The NFL really should institute a draft lottery for the first five or so picks. It’s a bizarre experience for fans not to be able to enjoy watching their team put on one of its best performances of the season because they are hoping to retain the first pick in the draft. That said, the No. 1 pick doesn’t guarantee anything, as we’ve seen with the 2024 draft. Whether you were happy or sad to see the New York Giants defeat the Indianapolis Colts, 45-33, yesterday, it’s still worth it to get some insight into who played well and who didn’t, even if you resent the players who spoiled the tank. Let’s see what the analysts at Pro Football Focus thought.

Offense

First a note to NFL schedule-makers: Please put the Colts on the Giants’ schedule every year. The Giants have scored 38 and 45 points in their last two meetings with Indianapolis, the two highest totals of the Brian Daboll/Joe Schoen era.

PFF grades

Courtesy of Pro Football Focus

• Note to NFL GMs: If an LSU wide receiver has declared for the draft, take him. Here are the five leaders in receiving yards as of Monday morning:

Courtesy of Pro Football Focus

That’s four LSU WRs out of the top five in receiving yards. Amon-Ra St. Brown may get past Malik Nabers after the Monday night game, but Nabers has played either one or two fewer games than all of the others and has nursed injuries through much of the season. Nabers is seventh overall – not just among rookies – in PFF offense and receiving grade. Even more amazing is that LSU teammate Brian Thomas Jr. has been great as well, and that their quarterback is the odds-on favorite for NFL Rookie of the Year. If the 2023 LSU team had had any kind of defense they would have been runaway national champions. Nabers’ accomplishment is all the more impressive considering the quarterbacks he’s had throwing to him. Bemoan the Giants not taking a QB at No. 6 if you wish, but if you want to say with a straight face that teams should draft the best player available and not draft for need, it’s hard to argue that the Giants didn’t do just that. Yesterday’s game was the cherry on top for Nabers, with 171 yards, 2 TDs, and a 93.7 offense grade. Wan’Dale Robinson also had a good game aside from one terrible drop, catching all five of his other targets for 71 yards, a TD, and an 89.6 grade. Darius Slayton (61.0) only caught one pass in three targets, but it was a TD.

• Part of the reason for Nabers’ and Robinson’s success was quarterback Drew Lock, who had arguably his best game as a pro, with 309 passing yards, 4 TDs, and a 78.3 grade. This was the Lock that Denver hoped they were getting when they drafted him in Round 2 but only saw occasionally. It raises the question of whether the Giants will view him as worth keeping as QB2 in 2025, regardless of whether a draft pick or a free agent winds up as QB1.
• The offensive line was a mixed bag yesterday:

Courtesy of Pro Football Focus

Across the board, the OL had a poor day run blocking against one of the best run defenses in the league, and this led to poor overall blocking grades for every starter. However, Jermaine Eluemunor (88.9) and Greg Van Roten (75.7) had great pass blocking performances, both of them with no allowed pressures. Evan Neal (55.9) was a bit below average with a hit and two hurries allowed but took two penalties. Jake Kubas was a bit worse at 51.0 but only gave up one hurry and had a penalty. Aaron Stinnie (38.1) has his worst pass blocking game as a starter but only allowed one hurry, though he did have a penalty.

• Tyrone Tracy (42.1) had 59 yards in 20 carries, with 22 of them after contact, but had his fourth fumble of the season, explaining his low grade. Devin Singletary (70.9) only had 5 rushes for 21 yards, but 18 of them were after contact.
• Chris Manhertz (81.6) had a very good game in limited snaps, with a 75.1 pass blocking grade and a reception for 12 yards, while Daniel Bellinger (41.4) was subpar in all facets of the game.

Snap counts

• Drew Lock and the starting offensive linemen played every snap.
• The Giants played roughly equal amounts of 11 and 12 personnel, with Malik Nabers and Darius Slayton on the field for most snaps, Wan’Dale Robinson playing about two-thirds of the time, and Jalin Hyatt getting 10 snaps.
• Daniel Bellinger played most of the offensive snaps, with Chris Manhertz playing a bit less than half the time and Josh Ezeudu seeing the field for nine snaps as an inline tight end.
• Tyrone Tracy continued to be the lead running back, with Devin Singletary only on the field for 15 snaps and Eric Gray five.

Defense

PFF grades

Courtesy of Pro Football Focus

• The defense yesterday was a curious combination of many players who played well and many who played poorly, with few in between, explaining the 33 points the Colts put up. Dane Belton led the way at 90.6. He was on the field most of the time but was only targeted once, and that was a spectacular interception. He also had seven tackles and an assist but missed a tackle.
• The rest of the secondary was less successful. Dru Phillips (67.5) gave up three receptions in three targets but for only 26 yards and had his first interception; he also had four tackles and two assists. Cor’Dale Flott (48.7) had 2 tackles and an assist and gave up a completion for 14 yards in two targets. Tae Banks (48.3) was once again picked on by an opposing QB: Six receptions in nine targets for 105 yards and two penalties, but he did have a pass breakup. Adoree’ Jackson (47.3) gave two receptions, one a TD, for 31 yards but did have a pass breakup. Jason Pinnock (42.4) was toasted for four receptions in four targets for 48 yards and a TD.
• Linebacker Darius Muasau (58.2, four tackles, three assists, two receptions in three targets for 16 yards) had an OK but nondescript game, while Ty Summers (40.4, eight tackles, four assists, a missed tackle, plus six receptions in seven targets for 47 yards) had a rougher go of it. Isaiah Simmons (44.7) only saw a little action, mostly in the box.
• Brian Burns (86.9) and Kayvon Thibodeaux (82.1) were the Giants’ most impactful players on defense. Burns had a hit and five hurries, plus five tackles (four of them stops) and an assist, but also had a missed tackle. Thibodeaux’s line was: a sack and four hurries, plus a forced fumble. Boogie Basham (69.1) had a hurry and three assists. Tomon Fox (52.0) didn’t make the stat sheet.
• In the interior, Elijah Chatman (77.0) continues to alternate good games and bad games. Yesterday was good Elijah: a hit and two hurries, four tackles (two of them stops), and an assist. Rakeem Nunez-Roches (62.3) had a sack, a tackle, and a forced fumble. Elijah Garcia (57.0) had a tackle and an assist, while Jordon Riley (42.3) had a tackle (a stop) but also a missed tackle. Armon Watts (68.6) had a pressure and an assist.

Snap counts

• In the secondary, Belton, Banks, and Pinnock played all or most of the snaps, with Phillips on the field almost three-quarters of the time, and Jackson and Flott about half the time.
• Muasau and Summers handled most of the off-ball linebacker duty, with Simmons getting a few snaps in the box as well.
• Burns and Thibodeaux played almost 80% of the snaps, with Fox and Basham getting the rest.
• Chatman, Nunez-Roches, and Riley each played a little more than half the snaps, with Garcia getting most of the rest after Armon Watts was carted off the field early in the game with a possible serious knee injury.