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Fact or Fiction: Players to watch at training camp & more superlatives

BRIAN-BURNS-FOF

The Giants.com crew is presented with four statements and must decide whether they are Fact or Fiction.

In honor of this week's NBA Draft, Brian Burns is the current Giants player you think would make the best NBA player.

John Schmeelk: Fact - These are always fun and difficult because height is so important in the NBA. I'm going to automatically eliminate anyone 6'0 or lower from the conversation because it takes an immense amount of skill to succeed in the NBA at that size. Of the shorter group, Malik Nabers would be the player that I would go with given his athleticism, strength, explosiveness and leaping ability. But I can't select anyone other than Brian Burns. He's a legitimate 6'5, could definitely slim down from 250 lbs., has nearly 34 inch arms, and had a 36 inch vertical leap at the NFL Combine. He also showed great agility with a 7.01 3-cone drill. He might be the best athlete on the team when you take size into consideration. Burns is the answer here.

Matt Citak: Fiction - Burns is a great choice, but I have to go with one of his fellow edge rushers for this one. Abdul Carter might be a couple of inches shorter than Burns, but the rookie linebacker is listed as a few pounds heavier than the veteran. We have yet to see Carter perform in pads as a member of the Giants, but his athleticism was evident throughout the spring. Between his quickness and power, Carter would make it quite difficult for defenders to size him up in the paint.

If any player on the roster could go pro in a sport other than football, it would be Dante Miller running track.

John Schmeelk: Fiction - I'm going to go with the cheap cop-out and go with Russell Wilson in baseball. He was drafted by the Orioles with the 41st round in 2007 out of high school and then went in the 4th round of the 2010 Major League Baseball draft to the Colorado Rockies. Wilson even played Minor League baseball in 2011 in the Rockies system before transferring to Wisconsin. Wilson was a professional baseball player so there really is no other answer here.

Matt Citak: Fact - To be 100 percent honest, as I was coming up with these prompts, I completely forgot about Wilson's old baseball career. Nonetheless, I'm sticking with Dante "Turbo" Miller here. Miller is one of, if not the fastest player on the team. He ran track & field during his days at Columbia University, and finished in third place in the 60m at the Villanova Invitational back in 2020. Every time I watch Miller run with the football up close, I'm impressed by his speed. I'd love to see him run in a track & field race.

See all of the action from Giants Minicamp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center.

Jaxson Dart is the offensive player you are most interested to see at training camp.

John Schmeelk: Fact - It has to be, right? I will warn everyone not to take too much out of what we see on the practice field, or even in preseason games. We have seen some players dominate the summer and preseason games before their careers completely fizzle out. We have seen others play terribly in the summer and turn out to have great NFL careers. Regardless of those caveats, I am anxious to see how Dart continues to grow and learn as he gets more experience. I am excited to see how he does against live competition, especially in the live scrimmages against the Jets. Dart is the potential future franchise quarterback, making this an easy answer. All eyes, including mine, will be on him this summer.

Matt Citak: Fiction - My answer might be a little more boring, but I'm going with Andrew Thomas. Over the last two seasons, we have seen what happens to the offensive line when Thomas goes down with an injury. He was an All-Pro left tackle in 2022, and in his 16 games he's played over the last two years, he's played well. We didn't see Thomas do much during the spring as he continued his rehab from last year's foot injury. Getting the franchise left tackle back on the field and preparing him for the regular season is one of the biggest things to keep an eye in training camp.

Abdul Carter is the defensive player you are most interested to see at training camp.

John Schmeelk: Fact - I thought about going with Paulson Adebo here, especially given his potential one-on-one matchups with Malik Nabers but let's not get too clever here. Carter was the third overall pick and we haven't seen him in a Giants uniform in pads yet. He showed athleticism in the spring but I am excited to see how he looks against the Giants offensive linemen with pads and both groups being physical with full contact. In the Jets scrimmages he will have the chance to go against his former teammate Olu Fashanu. I want to see how he can leverage his bull rush and power to compliment his speed and ability to bend the edge. One-on-ones are going to be a lot of fun.

Matt Citak: Fact - As I mentioned in my first answer, we saw glimpses of Carter's athleticism in the spring when the ball would get snapped and he would be in the quarterback's face within the blink of an eye. Doing that in the spring when there's no contact is one thing, but doing it during training camp when the offensive linemen can fully engage is very different. I cannot wait to see the training camp matchups between Carter and Thomas/Jermaine Eluemunor.

Take a look at rare photos of New York Giants training camps through the years.

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