Giants Season Preview 2024

The Giants fell apart last year finishing 6-11 and then went on to lose two of their top players in free agency in safety Xavier McKinney and the ever-popular franchise running back Saquon Barkley (to the hated Eagles).  They realized the contract they gave QB Daniel Jones off a mirage of a good 2022 season was disastrous.  So much so that they tried to trade up for a franchise QB in the draft and offered a ransom to the Patriots to try to get Drake Maye (and were rejected).  There is a valid reason that many think they will win 5 games this year.
As an aside- and hindsight is always 20/20, they should have franchised Jones and either slightly overpaid for Barkley or let Barkley go the prior year.

As hurtful as it is to see a talented player and great guy in Barkley leave, it was the right move to let him go.  The stats are clear that Running backs are just not worth that much and Barkley, between age and injury is not the explosive player he was.  With an improved line and passing game, he will no doubt put up good numbers this year in Philly, but won’t be elite and won’t be very productive by the end of the contract.

The Giants had too many needs to spend $13m a year on a Running back.
 
That’s the bad news.  Yet somehow there is a bull case for these Giants.  The Bull case still only gets me to 7 wins and I am certainly more than capable of looking at it through Blue tinted Glasses, but here it goes.

Jones is healthy now.  Their line is materially improved.  Their line is still bad, but it was historically bad last year and very few quarterbacks are good enough to throw a very bad line.  The biggest improvements are often when going from Horrible to just plain below average.  Andrew Thomas being back and healthy will be helpful and the veterans Runayn and Eluemunor are both solid played JMS will have to show growth from a very subpar rookie year.  Evan Neal -don’t ask.  The former #7 overall pick seems to be a bust.  He has lost his starting job and this may be a good thing.  The hope is for him to be the swing tackle.

Instead of trading up for a QB the Giants perhaps got the best WR in the class in Malik Nabers.  The steady Slayton now shifted to a more fitting WR2 role, and WanDale Robinson showed a lot in the slot.  Hyatt showed tremendous speed and promise last year and could break out in his second year (And will almost certainly mean the last year of Slayton’s Giants Career).

Wide Receivers are worth much more than running backs in this league and Nabors will make the unit a good one.  Jones hasn’t had one this good since he came to NY.  Rookie Tight End Theo Johnson looked like he could add value in his first year despite being a 4th rounder.  Jones will likely have a year almost good enough to keep his contract, but it won’t be good enough.  He will be gone unless he renegotiates his contract.

The RB position will take a step back, but Singeltary is a solid pro and Tyrone Tracey showed good promise before a preseason injury.

This offense won’t be elite but could be materially improved from last year.
 
On defense, the biggest change is the addition of Brian Burns by trade /extension with Carolina.

He is a great pass rusher with great speed and moves.  With Kayvon Thibodeaux on the other side, teams will have to pick who to double, leaving one with a good match up.  Combined with Giants best player Dexter Lawrnce on the inside, the pass rush will take a lot of stress off of the weak secondary.

Banks is the nominal CB1 but is still developing and a late signing of Adoree Jackson helps a little but is still not good.  Their safety’s with Nubin and Pinnock are young and solid.

Okereke commands the middle of the field and I Suspect that when Deyonte Johnson gets healthy, he will unseat Micah Mcfadden for the starting job.  Either way they will be removed on passing down for athletic freak Isaiah Simmons.

Coach Daboll calling the plays will help.  He is a good play designer /caller and will put them in position to succeed.
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Their overall talent level is still not good, and Jones on his best days is still a mediocre QB who will almost certainly be replaced next year.  If the Giants stay healthy, they could win 7 games.  However, given the contract situation / injury guarantees, it wouldn’t be surprising if Jones is benched 2/3 through the season; this would limit the Giants as both Lock and the popular DeVito are not NFL starter quality players.