Dabs’ Digest: Preparing the Giants for an overseas trip

Q: Tyrone Tracy (Jr.) said you had a meeting with this year’s six draft choices, he thinks it was after Week 2. The message was, “we can be the motor for this season. It doesn’t have to be the veteran guys.” Do you normally meet with draft choices that early? Or did you sense early on that this could be a particularly productive class?

Daboll: “I just thought it was an important meeting to have with these young players. All of them have the things that we look for, relative to the type of people that they are. And they’re good players. You want to develop your young players. Throughout the season, they’re going to have some mistakes. But I think they all have the right makeup. They all have talent. And they all have some leadership about them. Anybody can be a leader when you have guys that do the right things, whether they’re a rookie, whether they’re a five-year player, whatever it may be. Our rookies, they do the right stuff. They have good talent. They’re learning as we go, but I have a lot of confidence in those young guys. And it’s okay for young players to step up and perform. When they’re performing, they should be able to lead.”

Q: How important is it, as an organization, to have a core group of young guys like that that can grow together?

Daboll: “I think it is important. We spend a lot of time on the draft process. You don’t hit on everybody. But the guys that you do tons of research on that come in and they are what you thought they were when they came in, then you see them on the practice field, you implement into your systems – it is important.”

Q: This is the only team whose two top yards-from-scrimmage leaders are rookies. Tyrone has 558 (yards) and Malik (Nabers) has 557. Of course, he missed two games.

Daboll: “Keep on developing those guys, but they’re good players for us.”

Q: Obviously, they’re not perfect, with missed tackles, dropped balls, etc. But have you ever believed in or are you concerned about the so-called “rookie wall.” Is that something you monitor or look for?

Daboll: “I think, as I started out my career and then evolved in the career, there’s so much more sports science that is involved to help these players. Again, Aaron Wellman does a great job of helping with practice plans and making sure that we’re doing the right stuff for their bodies. I think Dr. Lani (Lawrence, director of wellness and clinical services) and the player programs, Ashley (Lynn, the director of player engagement) and Brandon (Harlin, player engagement coordinator), do a good job with the players in trying to develop them outside of the building and keep their minds right. So, we spend a lot of time and resources to try to help these young players and I think that’s important. It is a longer season for them, but they’ve done a nice job of doing the things they need to do to be ready each week.”

Q: (Wide receiver) Wan’Dale (Robinson) has 51 catches. This is the only team with two players with 50-plus catches, but he’s averaging 6.7 yards a catch. Can a wide receiver be a significant asset to a team averaging under 7.0 yards a catch?

Daboll: “He is a great asset for us. Based on his role and some of the things he does, some of it is an extension of the run game, too, where he’s open in some short spaces. Now, he can push the ball, too. He’s got good speed. He’s got good running after the catch. Instinctive. Smart. He’s a good young receiver.”

Q: Where are you with Darius Slayton (who is in the NFL concussion protocol)?

Daboll: “He’s not going on the trip. That means Jalin Hyatt is going to have an opportunity to play some more football.”

Q: You mentioned Jalin is going to have a chance. He said (Wednesday), “I didn’t take advantage of my last chance.” He’s owning it. Have you seen him progress? He made a great catch at practice yesterday.

Daboll: “He did. That was a great catch. He’s got the right mindset. He works hard. That’s the role of a player that is a backup for you at this point, behind Darius and Malik. But he works hard at practice. He works in the meeting room. The biggest thing for these guys, much like Darius when Malik was out or Azeez (Ojulari) with (Kayvon) Thibodeaux out, is to take advantage of your opportunities. And I know he’s doing everything to try to do that.”

Q: (Rookie safety) Tyler Nubin had 13 interceptions and 11 pass defenses in college. He’s had neither this season, despite missing just two snaps. Is that a skill that just hasn’t transferred to the NFL? Does it sometimes take time? He seems to be doing everything well, except getting his hands on the ball.

Daboll: “That’s something we’d like to improve on, not just with Nubin, but with our entire defense, is take the ball away. Get our hands on the ball when it’s up in the air. Strip the ball out. It’s big. Getting takeaways is a huge element to getting the success that we look for.”

Q: Do you expect (kicker Graham) Gano and (punter Jamie) Gillan to both play?

Daboll: “I’m hopeful. Graham kicked well (Wednesday). We’ll see how he feels today. He made all his kicks, including a 53-yarder into the wind. Jamie thinks he’s going to be okay. Graham said he feels pretty good. So, I think both of those guys will be ready to go. But you never know.”

Q: The Panthers announced that (quarterback) Bryce Young is starting. Did you expect him to start?

Daboll: “I don’t know. They’ve had (Andy) Dalton and Bryce playing. I don’t want to speak for those guys. I watched Bryce (Young) when he was coming out (in 2024, when he was the first selection in the draft). He’s a young quarterback in this league that has talent. He played a good game last game. He drove down there at the end of the game against the Saints. He hasn’t had an easy road to start out his career and have a lot of respect for him. He’s a good young player.”

Q: In Carolina, they said that might have been his best game.

Daboll: “He did a nice job at the end of the game of driving them down and hitting the pass (26 yards to Xavier Legette) and getting a pass interference penalty and punching it in with the run game there with (running back Chuba) Hubbard. Again, not an easy position to play. He has the talent. He was very, very, very productive at Alabama and went through some growing pains early on in his career. He’s only been a quarterback basically for a year in the NFL. He’s got a lot of talent.”

Q: It seems like they’re likely to activate (rookie running back) Jonathan Brooks (who has not played this season after undergoing ACL surgery last year at Texas) and team him with Hubbard, who is on pace for a 1,000-yard season.

Daboll: “(Brooks is a) good player. They like to give the ball to Hubbard. He’s a productive player. This would be Brooks’ first game. He was a productive guy at Texas. We’re going to have to do a good job in the run game here.”

Q: Speaking of rookies, their top three receivers (Legette, Ja’Tavion Sanders and Jalen Coker) are all rookies.

Daboll: “Yeah, good young players. Really liked Legette coming out of South Carolina. Big, strong, physical. Run after catch. Good workouts before the draft. Explosive. I think he’s going to be a good player.”

Q: They’re last in the league in points and yards allowed, but they’re coming off a good game.

Daboll: “Week-to-week league. You get a win like they won, it instills some confidence in the guys. Every week you’ve got to play your best.”

Q: Cornerback Jaycee Horn has played very well and (rookie free agent safety) Demani Richardson made his first starts the last two weeks and had 23 tackles.

Daboll: “Young guys making the most of their opportunity. Horn has been a good player since he’s been in the league. He’s a good corner. He can play man-to-man. He can play zone. Tackle. Physical. Good player.”