There is no peace for the Giants.
Do you have peace?
The Giants (2-12) are coming off a team-record nine losing streak, a rash of injuries and a lost season as the temperature rises as a plane with a banner flies over a two-thirds full stadium. still need to evaluate their team. Players can see what they are going to do next.
“I don't think it's difficult,” head coach Brian Daboll said. “They compete as hard as they can, we evaluate their technique, we evaluate their understanding of the scheme, their competitiveness, everything they have to do at each position.”
Here are 12 different players, including nine draft picks and three veterans. In time, you can ask, “What's he really like as a player?” Once the next three games are over and the offseason begins:
WR Jarin Hyatt
General manager Joe Schon traded up for Hyatt in the third round of the 2023 draft after almost drafting him in the second round. Is the former Biletnikov Award winner a fringe player, as evidenced by his seven catches for 53 yards this season and zero touchdowns in 30 career games? Or is his lack of development due to a coaching staff that used him for fewer than 16 snaps seven times?
WR One Dale Robinson
With Darius Slayton heading to free agency, can Robinson be comfortably drafted as the No. 2 receiver from the slot? That's not based on 7.4 yards per catch (139th in NFL rankings) on 111 targets (14th). Unless you think that's a symptom of a poor quarterback and the yards after the catch he was supposed to provide are hidden.
RT Evan Neal
Is it time to label the 2002 No. 7 pick a “bust”? He has started the last five games (two sacks, 12 pressures) after being sidelined as a starter last season due to poor play and a foot injury. Offensive line experts say Neal is still on the ground too much. He won't be the starting right tackle in 2025. Should he be tried as a guard? Or was it exchanged for pennies in dollars a year before his walk?
OLB Kayvon Thibodeau
If Schoen has a top third-round pick from the 2022-23 draft class, it's Thibodeau. But the former No. 5 pick is quietly fulfilling his role. Thibodeau missed five games this season due to wrist surgery, but has 18.5 sacks and five forced fumbles in 40 career games. Supporters point out his run defense. Critics say the metrics behind his 11.5 sacks (6.4 pass rush win percentage) in 2023 suggest it was an unsustainable accomplishment.
C John Michael Schmitz
Just because he clears a low bar as the best of Schoen's four offensive line picks (Neal, Josh Ezeudu, and the long-departed Marcus McKeithan) That doesn't mean he should be used as a starter. The sixth-year college player was touted by scouts as a plug-and-play starter with near developmental limits. Pro Football Focus ranks him as the No. 53 center, but he still continues to be knocked off the ball by power rushers.
CB Deonte Banks
All the good vibes Banks created as a solid rookie are gone. The 2023 first-rounder's tackling efforts have been questioned numerous times. He has allowed six touchdown catches in 12 games. This season has shown that he's not quite there yet, but can he become a consistent No. 2? Shane often claims he doesn't draft for scheme, but Banks certainly seemed like a better fit in man-to-man coverage.
LB Micah McFadden
Unlike most young players on this list, McFadden's arrow is pointing upwards. We'll have to decide if his breakout of 102 tackles and three sacks so far is just superficial, or the product of someone with so many injuries and having to fill out the stat sheet. be. The 2022 fifth-rounder's engine has never run cold, and he's getting a bit of a late-season taste as a defensive signal keeper.
TE Theo Johnson
The rookie fourth-round pick was just coming into his own as a pass catcher when he suffered a season-ending foot injury on Thanksgiving Day. Can we expect him to improve next season? The Giants didn't trust Daniel Bellinger to do the same after a very similar rookie season in 2022.
CB Drew Phillips
The rookie third-round pick is the No. 2 cornerback in the NFL, according to PFF, behind Defensive Player of the Year candidate Patrick Surtain Jr. Moreover, he has two forced fumbles, one sack, no interceptions, and only 32 catches. He started 5 of 11 games and allowed 38 targets. Analytics Darling is great in the run support slot, but where are the impactful plays?
FS Jason Pinnock
Pending free agents are a typical waiver pickup in this system, which has squeezed 34 starters out of the Jets' slots. Pinnock is good at blitzing, but his pursuit of deep balls and angles in positioning open the door to big plays. Schoen has let go of three of the NFL's top 10 safeties as measured by PFF in recent years, and rookie second-rounder Tyler Nubin is considered the future of the back end.
LB Bobby Okereke
Okereke, the Iron Man who missed out on a playmaking Pro Bowl in 2023 under former coordinator Wink Martindale, still recorded three fumbles and two sacks in 2024. But he was among the worst-ranked rushing defenses in the NFL during his first 12 years. The game before the injury. He's probably somewhere in the middle of the last two seasons.
OT Germaine Elemnor
The journeyman had perhaps the best season of his career at age 29. He showed versatility on both ends of the line. Will he continue to improve and end his never-ending quest to be the starting offensive tackle? Or is it a high-end swing tackle?
