Interoduction New York Giants Challenges

Current Record and Recent Performance New York Giants Challenges

New York Giants Challenges The New York Giants are 2-9 after a 30-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week 12,New York Giants Challenges New York Giants Challenges and the loss to Tampa marked their sixth straight loss and 20th loss since the start of the 2023 season.New York Giants Challenges

A Decline from Previous Success

New York Giants Challenges This franchise has been through it over the past couple of years and we are seemingly a million miles away from the team that went 9-7-1 during the 2022 regular New York Giants Challenges

Post-2022 Challenges

A lot has changed in the last two years, and since their 38-7 playoff loss to the Eagles, this team is just 2-20 with countless bad moments, including:

• A 40-0 loss to the Cowboys in week 1 of the 2023 season.
• A 24-3 loss to the Seahawks, in which head coach Brian Daboll erupted on the sidelines in what was the Devon Witherspoon breakout game New York Giants Challenges.

Organizational Struggles and Player Departures

Their former number seven overall pick asking if fans flip burgers, and most recently, releasing former quarterback Daniel Jones less than two years after giving him a $160 million contract.

Key Players Thriving Elsewhere

Oh, and their former running back Saquon Barkley is having an MVP-caliber season for the division rival Philadelphia Eagles.

A Complete Disaster

At this point in time, the New York Giants are a complete disaster. In today’s video, we’re going to break down how they got here, what’s next, and what their realistic plan should be moving forward.

Starting the Analysis: How the Giants Got Here

Now, let’s begin. We are starting today’s article by breaking down how the Giants got to where we are today, and it starts back in the 2022 draft. This was General Manager Joe Shane and Brian Daboll’s first draft together.

The 2022 Draft: A Pivotal Moment

They had two first-round picks due to the Bears trading up for Justin Fields in 2021 and ended up with two top-seven draft picks. Having two top-seven draft picks is great, and any franchise would love to have that opportunity, but you, of course, have to hit on the draft picks when they’re made. New York Giants Challenges

A Note on Draft Evaluations New York Giants Challenges

The one thing I want to emphasize when we go over the Giants’ draft history is I’m not going to have revisionist history and claim they should have taken X player when that certainly wasn’t the case at the time. Meaning, I’m not saying, “Wow, they should have taken Brock Purdy in the first round,” despite him eventually being Mr. Irrelevant.

Mixed Reactions to the Picks

Now, there is one pick I always had a problem with, even when it was made, and we’ll get to that in a minute. But I liked the Kayvon Thibodeaux and Evan Neal selections at the time, truly.

Context Around Evan Neal New York Giants Challenges

To be honest, I didn’t think it was unreasonable for the Jaguars to draft Evan Neal number one overall back in 2022 because of the tumultuous rookie season Trevor Lawrence had

Liking the Kayvon Thibodeaux and Evan Neal Picks

The Kayvon Thibodeaux and Evan Neal picks were selections I liked because I thought they were doing a good job of setting the tone and addressing the trenches from day one. I believed each of these players could be Giants for a long time and that Andrew Thomas and Evan Neal would be a great tackle duo, whether it be for Daniel Jones or whoever would eventually become the Giants’ next quarterback.

The Problem with the Wan’Dale Robinson Pick

Where I had the big problem was selecting Wan’Dale Robinson at number 43 overall, mainly over former Georgia wide receiver George Pickens. Pickens currently has over 750 receiving yards in 11 games for the Steelers in 2024 and, barring an injury, will have his second 1,000-yard season in three years.

The Giants’ Lack of Receiving Weapons in 2022

The Giants’ leading receivers in 2022 were Darius Slayton—who is fine, by the way—Richie James, Isaiah Hodgins, Saquon Barkley, and Daniel Bellinger. They absolutely could have used George Pickens, and several teams could have for that matter too New York Giants Challenges. I also thought they reached on Wan’Dale Robinson at the time.

Later Picks in the 2022 DraftNew York Giants Challenges

They also selected offensive lineman Joshua E zeudu and cornerback Cordale Flott in the third round. With five top-100 draft picks in the 2022 NFL Draft, the Giants maybe hit on one of them in Kayvon Thibodeaux.

Evaluating Kayvon Thibodeaux’s Performance

Thibodeaux is very hot and cold as a player. Despite having 11.5 sacks in 2023, he only had three more pressures in his second season on over 100 more pass-rushing snaps than he did in his rookie season, meaning he was not getting home consistently.New York Giants Challenges The double-digit sack season is very misleading.

Thibodeaux’s Status Among Elite Pass Rushers

When you think of elite pass rushers, Kayvon Thibodeaux’s name does not come up often. He’s not a bad player, but he’s not an elite, franchise-changing player by any stretch of the imagination either.

Reflecting on the Evan Neal Pick

I don’t want to spend too much time on Evan Neal other than saying this pick didn’t work out. There’s a reason about a third of first-round picks are above-average players or stars New York Giants Challenges, about a third are average starters, and about a third are busts. Unfortunately

Evan Neal: A Draft Bust

Evan Neal is a draft bust. Again, I would argue the process was right with what the Giants were trying to do in the 2022 draft, at least with their first-round picks. Right process, but unfortunately, bad results with one of their picks. It happens—every team drafts busts at some point.

Where Things Went Wrong: The 2023 Draft

The 2023 draft is where it really gets bad for this team. This is where I would argue things really turned sour for Joe Shane, Brian Daboll, and everyone else involved with the current state of the New York Giants.

Optimism Before the 2023 Draft

Entering the 2023 draft, the outlook for this franchise was optimistic. Yes, they got beat by 31 points in the divisional round of the 2022 playoffs, but anytime you win a playoff game, I don’t really care if it’s against the Vikings, who were considered frauds by everybody during the 2022 season. Anytime you win a playoff game, especially in the first year of a regime with a new head coach and new GM, it is a big deal.

The Potential to Build on Success

If the Giants had nailed the 2023 draft, there was a chance they could have been a consistent 9-, 10-, or 11-win team and a force year in and year out. Now, as we know, that obviously didn’t happen.

A Horrendous 2023 Draft Class

This draft class, a little over a year and a half later, looks not just bad—not even slightly below average—but horrendously bad. Their first-round pick was cornerback Deonte Banks, and I didn’t hate the pick at the time.

Avoiding Revisionist History

One thing I want to emphasize in this article is that we are not going into this with revisionist history and saying, “Well, they should have taken that player because obviously everybody knew he was going to be better.”

The Need for a Receiver and Unfortunate Timing

What was unfortunate for the Giants was that they needed a receiver entering the 2023 draft. Right before they were on the clock, four receivers went in consecutive order New York Giants Challenges

• Jaxon Smith-Njigba to the Seahawks.
• Quentin Johnston to the Chargers.
• Zay Flowers to the Ravens.
• Jordan Addison to the Vikings.

The Impact of Missing Out on Top Receivers

Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Zay Flowers are both top 10 in the NFL in receiving yards. I really think Zay Flowers is on his way to being a perennial 1,000-yard receiver.

Zay Flowers’ Potential Limitations

Unfortunately for Zay, his numbers will probably always be limited, especially with Lamar Jackson as his quarterback, given that the Ravens run the ball a lot and especially with Derrick Henry.New York Giants Challenges

Giants’ Unlucky Draft Scenario New York Giants Challenges

The point is, the Giants were the last team standing, and none of those teams were going to trade out of taking a receiver knowing the Giants were going to take one. If they wanted to trade up, that is unfortunate luck.

A Similar Scenario in the 2024 Draft

This kind of situation also happened to the Giants in the 2024 draft when they wanted to go up and get either Jaden Daniels or Drake Maye

Challenges with Trading Up in the 2023 Draft

If a team simply does not want to trade out of a pick, they won’t. In a game of musical chairs, the Giants couldn’t sit down. I don’t want to say they were forced to take Deonte Banks because, again, I thought he was a good prospect coming out of Maryland.

Deonte Banks: A Disappointing Pick New York Giants Challenges

Deonte Banks has been a nightmare for the Giants since being drafted. Concerns include:

• Performance: His ability has not been up to the level the team expected.
• Effort Issues:
  • Against the Cowboys on Thursday Night Football, Banks effectively stopped trying when CeeDee Lamb was at the 24-yard line.
  • A similar play occurred later in the season against the Eagles.

These examples show a lack of commitment to the team, the front office, the organization, and the fans—a major red flag. Additionally, Banks has a passer rating of 137 when targeted this year (a perfect rating is 158.3), meaning he’s far from being a shutdown corner.

Second-Round Pick: John Michael Schmitz

The Giants’ second-round pick, center John Michael Schmitz, has been another disaster.

• Performance Issues: Schmitz gets bullied week in and week out. Most recently, Vita Vea dominated him in Week 12.

The Joe Shane and Brian Daboll Draft Strategy New York Giants Challenges

Looking at the first and second-round picks during Joe Shane and Brian Daboll’s tenure:

• Hits and Misses:
  • Evan Neal: A bust.
  • Kayvon Thibodeaux: Inconsistent but promising at times.
  • Wan’Dale Robinson: A pick I had concerns about from the beginning.
  • Deonte Banks and John Michael Schmitz: Seemed fine during the draft but delivered poor results.

The process appeared correct in many cases, but the results simply didn’t follow.

Comparing to the Lions’ Draft Success

When teams like the Detroit Lions succeed with draft picks such as Penei Sewell and Aidan Hutchinson, it’s an outlier, not the standard. The Giants tried to emphasize the trenches but unfortunately struck out.

Unable to select a receiver in the first round, the Giants traded up to pick 73 on Day Two to draft Jalin Hyatt from Tennessee.

• Cost: They traded their third and fourth-round picks to make this move.
• Outcome: Hyatt hasn’t worked out.

Eventually, Malik Nabers emerged as their wide receiver of the future, but for the Giants’ first three picks in 2023 to be:

1. Deonte Banks,
2. John Michael Schmitz,
3. Jalin Hyatt,

and for all three to miss, it has set the franchise back significantly.

Limited Draft Opportunities New York Giants Challenges

The Giants didn’t pick again until Pick 172 in the 2023 NFL Draft. Striking out with three critical early picks in the draft doesn’t set a franchise up for success.