The Giants celebrate their 100th season of being an NFL franchise in 2024 as they look to build for the future of QB Daniel Jones as he attempts to play up to his four-year, $160M contract signed in early 2023. The Giants were on the right track back in 2022. Brian Daboll won coach of the year, the best record since 2016, a playoff berth for the first time since 2016, and a playoff win for the first time since 2011 when they won the Super Bowl. However, a disappointing 2023 season ended with a 6-11 record, Daniel Jones tearing his ACL in week nine, Saquon not living up to his true talent, and one of the worst offenses and defenses in the league, 2023 was not good. But could 2024 be a turning point?
2024 Offseason:
The New York Giants were eaten alive by free-agency departures. Key players in this roster purging were safety Xavier McKinney, receivers Sterling Shepard and Parris Campbell, quarterback Tyrod Taylor, and the most significant loss, RB Saquon Barkley. Barkley was drafted second overall in 2018 and since has been the brightest spot in the Giants’ darker years. A speedy and shifty back was Saquon. Despite his injuries in 2020-21, he always made the Giants offense a threat when he took the field. The front office had a choice: resign Barkley or Daniel Jones. The Giants chose the latter. A move met with a lot of questions. Saquon would then sign with hated NFC East rival, the Philidelphia Eagles. With these departures, the Giants would need to make some moves. Signing RB Devin Singletary, QB Drew Lock and WR Isaiah McKenzie. NY also traded for DE Brian Burns. The Giants would spend over $95M in free agency (18th most in the league) and about $142.3M in extensions (17th most).
The Draft:
The Giants had control of the sixth overall pick in the draft. With their selection, the Giants went with a wide receiver out of LSU, Malik Nabers. In addition to Nabers, the Giants got five other guys in the draft and signed nine additional undrafted players. Out of the total 15 players, only seven played 200+ snaps: The previously mentioned Nabers, TE Theo Johnson (Penn State, 4th round), RB Tyrone Tracy (Purdue, 5th round), safety Tyler Nubin (Minnesota, 2nd round), CB Andru Phillips (Kentucky, 3rd round), LB Darrius Muasau (UCLA, 6th round), and DL Elijah Chatman (SMU, UDFA).
2024 Rookie Stats-
Malik Nabers – 882 snaps, 109 rec, 1024 rec. yards, 7 rec. TDs
Theo Johnson – 681 snaps, 29 rec, 331 rec. yards, 1 rec TD
Tyrone Tracy – 647 snaps, 192 carries, 839 rush yards, 5 rush TDs
Tyler Nubin – 789 snaps, 98 total tackles, 1 FF, 1 FR
Andru Phillips – 614 snaps, 71 total tackles, 1 sack, 2 FF, 1 int
Darrius Muasau – 435 snaps, 55 total tackles, 1 int
Elijah Chatman – 423 snaps, 21 total tackles, 1 sack, 1 FR
Expectations:
The Giants did try to make amends for the holes left by all the offseason departures. Devin Singletary is no Saquon, but he can do well behind a good offensive line. The only problem is that the Giants don’t have a good offensive line. There is some talent, but a unit is only as good as its weakest link, and the Giants are notorious for having weak o-lines. And with a new offensive line coach, there is doubt the run game can even be close to the same as with Saquon. But there is something to look forward to. Trading for Brian Burns with a defensive line that already has Dexter Lawrence is intriguing. And with the new offensive talents of Malik Nabers from the draft, Daniel Jones will have a solid weapon to throw it up to. The Giants winning the Lombardi will be improbable as they have +20000 odds to win it all (3rd lowest). Their over-under win total is tied for the third-lowest in the league at 6.5. Nobody expects the Giants to do much, maybe show up in some games, but nothing special, with most of the league losing faith in Daniel Jones and expectations being the same as last season.
2024 Season:
Based on projected win totals, the Giants have the 14th easiest schedule in the league. And with the Giants’ front office being the last line of defense for Daniel Jones, this year was make-or-break on the starting QB of the Giants’ career. With a solid draft, an ups and downs filled free agency timeline, and not spending too much in the offseason later, could the Giants shock fans across the league and prove last year was a fluke? Well, the only fluke that was proven was their 2022 season success.
Team Offensive Stats-
5011 total offensive yards, 294.8 yards per game – 30th overall
3228 total passing yards, 189.9 YPG – 28th overall
1783 total rushing yards, 104.9 YPG – 23rd overall
273 total points scored, 16.1 points per game – 31st overall
A ROUGH offensive stretch for New York, as they’re in the bottom ten of every category. The G-men also have the lowest red zone percentage at 43.2%. It couldn’t have been easy for the offense to connect as they constantly switched QBs, from Daniel Jones to Drew Lock to Tommy DeVito to Tim Boyle. What is impressive, however, is the stats that rookie Malik Nabers put up with these four other QBs throwing to him.
Offensive leaders stats-
Daniel Jones – 216/341, 2070 passing yards, 8 passing TDs, 7 int
Tyrone Tracy – 192 carries, 839 rushing yards, 5 rushing TDs
Malik Nabers – 109 rec, 1024 rec. yards, 7 rec. TDs
The Giants 2024 draft class is starting to age better. Two of their draft picks, especially Malik Nabers, can be NFL stars. Malik, in 2024, was fifth in receptions and seventh in receiving yards. And that was with four quarterbacks throwing to him; get him an elite quarterback, and he could be one of the best in the league. But the downside of the offense was, indeed, the quarterback. The relationship between Jones and the Giants got so bad that he requested his release, and it was granted in late November. The offense struggled mightily with the QB carousel floating around and tied with the sixth most turnovers in the league, this offense just couldn’t produce much.
Team Defensive Stats-
Allowed 5896 total offensive yards, 346.8 YPG – 24th overall
Allowed 3580 total passing yards, 210.6 YPG – 8th overall
Allowed 2316 total rushing yards, 136.2 YPG – 27th overall
Allowed 415 total points, 24.4 PPG – 21st overall
How can a defense be nearly the bottom ten in every category but be top ten in least passing yards allowed? Especially the year after Xavier McKinney left. The Giants are a weird team. But a weirdly good secondary with rookie Andru Phillips being good, linebacker Bobby Okereke, and Adoree Jackson being solid in coverage. The run game, however, was a different story. Tied seventh in the league for most missed tackles, guys like safety Jason Pinnock and linebacker Micah McFadden have the most on the defense. And almost every defensive tackle besides Dexter Lawrence has had its fair struggles defending the run.
Defensive leaders stats-
Micah McFadden – 107 total tackles
Dexter Lawrence – 9 sacks
Tie – 1 int
(Dru Phillips, Tre Hawkins, Cor’Dale Flott, Darius Muasau, Dane Belton)
Again, the Giants draft did produce some guys capable of making plays. The problem is that the secondary has no one to lean on. There is no X-factor out there that can change the game like that. They have a playmaker in terms of Dexter Lawrence, as he’s the lone Pro Bowl nominee from this year. But the secondary needs more star power; they have the schemes to do it, but the talent must be searched out or developed if the Giants wanna continue doing well defending an air raid. As for the run, tackling is essential and must be brought up. They have too talented of a rush with Lawrence and Brian Burns to be struggling against the run.
Final Grade: D
Positives-
If developed correctly, the Giants’ draft this year could help them in the long run. Malik Nabers’s talents are just the beginning. But the G-men must work on flashes from Tyrone Tracy and Andru Phillips to keep up with the NFC East and the NFL as a whole. The fact that the Giants have the third overall pick in the draft will only improve.
Negatives-
“You’re paying the guy $40M. It’s not to hand the ball off to a $12M back. It’s the year for Daniel.” -Giants GM Joe Schoen. This quote from Schoen is aging like milk, and it’s a testament to how their year went. Passing up on Saquon and taking Jones instead was a disaster. Barkley had an MVP-like season on the Eagles and was insurmountable in Philly’s success. Keeping Saquon wouldn’t have solved all the problems, but it would’ve kept them competitive. But the biggest issue that must addressed in the offense is working on the protection and figuring out who will be the next Giants QB.
Yes, Daniel Jones was not the answer at QB. He struggled and wasn’t the first-round quarterback that the Giants needed after Eli Manning retired. However, if you look at the team the Giants built around him, it wouldn’t have been easy no matter what. In Daniel’s career, he played 70 games and was sacked 208 times. That’s an average of almost three sacks a game! Aaron Rodgers is the most sacked QB in NFL history, with 571 sacks in 248 games. If Daniel Jones were to be sacked on his average for another 178 games, he wouldn’t even need to play his last nine games, and the record is his.
Another issue is that the first two teams in the draft will likely take the two best QBs in the draft. If those guys aren’t available, the only logical decision would be to take CB Travis Hunter. The only issue with this is the free agency market isn’t going to be the hottest in terms of quarterbacks. Guys like Sam Darnold, Justin Fields, and Jameis Winston will be available, but there’s no guarantee of them being elite. And also, released talent will be available with Kirk Cousins or possibly Aaron Rodgers if he decides to stick around. A big QB trade could happen in New York’s offseason if they want to put the chips down. Oh, wait, they’re gonna tank another year and snatch up Archie Manning in 2026, aren’t they?
