The New York Giants are gearing up for an interesting 2022 season, making significant personnel changes in the coaching department. With both the offense and defense transitioning, there are higher expectations than usual for a bounce-back campaign.
However, the coaching staff can only do so much when it comes to keeping players healthy. The Giants have been one of the more injury-riddled teams over the past few seasons, losing a significant number of their playmakers on a year-by-year basis.
Keeping them healthy will be a priority heading into the campaign, and the Giants have already been taking a more cautious approach during practice.
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Three bolds New York Giants takes for the 2022 season:
1.) Saquon Barkley will win the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year Award
Saquon Barkley played 13 games in 2021, suffering an ankle injury against the Dallas Cowboys early on in the campaign. He recorded 593 yards and 263 receiving yards, well below his projected statistics in Jason Garrett‘s offense. However, poor schematics and injuries once again derailed his momentum, but Barkley will be looking to finally piece together a strong season in 2022.
“Coming into this [minicamp], focus on my body, work on my body. Doing all the little things necessary to keep my body healthy,” Barkley said, via ESPN. “When you have that, when you can trust your body, your confidence just grows. I would say the difference [from college to now] was I was a way more confident player in college and early in my career than I was prior to last year.”
With a better offensive line and modernized system, Barkley could have his best year since 2018, when he recorded over 2000 all-purpose yards and 15 touchdowns. Drafting Evan Neal and signing Mark Glowinski to feature on the right side of the line gives Barkley to a chance at winning NFL’s comeback player of the year.
2.) Azeez Ojulari will have a better season than Kayvon Thibodeaux
All the headlines are speaking about Kayvon Thibodeaux and what he’s bringing from Oregon, but second-year pro Azeez Ojulari shouldn’t be left out of the conversation. Ojulari added 10 pounds of muscle mass this year, which should help build on his pass rush moves.
With added muscle mass and strength, Ojulari should have more success setting the edge against the run. With his momentum and a year of experience under his belt, Ojulari could easily eclipse Thibodeaux’s production this upcoming season.
3.) The Giants’ offensive line will rank no worse than average in 2022
General manager Joe Schoen did a tremendous job piecing together a brand new offensive line with minimal salary space. He handed out a three-year, $18 million deal to Mark Glowinski, the biggest contract the Giants signed this off-season.
Featuring four new starters on the line leaves a lot of questions in terms of chemistry, but all of these players have big upside with the right coaching. The Giants hired Bobby Johnson to fill the role, and he’s looking for aggressive, mean players in the trenches. At the very least, they’re going to be a force in the running game.