One year ago, the Giants reported for training camp with Landon Collins, Olivier Vernon and Damon “Snacks’’ Harrison as three pillars on defense, and Odell Beckham Jr. as not only the most electrifying player on the offense, but one of the most sensational talents in the entire league.

Slightly more than a month after arriving at camp, Beckham signed a five-year contract extension worth $90 million, seemingly ensuring his status as the face of the franchise long after Eli Manning left the scene.

Well, we know how all this played out. Harrison, the run-stopping force, and young cornerback Eli Apple were traded away at the midpoint of another lost season. Collins did not sufficiently impress the new front office or coaching regime, and the Giants did not even make a push to keep him as he departed in free agency to the Redskins. Beckham did his thing in the first 12 games before a quad contusion sent him to the sideline, and he never was seen again in a Giants uniform — traded to the Browns, as was Vernon, the team’s sack leader.

The players who comprise the roster arriving to work on Wednesday — rookies and a few select veterans report two days earlier — are viewed around the NFL as a rag-tag group unworthy of playoff consideration. The vibe attached to the team this summer is more blah than buzz.

It is fitting the most intriguing newcomer, quarterback Daniel Jones, is a rookie starting out firmly behind 38-year old Manning — back for a 16th season, desperately hoping to reverse a stark downward trend to the last vestiges of his career. Jones, 22, is the future — surely not the too-distant future, as teams rarely keep such investments (No. 6-overall pick) on the bench too long. So, for the first time, Manning heads into a camp sharing time and space with his replacement, upping the ante on Manning needing to look fresh and young(ish) and the more capable quarterback.

Manning and Jones worked side-by-side in the spring as the second-year vision of general manager Dave Gettleman and coach Pat Shurmur took shape on a team that is seen as woefully lacking by evaluators throughout the league. There is not much the Giants can do between now and their Sept. 8 regular-season opener against the Cowboys to sway the overlying opinion outside the building that they are also-rans.

The new group, with running back Saquon Barkley entering Year 2 as the ultimate weapon on the field and the consummate leader off it, is filled with “what ifs,’’ players who “have a chance’’ and “possess intriguing ability’’ — the calling cards for players who have yet to prove a thing. There were signs of progress during the organized team activity sessions and the minicamps. Of course, if hope cannot spring eternal in May and June, it never will.

“If you are going to build chemistry, we have a lot of new and a lot of young, so the more time they can spend together, the better,’’ Shurmur said. “Every team is different. There are some teams that have older players that have played together for a very long time and that may not be quite as important. I think the time they spend together is going to help in the long run.’’

see also

Welcome to Eli Mannings last stand

As training camp approaches next week, Post NFL columnist Steve…

The Giants will spend plenty of time together the next six weeks before they play a game that counts. The snaps of Manning and Jones will be counted and judged, a task unnecessary when Sage Rosenfelds or Jim Sorgi or Anthony Wright or Curtis Painter or Ryan Nassib were on the scene as Manning’s backups. Can Jones actually overtake Manning? Not unless Manning plays a huge part in his own demise by either getting hurt or suddenly looking too old to compete.

This camp is more about seeing if all the youth is ready to prove the outsiders wrong. Nearly the entire cornerback group is untested — DeAndre Baker, Sam Beal, Corey Ballentine, Grant Haley and Julian Love. There is a new starting safety tandem — old Antoine Bethea and young Jabrill Peppers. The pass rush is a massive concern, with outside linebackers Lorenzo Carter and newcomer Markus Golden likely a boom-or-bust duo. The receiver corps sans Beckham lacks star power. The offensive line, with a new right side in veterans Kevin Zeitler and Mike Remmers, has a chance to be Manning’s best in a decade.

The Giants head into camp viewed as a flawed and fallible franchise. It is time to see what they have and not what they lost.

Click Here: bape jacket cheap