Rookie head coach Joe Judge has a huge task. He has to bring the Giants back into an era or disciplined football. To be the coach to bring this back to the MetLife Stadium, he will have to be given time but also show progress.
Thus far, Judge, a disciple of the schools of Bill Belichick and Nick Saban, has delivered on his inaugural speech of building a hard-nosed, blue-collar football team to represent the tri-state area.
While Judge appears to have the team on the right track so far, this is still a mostly young team that is still learning to play within the new schemes on both sides of the ball and, more importantly, with each other.
Whereas last year the Giants had the 18th youngest team in the NFL (average age 26.0 as of the cutdown from 90 to 53 men), this year, 58 of its current 80-man roster is 25 years old or under, with the average team age being 24.0.
Judge’s focus is to keep the team on track and remain accountable to one another, some promising performances could give confidence to the players which will be invaluable.
Offense
For years, the Giants have seen and been tormented by the explosive and productive offenses headed by Jason Garrett in Dallas.
So when the 54-year-old Garrett became available on the job market, the Judge wasted no time scooping up the one-time NFL quarterback to bring creativity to a Giants offense that has lacked firepower for several years.
Garrett as wasted no time getting to work to design concepts that better utilize the strengths of second-year quarterback Daniel Jones, third-year running back Saquon Barkley, and fourth-year tight end Evan Engram, three key skill players who barely scratched the surface in terms of their contributions thus far.
In Jones, the previous coaching staff barely took advantage of his strong throwing arm and his mobility. Garrett is expected to change all that by adding in some RPOs and some more vertical passing concepts that the Cowboys ran, and which regularly made Cowboys quarterbacks “must-haves” for fantasy football owners looking to rack up the points.
Barkley remains one of the top running backs in the NFL, but he has otherwise been woefully underutilized in the passing game, relegated to mostly dump-offs and check-downs in his first two seasons.
Pairing Barkley against a linebacker or safety in coverage has all kinds of potential given Barkley’s speed and power, yet it’s been a rare sighting for the Giants thus far.
The same can be said of Engram, the talented, but oft-injured tight end whom many view as a receiver in a tight end’s body.
Engram saw most of his snaps from the in-line position but can bring so much more to the offense if Garrett comes up with ways to pit him against a linebacker or safety where Engram’s size, speed, and physicality could make for some nightmarish matchups for opponents.
Defence
This year, defensive coordinator, Patrick Graham, is looking the change the whole narrative behind the Giants’ defence. General manager Dave Gettleman poured vast resources into the long-time neglected linebacker unit, adding players with speed and instincts.
There’s also hope that the pass rush, which has sputtered the last few years, will benefit from what could end up as the team’s secret weapon: a versatile three-safety set featuring veterans Julian Love and Jabrill Peppers and rookie Xavier McKinney, whose talent level hasn’t been seen by a Giants team since the 2011 team had Antrel Rolle, Deone Grant, and Kenny Phillips kept opponents from routinely sniffing the second level of the defence and beyond.
Peppers, McKinney and Love give Graham and the Giants the answer they’ve been searching for to stop opposing tight ends and running backs from owning the middle of the field. Despite the additions at linebacker and safety, the Giants’ underperforming pass rush remains a question mark.
New York only added free agent run-stopper Austin Johnson to the defensive line, but they’re hoping for third-year man Lorenzo Carter and second-year man Oshane Ximines to build on their respective progress from last season. Team sack leader Markus Golden returns for another go-around while Kyler Fackrell hopes to replicate Golden’s success in getting back to double-digit sacks in a change of scenery.
Even if all that falls into place, the other part of the question is at cornerback where the Giants will have young veteran James Bradberry but could otherwise be looking at fielding a relatively inexperienced player on the perimeter on the opposite end.
If the corners can’t hold the coverage, the offensive players could be in for some long days.
Predicted Record: 4-12
To expect the Giants to have a one-season turnaround like the 49ers last year is unrealistic given the Giants, unlike San Francisco, are starting from square one.
With that said, if the coaching staff delivers on its vow to put players in the right positions to be successful this team could look a lot stronger. However, their record might remain the same due to the strength at the top of the NFC East.
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