Quarterback

The Giants made a surprise playoff appearance in 2022, going 9-7-1 after winning a total of just 22 games in the previous five seasons, but there was reason to believe their 2022 season was a fluke, as they won 8 of their 9 games by 8 points or fewer, went just 2-6 against playoff qualifiers in the regular season, and finished just 23rd in DVOA. The Giants didn’t seem to think so, changing little about their roster from 2022 and 2023 and re-signing quarterback Daniel Jones to a 4-year, 160 million dollar deal, but that decision proved to be a mistake, as the Giants went 6-11 in 2023 and 3-14 in 2024, making that 2022 season look like an obvious fluke, as the only season in their past eight seasons in which they won more than six games.

The Giants won fewer games in 2024 than they did in 2023, but statistically they were a better team in 2024, as they ranked dead last in the league in yards per play differential (-1.13%) and first down rate differential (-6.90%) in 2023, but slightly improved to 30th in yards per play differential (-0.89) and 27th in first down rate differential (-3.15%) in 2024. That was in large part due to the fact that they actually had a good rookie class, with each of their six draft picks turning into starters by the end of the season. However, that wasn’t nearly enough to erase the fact that they didn’t draft a player from 2020-2023 who made a Pro Bowl as a member of the Giants or the fact that they had one of the worst quarterback situations in the league.

The Giants officially ended Daniel Jones’ tenure as their starting quarterback when they released him midway through last season. After giving him a deal that guaranteed him 81 million two off-seasons ago, Jones proceeded to start just 16 more games for the team and complete 64.7% of his passes for an average of 5.95 YPA, 10 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions in those 16 starts, good for a 76.6 QB rating. After releasing Jones, the Giants gave starts to Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito, who were not any better, and, overall the Giants finished last season ranked 30th in the NFL with a team QB rating of 77.8.

This off-season, the Giants overhauled their quarterback room. DeVito is the only quarterback from last season who remains on the roster, but the 2023 undrafted free agent has been underwhelming in eight career starts, completing 65.3% of his passes for an average of 6.12 YPA, 8 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions, and, in this overhauled quarterback room, he probably isn’t any higher than 4th on the depth chart and is unlikely to make the final roster, barring a trade ahead of him on the depth chart.

To try to improve this group, the Giants signed a pair of veterans in Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston and then traded back up into the first round to select Jaxson Dart. This is a better quarterback room by default, but all three options still have concerns. Dart has as much upside as any quarterback in this draft class and could ultimately prove to be the long-term solution for the Giants, but enters the league pretty raw and, with two veterans ahead of him on the depth chart, he might not see any action as a rookie. If he does, it’ll be down the stretch, if the Giants want to get him some game action in what will likely end up being another lost season for the team.

Wilson will likely be the starter for most of the season. Going into his age 37 season, Wilson has looked like a shell of himself in recent years, completing 63.4% of his passes for an average of 7.17 YPA, 58 touchdowns, and 24 interceptions with 4.34 YPC and 8 touchdowns on 178 carries in 41 starts over the past three seasons, after completing 65.0% of his passes for an average of 7.83 YPA, 292 touchdowns, and 87 interceptions with 5.54 YPC and 23 touchdowns on 846 carries in 158 starts in his first 10 seasons in the league. He’s highly unlikely to ever bounce back close to his prime form and could continue declining in 2025. He’s barely a starting caliber quarterback anymore and it’s not surprising he had to settle for being a stopgap in free agency this off-season.

Winston, meanwhile, is a former #1 overall pick who has never lived up to the billing, completing 61.2% of his passes for an average of 7.62 YPA, 154 touchdowns, and 111 interceptions in 87 starts in 10 seasons in the league. He has settled into being a backup in recent years, making just 17 starts over the past five seasons and is likely to remain one in 2025, now in his age 31 season. Winston is a bit of a weird fit on a team that has a veteran stopgap and a young developmental quarterback, so he’s by far the most likely of the bunch to be traded if the Giants opt to move one of these quarterbacks, but the Giants may want to keep him around just to have as many options as possible on the roster. It’s possible all three of these quarterbacks see action at some point in a quarterback room that is better than last season, but largely by default. 

Grade: B

Receiving Corps

Of the six players in the Giants’ impressive 2024 draft class, #6 overall pick wide receiver Malik Nabers was the best of the bunch. Despite poor quarterback play, he finished his rookie season with a 109/1204/7 slash line and 2.17 yards per route run. He wasn’t terribly efficient, as his 170 targets ranked second in the NFL, while his receiving yards only ranked 7th, but that should improve as he develops further and gets better quarterback play. Still only going into his age 22 season, Nabers looks likely to be one of the best wide receivers in the league for years to come.

The Giants didn’t make any significant upgrades to their receiving corps this off-season, so Nabers could still continue having a massive target share. Wan’Dale Robinson ranked second on the team with 140 targets (12th in the NFL) and he was highly inefficient, taking those targets for just a 93/699/3 slash line and 1.21 yards per route run. Robinson was a second round pick in 2022 and averaged 1.76 yards per route run and 7.32 yards per target as a rookie in 2022 and 1.31 yards per route run and 6.73 yards per targets in his second season in 2023, but he couldn’t translate that to a larger role. He’s only going into his age 24 season and may still have some untapped potential, so he could have a more efficient season in 2025 than 2024, especially with improved quarterback play, but he has a long way to go to even have a decent efficiency level.

Darius Slayton, the #3 receiver last season, was more efficient with a 39/573/2 slash line on 71 targets, but he only averaged 1.08 yards per route run. Slayton’s career yards per route run average of 1.36 is better than that though and, with Wilson, Winston, and Dart all having more of a propensity to throw downfield than any of the Giants quarterbacks last season, it’s possible Slayton sees more targets at the expense of Robinson. Slayton had an average depth of target of 13.7 last season, in line with his career average of 13.5, while Robinson averaged a 4.0 average depth of target last season, in line with his career average of 4.5. 

The Giants could also opt to involve their tight ends and running backs more in the passing game this season, after they ranked 22nd in the league with 15.9% of their targets going to running backs, 32nd in the league with 11.6% of their targets going to tight ends, and 2nd in the league with 72.6% of their targets going to wide receivers. If more balls go to tight ends, the primary beneficiary of that would be Theo Johnson, another member of last year’s draft class. 

The 2024 4th round pick was the Giants’ starting tight end for most of last season, starting 11 of the 12 games he played, but only received 43 targets, which he took for a 29/331/1 slash line, with an average of 0.90 yards per route run. Now in his second season in the league, he could take a step forward and, even if he doesn’t, the Giants may still opt to give him more opportunity. Johnson also has a good chance to play more games, after missing five games last season.

Behind their top-3 wide receivers and top tight end, the Giants’ depth options include wide receiver Jalin Hyatt, a 2023 3rd round pick who has only averaged 0.72 yards per route run in his career, but who entered the league as a raw prospect and could still have untapped upside, only going into his age 24 season, tight end Daniel Bellinger, a 2022 4th round pick who has averaged just 0.87 yards per route run in his career and probably doesn’t have any untapped upside, and blocking specialist Chris Mannhertz, who is a good blocker, but has just 29 catches in 134 career games and is now going into his age 33 season. With no significant additions being made to this group this off-season, this is likely to remain an underwhelming receiving corps, but they are at least a young group with upside.

Grade: B-

Running Backs

Tyrone Tracy was another rookie starter for the Giants last season, starting 12 of the 17 games he played and leading the team in carries with 192, despite being just a 5th round pick. Devin Singletary was signed to a 3-year, 16.5 million dollar deal in free agency last off-season to be the starter and he had averaged 4.56 YPC on 888 carries in five seasons in the league prior to last season, but that came with the Bills and Texans and he struggled to translate that to a much worse offense with the Giants, averaging just 3.87 YPC on 113 carries.

Tracy, on the other hand, averaged 4.37 YPC on 192 carries, but Singletary did have a better missed tackle rate (22.1% vs 17.8%) and a better carry success rate (47.8% vs. 44.3%), with Tracy accumulating 31.3% of his rushing yardage on ten carries of 15+ yards, while Singletary only had four carries for 15+ yards, accounting for 22.4% of his rushing yardage. Carry success rate tends to be more consistent on a year-to-year basis than long runs and if Tracy can’t continue to break big runs at the same rate, he could see his YPC average decline significantly in 2025.

Tracy is likely to still be the lead back though. Tracy also was the primary passing down back last season, but he was underwhelming, taking 53 targets for a 38/284/1 slash line and 0.92 yards per route run, while dropping six passes, 4th most among running backs. That was surprising because Tracy was a former wide receiver in college, before being converted to running back. Singletary has never been much of a pass catcher in his career either, averaging 0.71 yards per route run in six seasons in the league, so the Giants opted to try to find a better pass catching back in the draft, using a 4th round pick on Cam Skattebo. 

Skattebo was a highly productive all-around back in his final collegiate season, rushing for 1,711 yards and 21 touchdowns on 293 carries (5.84 YPC), while posting a 45/605/3 slash line, leading to him finishing 5th in Heisman voting, but underwhelming athleticism dropped him in the draft. There is a good chance he becomes the Giants’ primary passing down back even as a rookie, which could be a decent target share if the Giants opt to use their running backs in the passing game more this season, but it’s also likely that Skattebo finishes third on the team in carries. He adds depth to a still underwhelming overall backfield.

Grade: C+

Offensive Line

The Giants’ offensive line was also a problem last season, ranking 28th on PFF in pass blocking grade and 23rd in run blocking grade. They didn’t make any significant additions to this group this off-season, but they are hoping for a healthier season out of left tackle Andrew Thomas. That would be a big boost to this offense, as Thomas has finished above 75 on PFF in each of the past four seasons, but that’s also far from a guarantee, as he’s missed 23 games over those four seasons, including 18 in the past two seasons and 11 in 2024. Thomas, the 4th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, is still only going into his age 26 season and has a huge upside if he can stay on the field, but there is a good chance he ends up missing more time with injury.

The primary way the Giants dealt with Thomas’ absence last season was moving right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor to left tackle and plugging in Evan Neal at right tackle. Neal was the 7th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, but hasn’t come close to living up to his draft slot, which is why he began last season as a reserve. He did seem to be improved last season in his 7 starts, posting a 61.2 PFF grade, after receiving PFF grades of 41.8 and 39.8 in his first two seasons in the league, but he has still only made 27 starts in three seasons in the league and his improvement last season was largely by default. 

With Thomas set to return from injury, Eluemunor will move back to right tackle. He’s been a solid starter for the past three seasons (46 starts), but he’s now going into his age 31 season and has declined in each of the past two seasons, from a 75.3 PFF grade in 2022 to a 68.7 PFF grade in 2023 to a 63.2 PFF grade in 2024. Moving back to his natural position of right tackle could help him in 2025, but his best days are probably behind him at this point. 

Still, Eluemunor remains locked into a starting role. Neal still has upside going into his age 25 season, but if he ends up being a week 1 starter in 2025, it will be at guard, where he will compete with incumbents Greg Van Roten and Jon Runyan. Van Roten was the better of the two last season, with a 63.4 PFF grade to Runyan’s 56.1 PFF grade, but Van Roten is the more likely of the two to go to the bench in 2025. Van Roten has finished above 60 on PFF in all but one of the past seven seasons, making 88 starts over that stretch, but he is now going into his age 35 season and could easily decline in a significant way in 2025.

Runyan is an underwhelming option too, receiving PFF grades of 64.6, 62.6, 56.5, and 56.1 over the past four seasons, while making 63 starts, but the Giants signed him to a 3-year, 30 million dollar deal last off-season and it seems likely they will give him another shot in 2025. Regardless of which two start at guard between Neal, Van Roten, and Runyan, the Giants figure to get pretty mediocre guard play. The Giants also used a 5th round pick on Marcus Mbow and, if things get dire enough, he could find himself in a starting role at some point in his rookie season, though he likely would struggle as well.

At center, John Michael Schmitz will remain the starter. The 2023 2nd round pick struggled as a rookie with a 41.4 PFF grade across 13 starts and, while he took a step forward in his second season in the league in 2024, with a 61.4 PFF grade across 25 starts, he was still an underwhelming starter. He could take another step forward in his third season in the league in 2025, but that is far from a guarantee and it’s also possible he regresses somewhat. Overall, he looks like a pretty underwhelming starting center, but the only alternative the Giants have is Austin Schlottmann, a 2018 undrafted free agent who has made just 14 starts in seven seasons in the league, while finishing above 60 on PFF just once. The Giants desperately need Andrew Thomas to stay much healthier than he has the past two seasons because the rest of this offensive line is a big problem.

Grade: B-

Interior Defenders

While the Giants’ offense struggled last season, ranking 30th in both yards per play and first down rate, their defense was better, though largely by default, ranking 24th in yards per play allowed and 15th in first down rate allowed. That being said, there are reasons they could be better defensively in 2025. For one, the Giants should get a healthier season out of Dexter Lawrence, who had another dominant season in 2024 with a 89.9 PFF grade, after PFF grades of 91.6 and 92.9 in 2022 and 2023 respectively, but he missed five games due to injury last season.

Injuries have otherwise not been an issue for Lawrence in his career, costing him three games in his first five seasons in the league prior to last season and, still in his prime in his age 28 season, he should have a healthier and equally dominant season in 2025. Also a high-level run defender, with PFF run defense grades over 80 in each of the past three seasons, Lawrence is even better as a pass rusher, with 21 sacks, 45 hits, and a 12.7% pressure rate in 44 games over the past three seasons.

The rest of this interior defender position group struggled mightily last season, making Lawrence’s absence an even bigger deal. After Lawrence, the Giants next four interior defenders in terms of snaps played all finished below 60 on PFF. The Giants attempted to improve this position group this off-season by signing veteran free agents Chauncey Golston, Roy Robertson-Harris, and Jeremiah Ledbetter and then using a third round pick on Darius Alexander, all of whom figure to play a role this season.

Golston is probably the best of the bunch. He’s been a hybrid edge/interior defender throughout his four seasons in the league with the Cowboys, since being selected in the 3rd round in 2021, but he figures to play more on the interior than the edge with the Giants, given where the Giants have the most need. He’s developed into a solid player, with PFF grades of 69.3, 66.1, and 65.3 over the past three seasons, first in limited roles in 2022 and 2023, with snap counts of 278 and 322, and then in a much bigger role in 2024, with a snap count of 790. He’s at his best as a pass rusher, finishing above 60 in pass rush grade in all four seasons in the league, while totaling a 8.6% pressure rate. He might not play quite as big of a role in 2025 as he did last season, but he figures to be heavily involved as an interior pass rusher and could also see base package snaps on the edge as well.

The rest of the new additions have issues though. Ledbetter had a 63.0 PFF grade across 441 snaps last season, particularly playing well against the run, but he has only played more than 100 snaps three times in seven seasons in the league and last season was the first time he did so and finished above 60 on PFF, with PFF grades of 59.4 and 49.0 on snap counts of 349 and 369 in 2017 and 2023 respectively. Now going into his age 31 season, it seems unlikely that Ledbetter will repeat his career best season again in 2025 and he could easily struggle.

Roy Robertson-Harris has been a solid player for most of his career, finishing above 60 on PFF in five of the last seven seasons, but he finished last season with a career low 52.9 PFF grade across 398 snaps and now he’s heading into his age 32 season, so his best days are probably behind him and he could easily continue struggling. The rookie Alexander, meanwhile, has the upside to be a starter long-term, but could also struggle in 2025.

None of the holdovers are likely to be much help either. Rakeem Nunez-Roches led this position group with 608 snaps played last season, a career high for the 10-year veteran, and he struggled mightily with a 46.8 PFF grade. He’ll play a smaller role this season, but that is unlikely to help his effectiveness, as he’s now finished below 60 on PFF in four of the past five seasons, including three seasons below 50, and he’ll be in his age 32 season in 2025. He is very likely to continue struggling.

Elijah Chatman was third at this position group in snaps played last season with 423, but the undrafted rookie predictably struggled, with a 58.9 PFF grade, and he’s no guarantee to be any better in 2025, if he can even crack the rotation in a much deeper position group than a year ago. Meanwhile, deep reserves DJ Davidson and Jordon Riley were even worse with PFF grades of 41.0 and 34.3 on snap counts of 261 and 248 last season.

Davidson is a 2022 5th round pick who has struggled across 548 snaps in three seasons in the league, while Riley is a 2023 7th round pick who also had a 33.1 PFF grade across 135 snaps as a rookie, so both are likely to continue struggling in 2025, if they even make the final roster and have roles, which they probably won’t. This position group is a lot deeper than a year ago and they should get a healthier season out of Dexter Lawrence, who significantly elevates this position group by himself, but they still have a lot of players who are likely to struggle in rotational roles.

Grade: B+

Edge Defenders

The Giants should be deeper on the edge this season as well. Last season, they had a talented edge defender duo of Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux, who finished with PFF grades of 78.5 and 69.0 respectively across snap counts of 865 and 593 respectively, but depth was an issue. This season, the Giants add #3 overall pick Abdul Carter into the mix and he figures to make a big rookie year impact. Burns, Thidodeaux, and Carter should rotate heavily and play the lions’ share of the snaps on the edge this season.

Burns should remain the best of the bunch. The 2019 1st round pick isn’t a great run defender, but he has finished above 70 on PFF as a pass rusher in every season except his rookie year, including two seasons above 80 as a pass rusher, while totaling 47 sacks, 58 hits, and a 12.3% pressure rate in 81 games over that span. Still only going into his age 27 season, I would expect more of the same from him again in 2025. The Giants paid a hefty price acquiring him from the Panthers last off-season, trading away a second round pick and giving Burns a 5-year, 141 million dollar deal that makes him the 5th highest paid edge defender in the league, but it was worth it, given that he is one of the Giants’ few blocking blocks.

Thibodeaux is also a former first round pick, selected 5th overall by the Giants in 2022. He hasn’t quite lived up to his draft slot, receiving PFF grades of 71.9, 58.4, and 69.0 on snap counts of 740, 981, and 593 in three seasons in the league, but he has finished above 60 on PFF as a pass rusher in all three seasons, while accumulating 21 sacks, 26 hits, and a 9.4% pressure rate in 43 career games, and he’s still only going into his age 25 season, so he could have further untapped upside. Even with Carter being added to the mix, Thibodeaux figures to still play a significant snap count in 2025.

As I mentioned earlier, Chauncey Golston could play some snaps on the edge in base packages. The Giants also added Victor Dimukeje for additional depth. The 2021 6th round pick had a solid season as a reserve in 2023, with a 67.5 PFF grade across 385 snaps, and he was even better in 2024, with a 75.1 PFF grade, but he was limited to just 157 snaps in 11 games, and then this off-season, he tore his pectoral, which has him questionable for the start of the 2025 season. He’s been especially good as a pass rusher over the past two seasons, with 4 sacks, 9 hits, and a 15.7% pressure rate across 27 games, despite a limited role. If he’s healthy in 2025, he could easily pick up where he left off, but that’s not a guarantee and he’s still relatively inexperienced, only having played 839 snaps in four seasons in the league. This is a deep and talented position group.

Grade: A-

Linebackers

Along with Dexter Lawrence, the Giants should also get a healthier season out of Bobby Okereke, who missed five games last season. Prior to getting hurt, Okereke had a 74.9 PFF grade across 734 snaps, his third straight season as an above average every down player, after PFF grades of 73.3 and 79.0 on snap counts of 970 and 1,128 in 2022 and 2023 respectively. Still in his late prime in his age 29 season, having missed just two games in five seasons in the league aside from last season, I would expect Okereke to continue playing at a high level and to stay mostly healthy.

The other starting linebacker job will likely go to Micah McFadden, who has decent PFF grades of 65.6 and 62.8 on snap counts of 736 and 668 over the past two seasons, but he could face competition from Darius Muasau, a 2024 6th round pick who took over as the starter down the stretch last season when Okereke was hurt. Muasau was predictably underwhelming though, finishing the season with a 58.9 PFF grade across 435 snaps, and would be best as a reserve in 2025, as long as everyone is healthy. Elevated by the return of Okereke from injury, this is a solid linebacking corps.

Grade: B+

Secondary

Another two rookies played significant roles in the secondary for the Giants last season, as second round pick Tyler Nubin played 789 snaps in 13 games and he a 65.6 PFF grade, while third round pick Dru Phillips excelled on the slot with a 77.5 PFF grade across 614 snaps in 14 games. Both will remain in those roles and are likely to play at similar, if not better levels in 2025 and beyond. The Giants also upgraded the other safety spot next to Nubin, moving on from Jason Pinnock, who had a 54.5 PFF grade across 976 snaps last season, and replacing him with Jevon Holland, who they signed to a 3-year, 45.3 million dollar deal in free agency. 

Holland has been inconsistent through four seasons in the league since being drafted in the 2nd round in 2021 and he is coming off of a career worst 63.0 PFF grade in 2024, but he also had a 84.7 PFF grade in 2021 and a 90.4 PFF grade in 2023, to go with a pair of seasons in the 60s. Still only going into his age 25 season, Holland has a lot of bounce back potential in 2025 and beyond and has the talent to be a more consistent safety going forward.

The Giants also signed cornerback Paulson Adebo to a 3-year, 54 million dollar deal. A 2021 3rd round pick, Adebo showed his potential in 2023 with a 78.6 PFF grade across 948 snaps in 15 games and he had a decent 63.3 grade in 2024, but his season was ended by injury after 436 snaps in seven games. He’s still only going into his age 26 season and has upside, but his 2023 season looks like a fluke when you look at his 4-year career overall and he’s also missed 16 games due to injury in those four seasons.

The third cornerback job along with Phillips and Adebo is up for grabs, likely either going to Deonte Banks or Cor’Dale Flott. Banks was a first round pick in 2023, but has not lived up to his draft slot, with PFF grades of 50.9 and 62.2 on snap counts of 788 and 666 in his first two seasons in the league respectively. Still only going into his age 24 season, Banks still has upside and could take a big step forward in his third season in the league in 2025, but that’s far from a guarantee. Flott, meanwhile, was a 3rd round pick in 2022 and has been inconsistent through three seasons in the league, with PFF grades of 65.8, 53.4, and 62.2 on snap counts of 335, 519, and 666 respectively. He’s also still only going into his age 24 season and still has time to develop into a starting caliber player, but he doesn’t have the same upside as Banks.

Whoever loses the starting job between Banks and Flott will serve as the #4 cornerback. At safety, the top backup will likely be Dane Belton again, after he had a 63.0 PFF grade across 460 snaps last season. A 2022 4th round pick, Belton struggled in his first two seasons in the league with PFF grades of 30.6 and 51.7 across snap counts of 390 and 295 and is still pretty unproven, but he’s not bad as far as reserves go. This is a solid secondary overall.

Grade: B+

Kicker

Graham Gano has been the Giants’ kicker for the past five seasons. He excelled in his first three seasons with the team, accounting for 25.30 points above average in those three seasons, but he fell to 9.20 points below average in 2023 and, while he wasn’t quite as bad in 2024, actually accounting for 0.42 points above average, he did miss seven games due to injury and was primarily replaced by Greg Joseph, who cost the Giants 2.92 points compared to average. Now Gano is heading into his age 38 season, so his best days are almost definitely behind him, and he could easily struggle in 2025. The Giants do have competition for him in Jude McAtamney, but he is a 2024 undrafted free agent who attempted just one kick as a rookie, so it’s tough to know what to expect for him. Gano is likely to keep his job, despite his age.

Grade: C+

Conclusion

The Giants’ offense figures to continue struggling in 2025, but they should be better by default, as their quarterback situation is likely to be better by default. Meanwhile, their defense has a lot of promise, with Dexter Lawrence and Bobby Okereke likely to be healthier and Abdul Carter and Jevon Holland being added, among others. The Giants also have promising second year players on both sides of the ball that could take a step forward, as a result of the Giants’ seemingly nailing their 2024 draft class. This probably isn’t a playoff team, especially since their schedule is very tough, but they figure to be much more competitive than they have been in the past couple seasons.

Prediction: 3-14, 4th in NFC East