The New York Giants are right on the cusp of camp season, with mandatory minicamp scheduled for June 17-19 and training camp next after that in late July.
And according to WFAN beat reporter Paul Dottino on the “Big Blue Kickoff Live” podcast, one intriguing Giants camp battle to watch for could involve former draft picks Cor’Dale Flott and Tre Hawkins.
“Hawkins [is] the bigger, longer corner compared to Cor’Dale Flott,” Dottino first noted. Clarifying that, in his opinion, both should be “boundary” cornerbacks at the NFL level, meaning they shouldn’t be utilized in the slot.
“I’ve told you, I don’t like Flott in the slot,” the veteran Giants reporter continued. “I think Flott is a better boundary corner, he plays the position better [and] he knows how to use the sideline. He handles that responsibility much better than he does the left go out of the slot.”
“So, for me, Hawkins [versus] Flott is one of the things I’m going to be watching in training camp and during the preseason,” Dottino eventually stated.
Although he acknowledged that Flott is “way ahead of” Hawkins in the early stages of this camp battle, Dottino also had a warning for the injury-prone third-round talent.
Voicing: “If Flott can’t stay on the field and show the Giants that he deserves to be in that [backup boundary CB] spot, Hawkins may have a chance to try and wrestle that away from him and move ahead of him on the depth chart.”
Giants CB Tre Hawkins Has Flashed at OTAs
It’s been a strong OTAs for the 24-year-old Hawkins, who is actually a year older than Flott despite the latter entering the league one season before him.
Hawkins intercepted rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart on June 5, winning a jump ball battle over undrafted rookie Da’Quan Felton to secure the takeaway.
On the flip side, Flott was burnt by veteran wide receiver Darius Slayton on a Russell Wilson “moon ball” on Thursday, according to The Athletic’s Dan Duggan.
With that being said, it’s very clear that Flott is still ahead of Hawkins on the Giants’ CB pecking order at this time, with Flott spelling Deonte Banks as a starter this week and Hawkins getting reps with the second-team defense behind him.
“I think what happened [with Hawkins was] when he got here, he was too raw, got thrown into the deep end of the pool so quickly, I think it actually set him back — I really believe that,” Dottino said on the podcast. “[But] he does have a nice toolbox.”
He concluded by reiterating that “Flott has a large lead, but that is a battle that I’m going to be looking forward to.”
Status of Giants CB Room Heading Into Training Camp
Assuming the Giants don’t make any major changes from now until the start of training camp, here’s what the positional battle looks like on paper.
Barring injury, the starters are expected to be newcomer Paulson Adebo and Banks, unless Banks continues his 2024 regression. Dru Phillips also feels like a near lock to start in the slot.
From there, you have Flott, Hawkins and Art Green as the top candidates to compete for a CB4 role, with ex-Kansas City Chiefs draft pick Nic Jones as the main backup slot corner so far at OTAs.
2025 seventh-rounder Korie Black, pickup Dee Williams, and UDFAs TJ Moore and O’Donnell Fortune will be in the mix at cornerback too, so long as they remain on the 90-man roster by the time we hit Giants training camp.
