The New York Giants lost their sixth straight game Sunday afternoon against their rival Jets. The team once again finds themselves with a record far below .500. The Giants have been historically bad these past three years and it’s quite alarming. What was once a proud and winning franchise, has developed into a losing culture these past seasons. Giants fans are once again already looking towards upcoming draft prospects before Thanksgiving.
The franchise cannot simply commit to a rebuild. Since the team acquired general manager Dave Gettleman, he has tried to build the roster out with a strong offensive and defensive line. However, the two lines aren’t the greatest. While he did provide the team with guards for the future on the offensive line, the tackles and the center are major concerns. Gettleman and the Giants spent their seventeenth overall draft pick on an interior defensive tackle, Dexter Lawrence, who has been playing pretty well so far. The general manager made another move this October by trading for Leonard Williams in hopes of improving the run defense and pass rush on the line. Despite all the moves on the two lines, the team still has massive holes remaining.
The linebacker situation of the Giants is a total mess. Rookie Ryan Connelly had been playing at a top-level at the beginning of the season before tearing his ACL during a week four matchup against Washington. Connelly appeared to be a future bright spot at LB for the team. Capitan Alec Ogletree has not been great in pass coverage since being traded to the team. It doesn’t seem like Ogletree will be with the team for much longer after this season. Outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter has developed nicely in his second season, but the team is still waiting for him to become the pash rushing threat they’re looking to see out of him.
The weakest link of the team is arguably the secondary. New York drafted rookie CB DeAndre Baker during the spring, but he has struggled since first stepping on the field. Baker has been playing alongside Janoris Jenkins who had trade rumors about himself flying around prior to the deadline. Grant Haley had started the season as the slot corner for the team before being replaced by rookie Corey Ballentine these last two games. Ballentine played extremely well during the preseason and looked as if he was going to become a stud. Ballentine has played well these past two weeks as he hasn’t made any crucial errors. His name hasn’t been called a lot, which can be a positive for someone who plays the cornerback position. Moving farther into the secondary are the two safeties, Jabrill Peppers and Antione Bethea. Peppers had been acquired back in March to replace Landon Collins who the team let walk. Peppers is arguably having the best year of his young career this season as he has flashed on the field at times. Opposite of him is the veteran Antione Bethea who the team also acquired in March. Bethea is serving as a mentor to a relatively young secondary unit. The Giants and their fans will hope to see their young defensive backs only improve with the more experience they are given.
On the offensive side of the ball, Daniel Jones has become a clear cut franchise quarterback for this team. All the skills and attributes are present and Danny Dimes is slowly piecing them together. Over the last three weeks, Jones has thrown nine touchdowns which leads all quarterbacks in the league over that span. While Jones does have an issue with fumbling the football, it is one that Giants fans would much rather see him do than throw poor interceptions. With practice, Jones will hopefully lose his fumbling habit.
Saquon Barkley has not looked the same as last year. Prior to injuring his ankle in week three, Barkley was looking as if he was going to post an absolutely monster season. Saquon suffered a high ankle sprain in Tampa Bay and missed time with the injury. Since coming back, Barkley has not posted the numbers he had earlier in the year. Saquon played really well up in Detroit, but the Giants fell short of the win. Barkley’s pass blocking has also not been his best, possibly due to his injury. Other than that he has played rather well, just not the sensation player from a year ago.
Evan Engram has once again had an on an off-year. Engram again has had to miss time due to injury. In the season opener, he posted career numbers against Dallas as he looked as if a monster year was headed his way. Rumors with his name had circled around the deadline, but Gettleman made it clear that the team was not trading the athletic tight end.
With the departure of Odell Beckham, Giants fans were eager to see how the receiving core would perform. So far they have played very well. Part of that is in thanks to the fifth round pick Darius Slayton. Slayton has appeared to be a steal from April’s draft. He put up his best game yet against the Jets where he went for over one hundred yards and two touchdowns. Golden Tate has also played well since starting the year off serving a four-game suspension. Unfortunately, Sterling Shepard has been sidelined for quite some time due to a series of concussions he sustained early in the season.
The Giants are 2-8 and heading into their bye week. Fans are calling for changes with coaching personnel and much more. New York will not post a winning record for the third season in a row. It appears as if major changes are needed to be made within the franchise and fans are hoping they occur sooner rather than later.
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