By Matt Lombardo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Giants training camp begins in earnest with the first practice of the summer set for July 26, but we have already learned plenty about this year's team after a spring's worth of OTA and minicamp practices.

Here's a look at which players saw their stock rise, and who saw theirs fall this spring, heading into training camp and the 2018 NFL preseason:

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Rising:

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RB - Wayne Gallman

The Giants' backfield belongs to No. 2 overall NFL Draft choice Saquon Barkley, who has all the trappings of a three-down bell cow who rarely comes off the field. However, this spring, second-year running back Wayne Gallman flashed plenty of speed, and elusiveness, particularly in the second-level of the defense, to provide a solid complement to Barkley. Gallman's ability to make plays after the catch will also allow the Giants' offense to maintain the unpredictability from snap-to-snap that Barkley provides.

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media

WR - Cody Latimer

If there truly is a position battle for the No. 3 wide receiver spot opposite Odell Beckham Jr., it appears to be Cody Latimer's job to lose, at this point.

Throughout the spring, Latimer showed off consistently reliable hands, with enough speed to potentially blow the cover off a defense. Already a special teams standout, Latimer has a chance to be a steady contributor on offense, particularly in three wide receiver sets with Beckham, Evan Engram, and Sterling Shepard all on the field together.

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Ranking the Giants' 15 most important players in 2018

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RT - Ereck Flowers

After skipping out on the majority of voluntary OTA practices, Ereck Flowers stepped in and seemed to perform adequately in his first few practices after moving to right tackle.

It will be much easier to get a read on how Flowers' position change has progressed once the pads go on during training camp, as well as the four exhibition games, but initial returns from this spring have been positive. If Flowers can even play at a competent level, it would go a long way towards solidifying one of the weakest offensive lines in the league last season.

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LG - Will Hernandez

The Giants invested the No. 34 overall pick in road grading offensive guard Will Hernandez, and by the middle of spring practices it was evident that the UTEP product had already nailed down the starting left guard job alongside free agent pickup Nate Solder.

Hernandez obviously plays with a nasty streak, but he has the potential to be an elite run-blocker, even as a rookie, and is the best offensive lineman that Barkley has had the opportunity to run behind.

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DL - B.J. Hill

B.J. Hill played his way onto the first-team defensive line, and garnered high praise from defensive coordinator James Bettcher in the process.

"One of the things when we drafted B.J.," Bettcher said recently. "What was part of us selecting him was because we thought he has a potential to be a three-down player. Whether that’s a middle push guy, whether that’s a guy that can beat some guards and create some disruption for either edge players, or edge pressure guys.

It wouldn't be a surprise to see Hill, a third-round pick, playing a significant role in the Giants' defensive line rotation this fall.

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LB - Lorenzo Carter

The first of the Giants' two third-round selections in the NFL Draft, Carter has the chance to have an immediate impact as a starting linebacker alongside Alec Ogletree, B.J. Woodson, and Kareem Martin, with Olivier Vernon rotating in as a situational pass-rusher.

Athletically, Carter is a bit of a freak of nature, and was a former five-star recruit out of high school before arriving at Georgia where he played alongside first-round pick Roquan Smith.

By the end of spring practices, Carter was taking a significant amount of reps with the first-team defense, and his ability to both set the edge against the run and get after the passer was evident. Don't be surprised to see Carter among the Giants' four starting linebackers in September.

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Ryan Dunleavy | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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QB - Davis Webb

Davis Webb is coming off an impressive spring, in which he consistently showed plus-arm strength, accuracy, mobility, and seemed to have a firm grasp of head coach Pat Shurmur and offensive coordinator Mike Shula's offense.

Make no mistake, this is Eli Manning's team, but if something happens to Manning this season, Webb looks more than ready to step in and play at a high level.

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K - Aldrick Rosas

The Giants' special teams were among the worst in the league last season, and if 2018 is going to be any different, that can't happen again.

Rosas appears to have the inside track for the starting kicker job after a solid spring, but he'll have to do much better than making only 18-of-25 field goal attempts last season. During one practice, Rosas was a perfect 6-for-6 on long-distance kicks that appeared to be between 45-55 yards, that kind of reliability would serve the Giants well.

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WR - Hunter Sharp

Sharp caught his first career NFL touchdown pass in Week 17 last year, after being signed away from the Denver Broncos practice squad, and hopes to pick up where he left off this season.

After spending the 2016 season and a majority of 2017 on the Broncos' practice squad, Sharp is out to prove that he can make an impact with the Giants. During several stretches of practices this spring, Sharp even saw time reps with the first-team offense in place of Beckham.

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S - Andrew Adams

Adams is among the top cover safeties on the Giants' roster, and was the starting strong safety in 2016 when he made 46 tackles and intercepted one pass as a rookie.

Last season, Adams made 34 tackles in 16 games but only four of which were starts. Throughout the spring, with Landon Collins continuing to rehab from a surgically repaired forearm, Adams thrived in extra reps with the first-team defense.

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Saquon Barkley opens up about relationship with Odell Beckham Jr.

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C/OG - Jon Halapio

It's difficult to fully evaluate offensive line play before the pads go on in practice, but the fact that Halapio played his way from primarily a backup role, to garnering a majority of first-team reps at center by the end of spring practices gives us an indicator of just how the position battle is shaping up for a starting center job that most assumed was earmarked for Brett Jones.

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media f

Falling:

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QB - Kyle Lauletta

Kyle Lauletta did little to assuage concerns about his arm-strength this spring, and looks far more like a work in progress than a quarterback ready to compete for the job as Eli Manning's primary backup.

Lauletta still might develop into a serviceable NFL quarterback, and the sample size is still too small to come anywhere close to making a full evaluation of his NFL potential, but the Giants likely hope that he does not have to see the field this season.

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RB - Jonathan Stewart

Perhaps the most puzzling move of the Giants' offseason was signing Jonathan Stewart as a free agent, made even more so by the fact that Gallman appears to have leapfrogged the veteran on the depth chart.

Stewart looked like a plodding running back throughout the spring, and doesn't offer the upside as a pass-catcher out of the backfield that Gallman does, which could further limit his role even more than his decreased speed.

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C - Brett Jones

It was expected after Weston Richburg signed with the San Francisco 49ers that Jones would walk into the starting center job, but that has not been the case this spring.

Jones began the offseason program taking a bulk of the first-team reps, but was largely relegated to the second-team by the end of spring as Halapio took a majority of the first-team snaps.

Center will still be one of the most hotly contested position battles on the practice field at training camp this summer, but it is looking more likely that Jones has gone from starting center to the backup center and swing guard.

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DL - R.J. McIntosh

Rookie defensive lineman R.J. McIntosh did not take a single snap this entire spring, as he deals with what the Giants are deeming a 'minor medical condition,' and head coach Pat Shurur revealed that McIntosh will undergo a procedure this summer.

McIntosh was diagnosed with a thyroid condition during the NFL Combine, and it seems as though it is trending towards him being more likely to make the practice squad than the 53-man roster, at this point.

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OG - John Jerry

John Jerry started 16 games last season, and the Giants were so impressed that they signed Patrick Omameh as a free agent and invested a second-round NFL Draft pick in Will Hernandez.

At this point, it seems like Jerry might even be behind Jones, and John Greco for the swing-guard job as the third offensive guard ... If he even makes the team.

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TALK IS CHEAP PODCAST:

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HOW TO REACH ME:

Matt Lombardo may be reached at MLombardo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattLombardoNFL

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Brendan Kuty | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com