Why Giants Fans Should Have Hope for the Future

The New York Football Giants are not strangers to losing. In the past decade, almost no team has done it more. Blown leads, non-competitive games, Offensive meltdowns, Defensive collapses, injuries to key positions, Injuries to kickers, missed kicks, record-breaking kicks, blocked kicks… they truly have found almost every way to lose. In the midst of this miasma of sadness, it can be hard for us Giants fans to remain positive, but fear not, dear reader! I am here to turn that frown upside down. In this article, I’ll be briefly dancing over the reasons to despair, and wallowing in all the good!

The Ugly

Let's get the medicine out of the way first. This season has really gone about as well as can be expected so far. Going into this year the team stood listless without a quarterback, held the third worst record in football, and were facing the hardest schedule the NFL has pumped out in the past 5 years (Thanks Rodger!!!), so it should really be no surprise that they are sitting at a measly 2 wins 12 weeks in, but let's dive into the WHY behind that terrible record shall we? And no, it is not that Eli Manning used up all the franchise's luck for 20 years to mount two of the greatest playoff runs the NFL has ever seen.

First things first, we need to get the injuries out of the way. Yes, they are missing two of their best weapons on offense in Skatabo and Nabers. Despite some surprisingly good performances missing these two, the giants clearly need them back if they are going to want to win football games again. The greater cause for worry for this writer and many other Giants fans is the absolutely embarrassing late-game collapses from the defense that every sports writer drooled over this offseason. 

So, what’s the issue? Many fans seem to believe Defensive Coordinator Shane Bowen and cornerback Deonte Banks should shoulder all the blame. While Bowen has certainly made some interesting calls, I do believe more fault lies in the latter. Not just on Deonte Banks, but more squarely on the shoulders of this Giants secondary and their absolute lack of any depth. The start of their troubles came in the end of the historically bad collapse in Denver. And coincidentally, who happened to get injured right before the Broncos started roaring back? Why Paulson Adebo of course! Now I am not saying that all of the issues on defense are due to one player being injured… but Deonte Banks (who has taken the role that Cor’Dale Flott was performing at near all-pro previously) is currently tied for dead LAST in the NFL in passer rating allowed… Ok maybe I am placing a lot of the blame on the shoulders of Banks, but can you really blame me?!? This would not be the first time a single player in a secondary has had such an impact. Look only at the example of Bob Sanders for the Indianapolis Colts in 2007. Obviously, Pauslon Adebo is not a player at that level, but the drop off from him to Banks is looking similar to Bob Sanders and whoever was backing him up way back when. When a secondary loses a great tackler like Adebo and Sanders, and a solid DB, like Adebo and Sanders, it affects every down! It makes 3rd & 8 turn into 3rd & 5, and it turns a sack into a "QB Pressure" that somehow turned into a 20-yard explosive play. If Shane Bowen's unit wants to live up to their talent, they are going to need Adebo back, and Banks GONE!

The Good!

Now that the bad stuff is out of the way, I’d love to talk about the reasons why I, at least, am still feeling a great smattering of hope. Firstly, and I can’t believe I’ve gone this far without mentioning him, there is Jaxson Dart. When the Giants picked Dart this offseason at number 21, there were considerable doubts surrounding the soundness of the pick. People were concerned with how pro-ready he would be when taking the field after looking somewhat reliant on a very college-style Lane Kiffin offense at Ole Miss, but Dart was swift to silence any doubters.

In his first 7 career starts, Dart has looked about as good as any young quarterback despite only coming away with 2 wins. Dart has thrown for 1400 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions with a 62% completion rate, and added another 7 touchdowns and 300 yards on the ground. This is solid production from a rookie, but what makes it truly promising is how he has gotten these yards. Showing up big in big moments, with a go-ahead drive late against the Broncos and great, clean play against two of the best teams and defenses in the league, in the Chargers and the Eagles. A consistent ability to evade pressure and extend plays with his feet, while also keeping his eyes downfield and attacking any late coverage breaks from the defense. While some may think him a rookie sensation who can’t keep up the physical style of play he has been exhibiting for long, the really promising part of his play has come from his strikes down the field. Despite seeing limited success due to some bad drops, Dart has looked accurate and decisive downfield, a welcome change for Giants fans who have come to expect one of the least explosive passing games in this offense in the past 5 years. As much as Dart has done, though, you can’t mention him without telling a brief story of every Italian dads favorite player in the league, Cam Skatabo. Skat looked like the steal of the draft before he got hurt in the second outing against the Eagles this year. From his flashy flips to his bull-headed, contact-driven running style, his energy was as infectious to the team as it was to fans, with the giants showing a lot more fight ever since he and Dart have taken to the field together. A point that is often ignored for some reason when talking about the Giants, though, and the real reason why this offense can trot out Jameis Winston and play the Packers to a close game, is the complete 180 that the offensive line has made since last season. They went from one of the worst units in football at both run and pass-blocking, to arguably top ten in both stats! While I will leave my defense of Joe Schoen for another article, the moves to bring in tackle Jermaine Eluemenor and guard Greg Van Roten are looking more and more poignant as time marches on.

In summation, while the Giants have had a bad year, there are more than a few reasons to be excited about next year, other than just another high draft pick.