byJohn Schmeelk,Dan Salomone&Matt Citak

The Giants' offseason workouts begin April 21 at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center. The nine-week program is conducted in three phases, beginning with meetings, strength and conditioning, and physical rehabilitation only. They eventually ramp up to 10 organized team practice activities (OTAs) and finish with a three-day minicamp from June 17 to 19.

As the team gears up for spring football simultaneously with the draft, the Giants.com crew discusses who could be turning heads this spring.

John Schmeelk:This is always the time in April when Dan wants to take a step away from the draft and talk about something else. Every year I figure out a way to redirect the question to the draft because I am still knee-deep in getting through as many players as I can (got past 100 this week).

The guy who is going to turn the most heads in spring workouts is not on the roster yet. The Giants'free agent class will help the team, but safeties, cornerbacks and veteran defensive tackles don't generally turn heads and there isn't anyone from last year's rookie class that I think will show much more than what they already did in 2024.

Whoever is selected by the Giants, whether it is Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders, Abdul Carter, Travis Hunter or some wild card, is going to turn the most heads. They all play attention-grabbing positions and can quickly become stars. That's where all the attention is going to be.

It could also be the Giants' second-round pick if they walk away with an athletic, up-field pass rusher at defensive tackle or someone who touches the ball on offense. I would turn my head to see a starting-caliber guard taken in the second round, but I think I would be the only one.

Dan Salomone:As I mentioned inlast weeks Fact or Fiction, Joe Schoen, Brian Daboll, Russell Wilson, and Jameis Winston all recently spoke within a six-day span. And each one referenced second-year tight end Theo Johnson unprompted. While the quarterbacks and future draft picks will surely get plenty of attention, spring is the time for young skill players to set themselves up for a big summer and fall.

"Dabs wants to throw it downfield, and those explosive plays are important," Schoen said in aone-on-one interview with Giants.com. "You don't have to go 10 or 11 plays. That helps if you get explosives on any series. We've got the weapons to do it. [Darius] Slayton, [Jalin] Hyatt, [Malik] Nabers, Wan'Dale [Robinson] in the slot, Theo can stretch the seam. We've got fast receivers. We've got guys that can get open vertically, get open down the field, and that's one of the things that Russ does well. I'm excited to get everybody in and start developing the offense because one of the strengths of Daboll is taking the pieces that we have and developing the offense around those guys. I think Dabs will figure out what Russ likes and what he does well and pair it with the weapons at receiver, tight end, and running back."

"I would say we have some fast guys on the perimeter and we have some big young tight ends that can get down the seam," Dabollsaid at the Annual League Meeting. "Where that goes from here, we've got get together and put together something that's good for everybody."

"Watching this freak of an athlete in Nabers, this guy, when he touches the ball, he may score every single time," Wilsonsaid in his introductory press conference. "He's been exciting. Got to talk to him along the way. He's fired up and we've had a lot of good conversations so far. Just really excited to get to work. Excited about the young guys, guys like Theo and what he can do and the experienced guys like Darius and his ability to get down the field and make plays."

"Well, you have a young superstar, two young super stars, three young superstars from the tape that I've seen,"Winston said, "when I watched Malik, Wan'Dale and Theo, and an emerging superstar in Jalin Hyatt."

Matt Citak:Contact is not permitted during offseason workouts, which takes out all of the excitement from the matchups in the trenches. Otherwise, my answer here would have easily been Andrew Thomas, whom we have not seen on the field since he suffered his season-ending foot injury in Week 6. However, when speaking to the media at the NFL Combine, general manager Joe Schoen described the franchise left tackle as looking "humongous" and well on his way to recovering from his October surgery.

Instead, I'm going to go with the team's youthful secondary as the group that will turn heads this spring. The Giants hit on both of their Day 2 picks last year with the selections of safety Tyler Nubin and cornerback Dru Phillips. Despite missing the final four games of the season, Nubin finished with the most total tackles among all NFL rookies with 98. The young safety had missed only two defensive snaps through the first 12 weeks of the season and was leading the team in tackles at the time of his injury. Nubin also held up in coverage, allowing just 19 receptions for 204 yards and no touchdowns across 440 coverage snaps. Meanwhile, Phillips was not only one of the top rookie cornerbacks this year, but he also landed on Pro Football Focus' top 10 ranking of all cornerbacks in 2024. The 23-year-old was a strong run defender while also flashing in coverage during his rookie campaign.

Of course, these two talented youngsters will now be joined in the secondary by veterans Paulson Adebo and Jevn Holland, neither of whom are 26 years old at the time of this writing. Both have a track record of success in the NFL, whether it's Adebo's tendency to get his hands on the football or Holland's ability to play all over the field. These two will not only serve as the leaders in the secondary, but they will also help mentor the two younger DBs, along with Deonte Banks, Cor'Dale Flott, and the rest of the defensive backs, as this group looks to take a big step in 2025. And it all begins this spring. While I don't necessarily expect the secondary to start picking off passes left and right during spring workouts, as the team's QB room is more stable now with the veteran additions to the group, I do believe we will begin to see the group getting their hands on the ball more often than we've seen in recent years. While most of the attention will be on the signal-callers under center during spring workouts, I'll be keeping a close eye on the backend of the defense.

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