The New York Giants are coming off of a 5-11 2018 season that was filled with disappointment. There were silver linings, like the incredible performance of the Offensive Rookie Of The Year, Saquon Barkley. Unfortunately, the amazing performances were matched by equally disappointing performances.
The players who disappointed in 2018 need to bounce back in 2019. General manager Dave Gettleman has shown that he is more than willing to move on from talented players if he has found their performance to be disappointing. So who needs to impress Gettleman in 2019 in order to stay with the Giants?
Janoris Jenkins
Janoris Jenkins was signed by the New York Giants in the 2016 offseason. Jenkins was a true shutdown cornerback in his 2016 campaign that saw the Giants’ defense carry the team into the postseason. Unfortunately, Jenkins has not been the same All-Pro caliber player since then.
Janoris has regressed mightily since 2016. In 2018, Jenkins allowed a passer rating of 109.3 in his coverage. He flashed some of his old high-level play on occasions last year, but his season lacked game-to-game consistency.
The Giants went out and drafted three cornerbacks in the 2019 NFL Draft, leading some to speculate that Jenkins might be on his way out of New York. However, Dave Gettleman stated to the media that Jenkins has “a bunch of puppies to train,” confirming that he will be around in a new veteran role this season.
How well Jenkins helps train those young defensive backs will be crucial for his future with the Giants. If the Giants choose to cut Jenkins after this season, they will save $11,250,000 in cap space. Janoris Jenkins needs to prove that he is worth the money and earn his 2020 roster spot.
Eli Manning
The franchise legend, Eli Manning, is heading into a career-defining season. It has been 7 years since Eli Manning lead the Giants to their last Super Bowl victory. In that time, Manning has endured a multitude of losing seasons.
In fact, since the 2011-2012 season, Manning has only had 2 winning seasons (2012 and 2016). Things were rough from 2013 to 2015, then seemed better in 2016. But then they got significantly worse in 2017 and 2018.
In 2017, Eli Manning was benched for Geno Smith. This was the moment where things went from bad to worse for Eli and the Giants. In 2018 the Giants went 5-11 in a season where Manning threw only 21 touchdown passes (his second season in a row with less than 25 touchdown passes). In 2019, Manning is in danger of being benched again.
The Giants drafted Duke quarterback Daniel Jones with the 6th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft and he is set to be the team’s next franchise quarterback. This puts even more pressure on Eli Manning to step up in 2019.
Eli Manning needs to lead the Giants to win games in 2019, or else the Giants will move on and begin the Daniel Jones era. It is an era where 9 quarterbacks in the league throw for 30 or more touchdowns. But Eli Manning was only able to toss 21 touchdowns (17th in the NFL).
The Giants need more production out of Eli Manning in 2019. Giants fans should hope that they do not see Daniel Jones play in 2019, because if they do, it means the team is losing again and Eli Manning is on his way out of town.