Game Preview: Giants’ 100th season begins now

Perhaps the biggest difference between the teams is at quarterback, where Jones is beginning his sixth season with the Giants and Sam Darnold will play his first game for the Vikings, his fourth team. But the similarities also extend to them, as each was a first-round draft choice of a team in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area. Darnold was the third overall selection by the Jets in 2018 and Jones was picked by the Giants a year later.

Jones has been the starter since the third game of his rookie season, though he has missed 21 games with injuries (and another due to Daboll’s decision to keep him out of the 2022 season finale). Last year, a neck injury and torn ACL limited him to only six games.

“I spent some time on the sideline watching the game and wishing you were out there,” he said. “I’m excited to be back. Certainly grateful and very appreciative of all the help I’ve had throughout this whole journey and people who have done a lot to help me get back. I’m excited to be out there.”

While Jones has remained with the Giants, Darnold had stints with the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers before joining the Vikings. He secured the starting job when first-round draft choice J.J. McCarthy tore his right meniscus in the preseason opener and subsequently underwent surgery. Though this is his seventh season, Darnold is only 27 and views this as an opportunity to restart his career, starting in the stadium that was once his home.

“I’ve watched Sam for a long time at all the spots he’s been, whether it’s San Francisco, the Jets, Carolina,” Daboll said. “He’ll be ready to play. He’s a pro. Got a lot of respect for him.”

The Vikings present offensive challenges that Daboll called, “significant,” beginning with arguably the NFL’s premier wide receiver.

“Start with (Justin) Jefferson,” he said. “You better know where he’s lined up. He can hurt you in all three areas of the field. Catch and run, intermediate, vertical, double moves. They’ll use him in a variety of spots, and then you look on the opposite side of it with (Jordan) Addison, who we did a lot of work on when he was coming out last year, who’s an exceptional route runner, very gifted receiver, was excellent at Pitt. They acquired a veteran in (Aaron) Jones, who’s a very good runner, can run inside, run outside, solid offensive line, and Sam.”

But as Daboll has said repeatedly, the Giants must be concerned,first and foremost, with the Giants. As noted, they enter this game after an offseason of significant change. Devin Singletary has replaced Saquon Barkley as the lead running back. Guards Jon Runyan and Greg Van Roten and right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor are new starters on the offensive line. Two-time Pro Bowler Brian Burns arrived via a trade with the Panthers to upgrade the pass rush. All six draft choices have a chance to contribute immediately.

The rookie expected to have the most significant impact is wide receiver Malik Nabers, who was taken sixth in the first round. Nabers was the fourth wide receiver from LSU to be drafted in the first round since 2014. The others were Odell Beckham, Jr. (by the Giants in 2014), Jefferson in 2020, and Ja’Marr Chase by Cincinnati in 2021. They finished their rookie seasons with 1,305, 1,400 and 1,455 receiving yards, respectively, and are three of the six wide receivers to record 1,300+ yards in their rookie season in the Super Bowl era.

If Nabers becomes the fourth, he will not only join elite company, but the Giants and Vikings will have another tie thatbinds in their continuing similarity. But the Giants just want to win.

“Guys have done everything they could possibly do through OTAs, through training camp,” Daboll said. “Coaches spent a lot of time preparing for opening game. The unique thing about the opening game is you have 17 games plus additional information to look at. There’s information overload at times as a coach when you’re looking at things. With the day off (Thursday), wetightened things up, coaching staff wise, minimized some of the things to make sure that we can go out there and play fast, know what to do and play physical. That’s what really, I’d say, the first few weeks are in the National Football League. We’ve done everything we possibly can do. We’ll … go out there and try to compete and play as tough, physical and smart football as we can.”

*The Giants are 51-43-5 in season-opening games. They are 51-45-3 in home openers, 17-16 in season-opening home games, and 4-10 in MetLife Stadium openers.

*Minnesota has won the last four regular-season games between the teams and leads the series, 17-10. The Giants’ last regular-season victory against the Vikings was on a Monday night in 2013. But the Giants lead the postseason series, 3-1, including a 31-24 victory in their most recent meeting in the 2022 NFC Wild Card Game. The Vikings are 1-1 vs. the Giants in MetLife Stadum, including a 28-10 victory on Oct. 6, 2019.