From a third-party perspective, the New York Giants are still in the midst of a rebuild and aren’t considered a legitimate playoff contender in 2020. Despite that reality, the Giants added several quality players in the NFL draft this year, including left tackle Andrew Thomas and safety Xavier McKinney out of Alabama.
The addition of experience in the secondary and several free-agent signing should see a different team in 2020, and while we don’t know if they will improve significantly or gradually, their new players are undoubtedly more talented than the unit they featured in 2019.
Former Giants running back Tiki Barber appeared as a guest on “MSG 150 at Home,” talking about the Big Blue and where they’re headed with a new coaching staff and more personnel.
“I’m excited for the Giants this year. They may rebound faster than a lot of people expect. They addressed certain things in free agency, particularly at the linebacker position and obviously the draft went well also. I think there are good things to look for in the Giants this year even if there is uncertainty because the whole staff and system will be new.â€
The changing of the guard at head coach and adding new offensive/defensive coordinators should theoretically improve the team as a whole. Their struggles last season were very much correlated to the schemes they were running. James Bettcher utilized players in odd positions, especially first-year cornerback DeAndre baker, who was predominantly a press/man cover corner at Georgia. He was used in zone and off-ball coverage too often — his weakness.
New defensive coordinator Patrick Graham used man coverage 50% of the time with the Miami Dolphins last year, which should benefit Baker if he is exonerated from his legal issues. Barber also hit on Jason Garrett and the offense he will be transitioning over to the Giants. Garrett brings 10 years worth of experience and knowledge to a relatively young team. Quarterback Daniel Jones is only going into his second season in the NFL, so expectations should be tempered.
“I think with Jason [Garrett] now at the helm of this offense, you’re going to get experience at using diverse offenses. Jason has so much depth in his game planning and playbook. And I think we’re going to see a bunch of that. And especially with Daniel Jones being such a young, second-year player – you don’t want to put too much on his plate, especially when you have a revamped offensive live and a special player in the backfield.â€
Garrett and Kellen Moore developed the number one passing attack for Dallas last season, changing their game plan week by week and utilizing different offensive schemes to accomplish this impressive feat. The Giants have a long way to go before they can be considered a top offense in the NFL, but they are adding the correct personnel to get there. Establishing their offensive line is first and foremost, and general manager Dave Gettleman is committed to solving it once and for all.