The New York Giants wrapped up their most promising preseason in many years with a 42-10 victory over the New England Patriots on Thursday evening. It wasn’t too long ago that Giants fans would wonder who they might pick up off the waiver wire to fortify a roster that seemed underwhelming at multiple positions. Things seem to be different now. The team seems to have good depth at a number of positions, and some hard cutdown choices will have to be made.
Let’s see who Pro Football Focus thought played well and who didn’t, and what snap counts may or may not be telling us about the decisions looming for this – dare I say? – intriguing team.
PFF grades
Offense
Let’s start with the quarterback, and look at his entire pre-season, not just his final pre-season game:
Courtesy of Pro Football Focus
OK, that’s not Jaxson Dart. It’s 2017 pre-eason Patrick Mahomes. You think the Chiefs knew they had something special? 91.8 passing grade, 4 TDs, 0 INTs, 8 big-time throws and only 3 turnover-worthy plays for the rookie. Yet Mahomes didn’t play a single down until the final game of the season, when Kansas City already had their playoff spot locked up. Instead, Alex Smith, a very good but not great quarterback, started for the 2017 Chiefs.
Dart’s rookie year preseason hasn’t been quite as spectacular, but it’s been pretty darn good:
Courtesy of Pro Football Focus
People often forget what PFF tells us about what their grade represents. In brief, PFF doesn’t know what the play call is, whether the quarterback made the read the offensive coordinator thought he should make, whether the receiver ran the right or wrong route, etc. What they do know is: The QB threw the ball. Did he throw it well or poorly? Was it a difficult (e.g., deep, tight window) or an easy (short pitch-and-catch to a wide-open target) pass to complete? If incomplete, was it the QB’s or the receiver’s fault? PFF starts from a neutral 60.0 baseline and then adds or subtracts points depending on the answers to these questions. It does not evaluate the mental part of the game, which is obviously a huge part of what makes a quarterback successful. Criticize them for that if you wish, but don’t say they didn’t tell you, and don’t think that anyone outside the locker room really knows the answer to that question.
Once you understand that a PFF grade is about the physical/mechanical aspects of a player’s performance, the grades make more sense. So: In Game 2 Jaxson Dart went 14 of 16 for 137 yards but only graded 66.8, while last night he went only 6 of 12 for 81 yards but graded 93.0. Why? The supplemental numbers tell us. Last week he had zero big-time throws. Everything was short or at best intermediate – his ADOT was a tiny 4.1 yards. He was highly efficient, but those 14 completions only added a little bit to the baseline 60.0 because they were throws any QB should make. Where did the 93.0 grade last night come from? Yes, he was only 6 of 12, but three of the incompletions were receiver drops – Dart got the ball where it was supposed to be.
More importantly, Dart was credited with three big-time throws (and 13.7 ADOT), and those are catnip to the PFF folks. Their philosophy is that explosive plays win in today’s NFL. It’s the same idea behind the expected points added (EPA) metric that many analysts use: If you have to go 80 yards for a TD, doing it in 3 plays offers fewer chances for a failed drive than trying to do it in 15 plays. Three yards and a cloud of dust is no longer the way successful offenses operate. Last year’s leaders in big-time throws were Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Sam Darnold, and Lamar Jackson. Only Darnold among those is not considered elite.
Dart could easily begin the season as the Giants’ starter. He almost certainly won’t, though. That’s because the Giants, who scrambled last season to find anyone who could play quarterback well, now have four QBs who are playing well:
Courtesy of Pro Football Focus
Russell Wilson didn’t play last night, but he showed last week that he can still sling the rock. Jameis Winston entered last night’s game at a moment’s notice and promptly threw a TD pass. Tommy DeVito, likely to either be traded or lost to another team from the waiver wire, played like he did during his three-game coming-out party in 2023. It’s a problem the Giants haven’t had maybe since 1990, when Phil Simms and Jeff Hostetler were on the roster.
Speaking of good problems, here are the receiving grades for last night’s game:
Malik Nabers, Darius Slayton, and Wan’Dale Robinson are the heart of the wide receiver corps, and none of them played last night. It’s the depth that will be interesting. As of this writing Montrell Washington, who had good and bad pre-season moments, has already been cut, as have Jordan Bly and Zach Pascal. The others on the list above are up for grabs. The most interesting will be Jalin Hyatt (59.6), who did not impress this pre-season. Last night he had a drop and only one contested catch in 3 tries, but he did finally haul one in for a TD. As a third round pick, and one they traded up for, you would think he’ll survive cuts, but you never know. Of the rest, it’s been interesting to see Gunner Olszewski (74.8), brought in for punt returning (and good at it), get extended action at WR. He’s made the most of it, hooking up for a 50-yard pass play. 47 of his 68 yards last night were YAC.
The tight end situation is just as fascinating. Rookie Thomas Fidone II (80.4, 4 of 5 receptions for 39 yards and a TD) and veteran Greg Dulcich (74.2, 4 of 4 catches for 26 yards and 2 TDs) have both been impressive as receivers. Yet TEs are just as importantly blockers:
Courtesy of Pro Football Focus
Both of them graded well on pass blocking in only a small sample; both were unimpressive as run blockers. Theo Johnson is surely TE1, and Chris Manhertz is the best run blocker among the group. Daniel Bellinger, once a promising rookie, has not played as well since his eye injury, and this regime has never seemed to be enamored of him, because he is middling in speed and undistinguished as a blocker. The question is how many TEs the Giants keep, and which ones. Could Bellinger be gone? Could Dulcich make the 53? Could Fidone make it to the practice squad and not be grabbed by another team? Tough questions, but a good problem to have.
Speaking of blocking, here are the offensive line numbers (ordered by blocking snaps):
Courtesy of Pro Football Focus
None of the starters played last night. That leaves four or five of the players above to make the 53. Evan Neal (53.6) will almost surely make it as the Giants give him time to adjust to left guard, but he did not play well last night, giving up a hit and three hurries. Rookie Marcus Mbow (62.9), who also surely will make the 53, had good and bad moments last night with a hit and two hurries. After that it’s anyone’s guess. Bryan Hudson (90.7) and Austin Schlottman (79.9) have all had good enough camps to be in consideration at backup center. Jake Kubas (79.5) played well last night after two rough pre-season outings. Will the Giants prefer Kubas’ youth and potential over the veteran presence of Aaron Stinnie (66.1), who played well in the first two games? Will they try to stash Kubas on the practice squad? James Hudson III did not play last night but is probably next man up at left tackle if Andrew Thomas is not ready to go. That might leave Stone Forsythe (68.4) on the outside looking in.
Courtesy of Pro Football Focus
Devin Singletary did not play last night; presumably he will make the 53 because of the $4.75M of dead money that it would cost to release him, in addition to his being the only real veteran running back on the roster. Tyrone Tracy, the presumed starter, did not play. Cam Skattebo (60.9, 3 carries for 12 yards) got his first brief taste of preseason action. The fascinating case is Turbo Miller (57.2), 11 carries for 41 yards and three receptions for 12 yards. Miller has been the Giants’ most scintillating running back this summer. It is doubtful that he would make it to the practice squad or last long if he got there, because he provides the explosiveness that teams long for.
Defense
First, the above-average grades:
Courtesy of Pro Football Focus
Most starters did not play last night. Cor’Dale Flott, competing with Deonte Banks for the CB2 role, had five coverage snaps and one target that he defended, giving him a stellar 91.3 coverage grade. O’Donnell Fortune (90.7), who had a disastrous opener in Buffalo, played better last night but has been cut. Art Green (77.3) allowed a reception but for only 4 yards; he could earn a practice squad spot.
Dyontae Johnson (67.7) played fairly well but has already been cut this morning. Chris Board (62.1) only played a few snaps but is likely to make the 53 as a special teamer.
On the edge, Chauncey Golston (85.5) played well in limited snaps, getting one pressure. The battle for the remaining edge defender spot is between incumbent Tomon Fox (70.7, a sack and two hurries) and UDFA Trace Ford (77.5, two hurries). One is likely to make the team, the other may head to the practice squad.
In the interior, the interesting player was D.J. Davidson, with a stellar 89.4 grade due mostly to his run defense, although he batted a pass as well. That made up for a nondescript outing vs. the Jets last week. Cory Durden (76.5) had a QB hit.
Now the below-average grades:
Only a few defensive players graded below average, and most of those only a little below average, i.e., it was an overall good performance by the defense last night. Safety K’Von Wallace (34.0) graded very poorly because of a missed tackle. Jeremiah Ledbetter (44.3) and Jordon Riley (49.2), in competition with players like D.J. Davidson for a roster spot, did not help their cause. Riley did have a hurry and two assisted tackles, but he also had a penalty. Ledbetter had 3 tackles and 3 assists, but he was graded poorly on run defense.
Snap counts
Offense
The offensive line stats might just be interpreted as an indicator of which players are on the bubble and which are more likely to make the 53, and then how many competitors at each position were competing for a spot. Looked at this way, you might predict that one of Jake Kubas, Austin Schlottman, Bryan Hudson or Jimmy Morrissey will make the 53 as a backup interior lineman, for example. The wild card in all of this is that players who have special teams value are more likely to make the roster than those who do not. So, for example, both Gunner Olszewski and Ihmir Smith-Marsette could make the team as punt/kick returners, even though Olszewski flashed as a receiver last night. Dante Miller was definitely getting one last tryout to be RB4 after catching everyone’s attention in the first two pre-season games, while Cam Skattebo almost surely will be on the roster but was just getting his feet wet after suffering a hamstring injury in camp. Most of Beaux Collins, Lil’Jordan Humphrey, Zach Paschal, Jordan Bly, and Juice Wells will not make it (Montrell Washington has already been cut), but perhaps one of them will, although Olszewski’s performance last night may have closed that door. The Fidone-Dulcich competition may come down to one of them making the 53, or perhaps Bellinger will be the odd man out.
Defense
Again, this list mainly indicates competition for roster spots. On the edge, it’s Tomon Fox vs. Trace Ford to be on the 53. In the interior, it’s Elijah Garcia, Cory Durden, Jordon Riley, and D.J. Davidson competing for a spot (Elijah Chatman is probably assured a spot, as is rookie Darius Alexander). At off-ball linebacker, K..J. Cloyd was given a last chance to gain attention. TJ Moore’s injury takes him out of the CB picture, but O’Donnell Fortune, Nic Jones, Art Green, and Dee Williams were in the conversation for a roster or practice squad spot.
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