The 2023 season has not gone according to plan for the New York Giants. Year 2 under general manager Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll was supposed to be a stepping stone up from their magnificent first year together. Alas, whatever magic they had from their unexpected 9-7-1 regular season with a victory on the road over the Minnesota Vikings in the playoffs is gone.
The Giants look like a bottom-of-the-barrel team at 1-4. New York has looked the worst thus far out of all the playoff teams last season. They are an incredible second half against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2 from being 0-5 and undoubtedly the worst team in the NFL.
That second half in the desert is the only time that Daniel Jones has thrown a touchdown this season. The Giants still don’t have an offensive touchdown before halftime this season, as their only score was a pick-six by Jason Pinnock against the Miami Dolphins this past weekend.
A lot of the blame has been placed on the offensive line for Jones’s struggles and rightfully so. The Giants have put forth one of the worst offensive line performances that the NFL has ever seen without their star left tackle Andrew Thomas in the lineup.
Multiple players have earned PFF pass-blocking grades of 0.0 in games and overall they almost all rank near the bottom of their respective positions. Sacks are being given up at a historic rate as Jones has no time to operate in the pocket.
But, when he does, he still isn’t making plays. The constant pressure certainly gets to a quarterback after a while and his toughness should be lauded. But, Jones isn’t processing what he sees very well, pre-snap or during the play, which is leading to disastrous results as well.
Not having star-running back Saquon Barkley in the lineup certainly hurts. Barkley hasn’t played since the game against the Cardinals because of an ankle sprain. At this point, the Giants should be looking to see what they can get for him on the trade market as this team is heading toward a top-five pick.
According to the Football Power Index of ESPN, New York has a 60.7 percent chance to land inside the top five. That will make for some interesting decisions for the team’s brain trust to make as it will put them in a position to select one of the top quarterback prospects in this year’s draft class.
Are they ready to turn the page on Jones after signing him to a four-year, $160 million deal this offseason? With a potential out in his contract after the 2024 season, it is something they have to seriously consider given his level of performance this season.
That also leads to the question of how they want to play out the remainder of the 2023 season. Will the Giants become sellers at the trade deadline? Barkley, cornerback Adoree’ Jackson, safety Xavier McKinney and defensive tackle Leonard Williams are all candidates to be traded as players on expiring deals or trending toward not being retained for next season.
Everyone knew when Schoen and Daboll took over that this would be a multi-year project. They were way ahead of expectations in 2022, which tied into some of the decisions they made this past offseason. None of those decisions have helped push the team forward, as the Giants could have a chance to hit the reset button at the quarterback position in the 2024 NFL Draft.
