Where did the 2024 season go wrong for the New York Giants?

Before the season began there was a day media members were sitting in the press room surveying each other on how many games each thought the New York Giants would win during the 2024 season. I predicted seven, as did several others in the room.

That did not seem unreasonable. The 2024 Giants were never going to be great. But, they shouldn’t be franchise-record setting horrible, which is where they are headed. They shouldn’t be No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft horrible, which is a strong possibility.

The over/under commonly assigned by oddsmakers was 6.5 victories. Predicting seven victories did not seem outlandish.

The Giants had an offseason plan. Re-prioritize their spending priorities. Solidify the offensive line with competent veterans. Add to the pass rush. Look for a quarterback of the future, but don’t force it. Build the play-making arsenal around Daniel Jones if they couldn’t get that quarterback of the future. Try to get Jones to play at — at least — the 2022 level that convinced the organization to give him a four-year, $160 million contract with $81 million guaranteed.

“It’s all gambles. They’re all bets,” GM Joe Schoen told Peter Schrager of NFL Network. “You’re betting that this plan is going to play out, and you’ve got to have a lot of luck as well that you’re going to stay healthy, and the ball’s going to bounce your way.”

Obviously, the plan didn’t play out the way Schoen intended. On top of which, the luck, health and bounces have pretty much all gone the wrong way.

In predicting that the Giants could be better in 2024 than many believed, I wrote in July that several things had to happen. They were:

• They need Malik Nabers, the wide receiver they drafted No. 6, to be the game-changing force they drafted him to be.
• They need their offensive line revamp to work. That doesn’t mean the line has to be a top-10 unit in the NFL, but competent play will be better than they have had most of the last decade.
• They showed in 2022 that there is a path to playing winning football with Jones at quarterback. They need to find that path again, and Jones needs to play as well — and probably better — than he did in that playoff season.
• They need to get enough production from their running game that there isn’t constant chatter about letting Barkley go having been a mistake.
• They need Dexter Lawrence, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Brian Burns, and Bobby Okereke to be dominant enough up front to take pressure off an inexperienced secondary.
• Speaking of that secondary, Schoen has spent a lot of high draft capital on it in his three drafts. The Giants need first-round pick Deonte Banks, second-round pick Tyler Nubin, and third-round picks Cor’Dale Flott and Dru Phillips to be the players they were drafted to be.
• They need some luck. That starts with good health, especially for their most important players. They could use a few players to outperform expectations. They could use a few fortunate bounces.

Where did things go wrong for the Giants?

Quarterback play

Let’s not blame everything on Minnesota Vikings practice squad quarterback Daniel Jones. There are a number of issues on the 2024 Giants, but quarterback play has clearly been one. Probably the biggest one.

The Giants clearly indicated last offseason that they knew Jones wasn’t their future at quarterback. Brian Daboll indicated he would have been in favor of a trade up for Jayden Daniels, had that been possible. The Giants were rebuffed by the New England Patriots in an effort to trade up for a chance to select Drake Maye. They ended up not choosing a quarterback at all, with the wisdom of that decision yet to be determined by whether or not the franchise solves its quarterback problem in the next season or two.

Regardless, Jones was always really a well-paid bridge quarterback in 2024 to whoever was going to come after him.

The bridge did not outright collapse. It swayed, though, like a poorly built, rickety suspension bridge that was risky to traverse. Jones played with toughness. He was often efficient. He ended up, though, leaving too many plays on the field and making too many mistakes at critical junctures, helping to turn several winnable games into tough-to-take, costly losses.

The Giants were 2-8 when they waived Jones. Without going game-by-game and figuring each one out in detail, I think there is an argument to be made that the Giants could have been 5-5 at that point with winning quarterback play.

If that were the case, Jones would probably not be in Minnesota. And, we would probably not be debating the futures of Schoen and coach Brian Daboll.

There is also a case to be made that during the last two weeks with Drew Lock at the helm, more consistent quarterback play could have led to victories in games against the Dallas Cowboys and especially last Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.

Fault lines

For years, I have maintained an old-school philosophy that I still believe to be correct. Other than getting the right quarterback, teams have to be built from the inside out. Terrific play makers, and a terrific quarterback, can’t shine without dominant play from the behemoths in the trenches. Dominant line play can can make average players at other positions on both sides of the ball look better.

It is clear that the Giants have not had it. Let’s look at both lines.

Offensive line

I have zero issue with the veteran players Schoen brought in this season. Jon Runyan, Jermaine Eluemunor and Greg Van Roten has all been as advertised.

There are, though, two issues.

The first is that Schoen had to devote $14.25 million in 2024 salary cap resources to those players in the first place. He might not have to do that if he had gotten his offensive line draft picks — Evan Neal, Josh Ezeudu, Marcus McKethan, John Michael Schmitz — right. Schmitz is the best of the group, and nearly two full years in he is only a bottom-tier NFL starting center with questionable pass-blocking skills.

Maybe that money could have helped do something like, oh, I don’t know, keep Saquon Barkley or Xavier McKinney.

The second issue is the lack of an acceptable backup plan. This year’s line was fine, middle of the pack, until it wasn’t. Which is when injuries struck.

The Giants’ original idea was that Eluemunor would play guard, Neal would start at right tackle and Eluemunor would also function as the swing tackle. That changed when it became clear Neal wouldn’t be ready to play.

The problem? Rather than go find an acceptable swing tackle to fill that void, the Giants doubled down on using Josh Ezeudu there, which failed miserably last season. He lasted one start as the replacement left tackle when Andrew Thomas got hurt this year, beginning yet another offensive line merry-go-round of shuffling journeyman pieces and praying the quarterback doesn’t get killed.

That’s not good enough.

Defensive line

To me, the Giants have paid all season for the GM not putting enough resources into a position the best teams in the NFL stock, and stock, and stock some more until they have more interior defensive linemen than they know what to do with.

Schoen did not draft a defensive lineman last spring. The only one he drafted in 2023 was Jordan Riley, a seventh-rounder who few, if any, other NFL teams saw as a draftable player. The highest pick he has used in three seasons was a fifth-rounder on the non-descript D.J. Davidson in 2022.

The only free agent defensive lineman signed by Schoen to more than a one-year deal has been Rakeem Nunez-Roches. ‘Nacho’ is a great pro and a great guy, but he’s a journeyman who should be a third or fourth rotational piece, not a guy playing starter snaps.

The Giants traded Leonard Williams last season, a move that became a positive as they turned Williams into Brian Burns, a terrific player who is four years younger. The issue is that the Giants lost Williams and A’Shawn Robinson, a quality run defender, from the interior defensive line group, and only added undrafted free agent Elijah Chatman.

Whether Schoen is the GM or it is someone else, that priority has to change.

Offensive offense

In 2022, the Giants averaged 21.5 points per game, went 9-7-1, won a playoff game, and Jones had the best year of his career. In 2023, the offensive line was terrible, Jones was terrible and was injured badly twice. The Giants played three quarterbacks. They won six games. They averaged 15.6 points per game 30th in the NFL.

Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka went from a rising star skyrocketing toward becoming a head coach to a scapegoat. Daboll took over play calling and complete control of the offense. Most agreed with that decision, both because of the belief that Daboll was an offensive mastermind who’s play-calling would be a huge asset, and because there were already whispers his seat was getting warm and leaning into what he did best seemed like the best way to keep the Mara and Tisch wolves at bay.

It hasn’t worked at all with the Giants averaging a league-worst 14.9 points per game.

Daboll got Jones to play efficiently at times. Ultimately, though, Jones left far too many plays on the field and made far too many costly mistakes at critical times. Daboll couldn’t find the 2022 version of the quarterback.

With Jones, and lately without Jones, there has been nothing exceptional about Daboll’s play calling. Too often, he has seemed to call games conservatively or defensively, trying to minimize opportunities for mistakes.

Maybe he has had to play that way. Maybe the way Jones played was simply because that is who Jones really is. The critical injury to left tackle Andrew Thomas has played a role. The Giants averaged 17 points per game and surrendered 14 sacks in the six games Thomas played. They have averaged 14 points and given up 28 sacks in the seven games since.

Daboll, though, takes a hit for signing off on the Josh Ezeudu as backup left tackle plan. He takes a hit to his reputation for developing quarterbacks by not being able to get better play from Jones when he was directly responsible for the offense. He takes a hit for the lack of creativity, the pre-snap and other undisciplined penalties, the lack of points and the reality that the offense has gotten worse under his thumb.

The right defensive coordinator?

Let’s not blame Shane Bowen for the Giants being 2-11. Yes, the run defense hasn’t been good. Yes, going more than 11 games without an interception (thank you, Tre Hawkins) was ridiculous. To this point in the season, though, defense has not been the Giants’ big problem. The Giants allow 22.5 points per game, 16th overall. That makes them exactly league average.

The problem has largely been the league-worst offense.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t things to complain about on defense. Or, that Bowen is the right defensive coordinator for the personnel the Giants have.

Bowen is a much different coordinator than his predecessor, Wink Martindale. The Giants have gone from Martindale’s throw caution to the wind “pressure breaks pipes” blitz-happy, man coverage dominant defense to Bowen’s preference for four-man pressure, zone coverage and less outright attacking.

Deonte Banks was drafted to be a press-man cornerback in a man-heavy scheme. Remember Martindale’s bear-hug of Schoen when the GM traded up to get him? He has struggled to cover No. 1 receivers this year, but also a case can be made that the less aggressive, more zone-dependent coverage scheme does not fit what Banks was drafted for.

Two other key players who have not lived up to expectations this season are safety Jason Pinnock and inside linebacker Bobby Okereke.

Okereke was particularly vocal last season about his love of playing for Martindale, and was clearly unhappy about the ex-DC’s acrimonious departure. He has been a good soldier and not complained, but he clearly has not been the impact player he was a year ago.

Okereke, who maybe miss the rest of the season with a back injury, is averaging just one fewer tackle this year (7.75 per game compared to 8.7 a year ago), but his impact plays are down.

He averaged 3.3 STOPs per game in 2023, and is down to 1.8 per game in 2024. Okereke’s missed tackle rate has gone up from 7.7 to 10.7%.

He admitted in a recent conversation that he was still trying to figure out when he should and should not be aggressive in Bowen’s scheme.

Pinnock had an excellent season in 2023. Like Okereke, though, he has not been as impactful in 2024.

In 2023, Pinnock had two interceptions, a forced fumble and six passes defensed. This Year? A lone pass breakup.

Pinnock has three sacks compared to two a year ago. However, Pinnock has been used as a pass rusher just 16 times (3.7%). In 2024, he was used 40 times (6.8%).

Pinnock is a free agent, so if Bowen is still the defensive coordinator perhaps the Giants look for a replacement who fits his scheme better. Getting more out of Banks and Okereke, and figuring out how to generate some turnovers, are things that have to be considered.

Luck/health/fortunate bounces

The Giants have had none of those things.

Scouting Academy Director Dan Hatman, who once upon a time worked in the Giants’ scouting department, has reminded me over the years that winning games and being a good NFL team always involves a certain amount of luck.

• The Giants lost a game in Week 2 when they scored three touchdowns and didn’t give up one. Why? Because they lost their placekicker on the first play of the game, and their star wide receiver dropped a fourth-down pass in the closing minutes that would have put them in position to win.
• They lost their best offensive lineman to injury for the second straight year. There have been a ton of injuries over the past couple of weeks, but the Thomas injury is the one that came early enough that it actually contributed significantly to the arc of the season.
• The Giants have lost nine games by 10 points or less, eight by just one score. One or two plays could have changed the outcome of any of those games. The Giants just have not been good enough to make them.
• Injuries are now ravaging the roster, including many to the team’s best players, making it virtually impossible to see how the Giants will win another game.