New York Giants: Every Position On Offense Ranked From Best To Worst

The New York Giants‘ offense had a rocky 2018 season. They struggled to score points outside of garbage time in the first half of the season. Fortunately, the offense came alive during the second half of the season, giving New York some hope and momentum for the future.

Today I will be taking a look at every position on the Giants’ offense and ranking them from best to worst. The best positions are those that need no upgrades or minimal upgrades. The worst positions are those that need imminent upgrades.

1. Running Back

The New York Giants’ backfield is undoubtedly the best position group on the roster. The Giants’ backfield features the 2018 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year, Saquon Barkley. Barkley is arguably the best running back in the NFL after only one season.

Saquon broke numerous records as a rookie as he totaled 2,028 scrimmage yards and 15 total touchdowns. Barkley is an elite player for the Giants and is set to have a monstrous 2019 season.

However, the Giants have solid depth behind Saquon Barkley, too. Wayne Gallman proved himself to be a solid running back that could be capable of starting if the Giants did not have Saquon.

Gallman flashed his potential in 2017. He ran the ball 111 times, gaining 476 yards on the ground with 4.3 yards per carry. Gallman also provided quality snaps as a receiver in 2017. He caught 34 passes on 48 targets for 193 yards, 5.7 yards per reception, and 1 touchdown.

2. Right Guard

The Giants offensive line has gone through a major overhaul over the last two seasons. In the 2019 offseason, New York made a huge upgrade at the right guard position.

The Giants acquired right guard Kevin Zeitler in a trade with the Cleveland Browns. Zeitler should step in and be the Giants’ best offensive lineman from day one.

Kevin Zeitler is arguably the best pass-blocking guard in the NFL. Kevin Zeitler allowed only 11 total pressures in the entire 2018 NFL season. That is an incredibly impressive number. To put it in perspective,  Patrick Omameh and Jamon Brown combined to allow 39 pressures in only 14 games last year.

3. Left Guard

The Giants struck gold in the first two rounds of the 2018 NFL Draft. After drafting Saquon Barkley with the 2nd overall pick of the draft, Dave Gettleman drafted another stud in round 2.

Will Hernandez was projected to be a 1st-round pick in mock drafts leading up to the 2018 NFL Draft. Luckily for Big Blue, Big Will slid into the 2nd-round and fell right into the New York’s lap.

Hernandez was impressive during his rookie season. Hernandez allowed just 23 total pressures this season, earning him a 97.3 pass-blocking efficiency grade, third-best among rookie offensive linemen. An impressive stat that PFF notes is that Hernandez only committed two penalties on 1,027 snaps. That is incredibly clean and efficient play from the young “Hog Molly.”

4. Wide Receiver

The Giants’ wide receiver position suffered a huge loss in the 2019 offseason. New York traded away arguably the team’s best player in Odell Beckham Jr.

However, this position is still one of the team’s best on offense. The Giants signed young, up-and-coming slot receiver Sterling Shepard to a contract extension. Shepard has seen his yardage totals increase each of his three seasons in the league and is prepared to break out in 2019.

Alongside Shep is another proven talent in Golden Tate. The Giants signed Tate this offseason after trading away Odell. Tate has had three seasons with 1,000 or more receiving yards and made the Pro Bowl in 2014 with the Detroit Lions. Since 2014, Golden Tate has lead the league in forced missed tackles with an insane 118 missed tackles forced.

5. Left Tackle

Left tackle might be the Giants’ most underrated position on offense. Nate Solder gets plenty of criticism, but not all of it is deserved. Solder struggled early on in the 2018 season but delivered during the second half of the season.

Nate Solder allowed six sacks and 20 total pressures through the first eight games. However, he rebounded in a big way over the second half of the year, allowing only one sack and 13 total pressures.

6. Tight End

2019 might be the year that Evan Engram finally breaks out and reaches his full potential. Evan has flashed his potential throughout his first two seasons but he has hit roadblocks along the way.

In his rookie 2017 campaign, Engram was a poor blocker and had a slight case of the drops. He was still a spectacular playmaker, totaling 722 yards and 6 touchdowns. Unfortunately, during his second season in 2018, Evan Engram suffered from injury causing him to miss 5 games.

When Engram was on the field he played great. When he was on the field and Odell Beckham was off the field, Evan played exceptionally well. Engram averaged only 36.7 yards per game prior to Beckham’s injury. After Odell went down, Evan’s average jumped all the way to 80 yards per game.

8. Quarterback

Eli Manning is a franchise legend. The 16-year veteran has won two incredible Super Bowls with the Giants and is top-ten all-time in just about every major quarterback statistic, such as passing yards and passing touchdowns.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Eli Manning’s time in New York will come to an end sooner than later now that they have drafted their next franchise quarterback in Daniel Jones.

Manning has been declining the past two seasons, which is why his position is so low on this list. According to Pro Football Focus, Manning has failed to grade above 70.0 in each of the last four seasons, and his 94 turnover-worthy plays over the previous four years are eight more than the next closest quarterback in that span.

Daniel Jones is a completely unproven rookie that has faced lots of controversies whether or not he was deserving of the 6th overall pick so he cannot push the quarterback position higher on this list.

I hope as much as anyone that Eli Manning proves us all wrong and rebounds in 2019. I hope as much as anyone that Daniel Jones shocks the world and becomes one of the greatest players in franchise history. But until we see them play at a high level, the quarterback position will be one of the worst on the offense.

9. Center

The center position is definitely one of the Giants’ weakest. The Giants have two players who will compete for the starting job in Spencer Pulley and Jon Halapio. Both players are capable of being starters, but they are not extraordinary.

Jon Halapio was injured in week 2 of the 2018 season. He was

Spencer Pulley was one of the lowest graded players on the Giants in 2018 according to Pro Football Focus.  Pulley played in 13 games for the Giants last year and started 9 of those games. Spencer Pulley certainly is one thing: durable. But he is not an elite talent and the Giants should not hope to see him starting in 2018.

10. Right Tackle

The Giants basically put a band-aid on a broken bone here in the 2019 offseason. Right tackle was the worst position on the Giants’ offense in 2018 and it still is in 2019.

The Giants began the season with all-time draft bust Ereck Flowers starting at right tackle. After 5 games the Giants wised up and cut Flowers. Chad Wheeler then took over the starting position and stayed there for the remainder of the season.

Unfortunately, Chad Wheeler was not too much of an upgrade. According to Pro Football Focus Chad Wheeler was the second-lowest-graded starting offensive tackle in the NFL last season. Wheeler also allowed an insane 45 total pressures in the 2018 season.

The Giants knew they needed to upgrade the right tackle position in the 2019 offseason, but it was slim pickings. Towards the end of free agency, the Giants finally found their guy. Former Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle Mike Remmers signed with the Giants.

Remmers is an upgrade, but he still is not on the level the Giants need their right tackle to be. Remmers allowed 42 total pressures in 2018 and is coming off of back surgery. Mike Remmers was playing out of position at guard in 2018, so he should be a bit better at right tackle in 2019. However, the Giants should still be looking to upgrade this position again soon.