What to look for Thursday night

Perhaps the biggest addition the Giants made on defense this offseason was bringing on Wink Martindale as the unit’s coordinator. Martindale spent the last four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens in the same position, where he led their defense to top 5 finishes in both points and yards allowed three times.

Through the first few weeks of training camp, numerous defensive players have expressed their excitement about playing in Martindale’s blitz-heavy defense. The system allows many of them to line up in multiple spots along the defense, which in turn helps keep the opposing offense on its toes. With the preseason opener finally here, Martindale likes what he’s seen from his unit during the first two weeks of camp.

“I’m excited, I’m happy with where we are at right now defensively,” the defensive coordinator exclaimed. “I think personnel and Dabs have done a great job of gathering some smart, tough, and dependable players. We’re going to be on the process of the next three preseason games finding out who’s the smartest, who’s the toughest and who’s the most dependable – because all three of those factors are what we’re going to build on. I like where we are at.”

It was clear after his hire that one of general manager Joe Schoen’s biggest priorities of the offseason was to improve the offensive line. The Giants signed G Mark Glowinski and OL Jon Feliciano in free agency and then spent first-, third-, and fifth-round picks on Evan Neal, Joshua Ezeudu and Marcus McKethan, respectively, to help bolster the O-line. The only returning player that saw significant time last season is left tackle Andrew Thomas, who is now the longest-tenured starting O-lineman.

While the unit has been working on growing its chemistry during training camp, Thursday’s game is the first chance for them to go up against real competition from another team. Their position coach has a few specific things he would like to see out of the O-line in the…