NY Giants: 2020 Season Outlook

A promising season that gives hope for the future

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The ending of the 2020 season will stick with Giants fans for a very long time. Despite having a 5-10 record going into Week 17, the Giants still had a path to the playoffs in a historically bad NFC East. They needed to beat Dallas and hope the Eagles could take down Washington in the final game of the regular season. It was close but the Giants played well enough to beat Dallas by 4. All that was left was to wait tensely until 8:30, where fans would root for Philadelphia, the lesser of two evils, in a competitive game between two divisional rivals. Or so we thought. It was competitive through 3 quarters until Eagles coach Doug Pederson made the controversial move to sit Jalen Hurts in favor of Nate Sudfeld, who quite possibly may have mistaken Lincoln Financial Field for the beer league softball game he was supposed to be at. A most unfortunate case of blatant tanking sent Washington to the playoffs. While it stings, allow me to quote the Giants’ first year coach Joe Judge. “We had 16 opportunities this year. It’s our responsibility to take care of our responsibilities and execute situations when they’re on our plate. We don’t ever want to leave our fate in the hands of anybody else,”. At the end of the day, the Giants have themselves to blame more than anyone else for missing the playoffs. But rather than wallow over this, let’s instead be proud of the season they put together.

The turn around from last year’s 4-12 to this year’s 6-10 is more drastic than the numbers show. The Giants enter this offseason on the verge of being a competitive playoff team. Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham turned one of the worst defensive teams in football into a Top 10 defense. GM Dave Gettlemen looks like a genius after signing now Pro Bowl CB James Bradberry and Safety Logan Ryan. Even the trade for Leonard Williams looks like it might have worked in the Giants favor. The Giants’ secondary should be in a good spot. Safeties Julius Peppers and Logan Ryan both had successful seasons while rookie safety Xavier McKinney showed a lot of promise. James Bradberry might have been a Top 5 Corner in the league this year. The Giants are in desperate need of a second cornerback, and we might see them make a move this offseason. Either way, this should be scary secondary for teams to go against. Blake Martinez established himself as an elite middle linebacker and Leonard Williams shined on the defensive line, recording 11.5 sacks, including 2.5 against the elusive Russell Wilson and 3 against Dallas. Mr. Irrelevant Tae Crowder had an amazing season, emerging as a productive starting linebacker, while late round pick Carter Coughlin and the undrafted Niko Lalos proved to be good finds by Gettleman. Another dominant pass rusher could really help this line and they should definitely consider giving Leonard Williams a big contract after his performance this season, but even as presently constituted, this defense is scary.

James Bradberry (left), Blake Martinez (middle), and Leonard Williams (right) were 3 key pieces in the Giants defense this year

The offense is admittedly less impressive. They have talented receivers but are still missing that true deep threat. Sterling Shepard is a great piece, but Slayton’s regression this year and Evan Engram’s inability to catch a football suggest they might need to bulk up on more weapons. The running game should be fine. After Barkley went down with a Torn ACL, Wayne Gallman stepped up and proved to be a great downhill runner. The two should make a great 1-2 punch next season. The O-Line still has its questions but it improved after the midseason coaching change and Shane Lemiuex and Nick Gates showed some real promise while Andrew Thomas showed some potential.

Wayne Gallman's leaping touchdowns became a staple of the Giants offsense

Their biggest question mark remains their quarterback. It doesn’t seem to be a question of talent with Daniel Jones. His arm strength is clearly there and his accuracy is improving. His athleticism is above and beyond for the QB position, particularly one of his stature. Lets not forget his 21.4 MPH top speed was faster than some of the top speeds Tyreek Hill has recorded. If Jones can cut back on the turnovers, he can be a legitimate threat in this league. It’s worth noting that a majority of his interceptions came not from throwing inaccurate passes but rather forcing plays that just weren’t there and a third of his interceptions came on drops by Engram. Next year will be a major one for Jones. If Jones doesn’t show improvement in his third year, it may be time to consider moving on. Until then, the Giants will ride with Danny Dimes.

Let’s keep in mind this Giants team was an Evan Engram drop away from being in the playoffs and a 2 point conversion (and a controversial no-call) from heading to OT with the Super Bowl bound Tampa Bay Buccaneers. General consensus is they will use their 11 overall pick to draft a potentially elite receiver. Odds are they'll have a shot at one of Devonta Smith, Ja'Marr Chase, or Jalen Waddle. With plenty of available cap space, this team can make some moves to build around its core. It looks like they’ve found their head coach of the future in Joe Judge so who knows? Maybe we’re in store for another magical Wild Card playoff run next season.