be one of the youngest defensive backfields in the NFL.

There might be some bumps along the way, but watching this young group come together and learn to play as a unit will be a lot of fun this season. The Giants’ success this season will largely depend on many of their young players without a huge track record of success take the next step and prove themselves as productive NFL players.