Now that the preseason is over and the final 53-man roster is set, we have a better understanding of where the New York Giants stand. The Giants are heading into the season with high hopes as a young team trying to finally shake off their status as a noncompetitive franchise in the big league. Here are our final thoughts on Big Blue for 2024.
Defensive Line Projects to be Strength of Team
The addition of Brian Burns to play alongside Dexter Lawrence, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Bobby Okereke makes for a defensive line that projects to truly wreak havoc on opposing offenses and get pressure on the quarterback.
The hiring of Shane Bowen from the Titans was also a good hire. He’s someone who has a history of success even when the defense isn’t littered with talent. The DL can keep the Giants in games and help New York win, even if their own offense struggles.
The main issue, however, is depth – like with most teams. If any of the top players get injured they will struggle to keep up the pressure on opposing teams. They still have Micah McFadden, who greatly improved from his rookie year in his sophomore season. However, has been injured for a sizable portion of the summer and hasn’t gotten a lot of work in.
There are players that have shown promise; such as Elijah Chatman who showed heart in the preseason and solidified himself a spot on the team. However, how they play in the regular season remains to be seen.
Cornerback and Safety Continue to be a Problem
The team has a lot of question marks when it comes to the defensive backfield, especially now that Xavier McKinney left in free agency.
The unit has had some struggles so far in the preseason, although they still have some players with promise. Safety Jason Pinnock was mostly solid last year and the hope is that he can keep it up this year. However, safety is one of the hardest positions on defense since the rules favor the receiver and this job can’t be done alone.
Deonte Banks showed some promise as a rookie last year, especially in the category of completion percentage allowed. Yet he also had some growing pains and we’re hoping he takes a step forward in his sophomore year. Dane Belton had some good plays last year but also some bad plays, finishing with a 51.7 PFF grade.
Meanwhile, Andru Phillips and Tyler Nubin are both rookies. And while the team had them ranked highly pre draft, we need to see it when the regular season starts.
There was talk about Isaiah Simmons being used all over the field, but it still looks like he’s not the game changer the Giants really need him to be. The big problem, again, is depth.
The backups for cornerback and safety do not inspire any confidence for the upcoming season. Players like Cor’Dale Flott and Nick McCloud aren’t that impressive and could be an issue. On the bright side, they just brought back Adoree Jackson, so that at least helps a bit with depth.
The Offensive Line Seems to Have Improved
To be fair, being a historically bad unit has the upside of being easy to show improvement. And with the addition of Carmen Bricillo, it seems to be showing some results, if the preseason is any indication.
According to some players on the Jets’ defense, the Giants OL is solid this year. If true, this would be a huge boon for the offense, even if Daniel Jones isn’t the answer at QB. The Giants might be able to lean on their defense and run game to squeak out more wins than their 6.5 win line on betting markets for the season.
Their Receiver Core is Solid
Malik Nabers is a stud, and he’s shown that numerous times throughout camp. So much so, that New York allowed him to unretire the Giants No. 1 jersey. It’s the first jersey ever retired in the NFL, so they clearly see Nabers as someone they plan on keeping around for a long time.
Wan’Dale Robinson seems to be a security blanket for Jones, at least according to how the offseason and preseason has gone; and his route running ability will serve the team well here. Wide receiver Jalin Hyatt is a good field stretcher, even if his route running ability isn’t the best. Meanwhile, Darius Slayton is a great WR3 and will be boosted by the fact that they look to have a true WR1 in the offense now that can take away the top coverage.
Quarterback Still Looks to be an Issue
Jones is the QB1 for the team, and the offseason has proven that to be the case. However, he still has shown the same struggles reading the field and processing speed that have been plaguing him his whole career.
Jones definitely gets a lot of hate that isn’t all warranted. The Giants players and coaches still respect him, but he hasn’t proven that he’s worth the $160 million contract he received from New York two years ago. Jones threw an ugly pick-six in his first action in the preseason on the field against the Texans, which didn’t help his case. Granted, it was his first real action since tearing his ACL in 2023. However, it’s still that’s an error a six-year vet shouldn’t be making.
The thing is, Jones is still better than the other quarterbacks on the roster. Drew Lock looked even worse in his Giants debut in Week 1 of the preseason, and got injured early in the game. He hasn’t done anything in camp to beat out Jones as the starter, either.
Tommy Devito is fun, but didn’t really separate himself from the pack. He also didn’t look great on the field this preseason. It should be noted that the Giants QB room didn’t throw a single TD at all during the preseason – which isn’t good.
The quarterback room has a lot to prove this year. No matter how good Nabers is, if you can’t get competent play from the QB, the offense isn’t going to do well.
Evan Solomon
Evan is originally from Queens, NY and grew up on Long Island, and grew to love The New York Giants being surrounded by Giants fans. He's a social media marketer and content creator by day, which is what led him to joining The League Winners creating content about something he loves - football. Keep an eye out for his fantasy content and NFL team breakdowns.