The Giants.com crew members give their takeaways from the preseason opener and discuss what to look for this week in Miami.

John Schmeelk: The Giants rested some of their veteran starters on Saturday, including Brian Burns, Jevón Holland, DJ Reader, Shelby Harris, and Tremaine Edmunds. Others were battling minor injuries and did not play, which gave the Giants a chance to send out some of their players on rookie contracts to get extensive playing time.

Tyler Nubin, Deonte Banks, and Colton Hood all played the entire first half as the Vikings completed just one pass of more than 15 yards. There were three penalties called on the defensive secondary, but the coverage was generally strong throughout the half. Do Paulson Adebo and Greg Newsome II play in the second preseason game? If not, how do Banks and Hood continue to play as the defensive back competition continues?

Up front, Darius Alexander flashed a couple times, but I want to see how he and the rest of the defensive front stop the run. Jack Kelly was easy to notice as a blitzer and Arvell Reese was not shy attacking the line of scrimmage in the run game. The Giants did give up a pair of explosive runs early in the game, and I would like to see that go away in the second preseason game, along with the seven penalties the team committed.

Overall, it was a positive first performance, but there is always room for improvement as the John Harbaugh era continues.

Dan Salomone: At the very most, the Giants are on track to enter the regular season with a kicker and long snapper who have a combined three games of NFL experience. That would be if Ben Sauls wins the kicking competition over Dominic Zvada, who is an undrafted rookie just like Ben Mann.

That's why live game reps are important this preseason for the revamped battery.

Sauls entered as the only returnee, having made all eight of his field goal attempts and seven extra points in the final three games of last season for the Giants. He got the nod in the preseason opener on Saturday and made his lone attempt from 46 yards as time expired in the first half, giving the Giants a 10-3 lead. He also made an extra point and handled kickoffs.

Zvada was slated to assume kicking duties in the second half, but there were no opportunities for the former All-American and 2024 Big Ten Kicker of the Year. That makes him high among the names to watch heading into the second week of the preseason.

Meanwhile, Jordan Stout is the steadying force literally and figuratively holding it all together. The former Raven was the best punter in the game last season, and he also wants to be the best holder as he switches back and forth between the lefty Sauls and righty Zvada.

"Initially, I was definitely more comfortable holding for the righty because I've been doing that for four years, but as each day goes on, I get better and better holding for Ben," Stout said in a Q&A with Giants.com at training camp in West Virginia. "I feel like I'm at a level now that is a very high level. I put myself up against anybody holding lefty. I credit that to Sam Koch back in Baltimore (Koch spent his entire 16-year career with the Ravens before transitioning to a coaching role in 2022), who taught me how to hold in the first place, and [longtime Ravens senior special teams coach] Randy Brown as well as [current Giants assistant head coach/special teams coordinator] Chris Horton."

But Stout gets paid to punt.

Saturday was the first opportunity to see him boom the football at MetLife Stadium in a Giants uniform. With a long of 60 yards, he averaged 48.7 yards per punt and downed three inside the 20.

He was also one of three game captains, joining quarterback Jaxson Dart and outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux for the pregame coin toss. It underscored the importance of his veteran presence on special teams.

"All my other years, I had Justin Tucker and Nick Moore, who are both tenured vets, as well as Sam Koch who was around a lot of the time," Stout said. "So, I was the young guy for a while. It's kind of nice being the older guy, the one where they come to me to look for wisdom, and I feel like it's helping me as a football player and mentor to be able to talk to those guys through hardships."

Matt Citak: The Giants made some significant moves in the offseason to improve the offensive weapons around second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart. Between free agency and the draft, the Giants made a big move in each to that end. And in the preseason opener, it was easy to see why each move was made.

Let's start with the free-agent acquisition in Isaiah Likely. The Giants wasted no time in agreeing to a deal with the veteran tight end, as news broke less than two hours into the negotiating period. Coach John Harbaugh was obviously familiar with Likely after their four seasons together in Baltimore, but now the 6-foot-4 tight end would get an opportunity to be a team's No. 1 tight end for the first time in his young career. The chemistry between Dart and Likely was clear from the start of spring practices, as the quarterback seemed to target his new tight end often during team drills. In the preseason opener, Likely was on the field for only six snaps, all of which were pass plays, and was targeted twice. He caught both passes for 11 yards, and each resulted in a first down. Likely could serve as Dart's security blanket this season, which would lead to a big uptick in targets for the 26-year-old.

About six weeks after signing Likely, the Giants traded up in the draft to select Malachi Fields. The team went into the draft without a third-round pick due to last year's trade to get Dart. In order to secure Fields, the Giants surrendered their fourth-round pick (No. 105), fifth-round pick (No. 145) and next year's fourth-round pick to move up to the middle of the third round (No. 74). The rookie was known for his ability to make contested catches at Notre Dame, and that skillset was on full display in his first NFL game. Fields was on the field for 11 passing plays. He was targeted on three of them and caught all three passes for 34 yards and a score. His touchdown grab came after a scramble drill from Dart, which included the rookie wideout making an impressive catch in the end zone. Meanwhile, his other two receptions also led to first downs for the offense.

"I thought he played all around really well," coach John Harbaugh said Sunday about Fields. "He did some things on special teams, which was cool to see. He practices that every day really well. He blocked exceptionally well in the run game as a wide receiver in some of those insert blocks and going to get to safeties and things like that, tremendously. Thought he ran his routes really well. Even when he didn't get the ball, the routes were run correctly. Right depths, right amount of steps, right splits. All those things that make so much (of a) difference that, really honestly, we need to clean up across the board to present better pictures for our quarterback. He did all those things really well. He didn't play like a rookie out there. It was really fun to see. Now, hey, keep getting better."

It should come as no surprise that Fields and Likely were the Giants' two highest-ranked players on offense by Pro Football Focus. In fact, Fields was named to PFF's Rookie of the Week Team following his performance against the Vikings. The Giants used significant resources in order to bring both Likely and Fields to East Rutherford this offseason. Between what we've seen in spring and summer practices, along with the first game action this past weekend, both players look like they could play significant roles in the offense. This week in Miami should allow both pass-catchers another chance to further develop their chemistry with their starting quarterback.