The New York Giants finished 6-11 on the season and failed to follow up on their 2022 playoff performance leaving behind questions of whether or not they are headed in the right direction.
The Giants had breakdowns and failures in just about every unit and now must seriously evaluate what needs to be addressed and in what order.
Here are the Giants’ five biggest needs heading into the offseason.
An offensive line coach
The Giants have been drafting linemen for the past few years and adding many more via free agency. The talent is basically there for them to be a functional unit.
The issue, as usual, has been health. Ben Bredeson, who is basically a swing lineman or backup, played the most snaps this season along the line (91.8 percent) which is far from ideal.
Bobby Johnson did his best to patch together a group of inexperienced and over-the-hill bodies but it was clear early on they were in trouble.
They need to find a coach who can maintain some stability along the line. That is a huge ask. Johnson was an experienced coach and he couldn’t do it, so finding an upgrade here will be tough.
The quarterback room
Daniel Jones is returning. That much we know. What we don’t know is whether or not the Giants are genuine in their commitment to him.
We just saw how a team can get submarined by quarterback injuries. By committing to Jones, they are hitching their wagon to a player with a serious injury history.
The Giants might fall into a quarterback at No. 6 in this draft and decide he’s too good to pass up. If that happens, expect the Giants to go with Jones, Tommy DeVito, and the rookie.
If not, they could re-sign Tyrod Taylor or another veteran, but this room needs to be planned with the worst-case scenarios in mind.
A defensive coordinator
You’ve been reading the past 24 hours about how unhappy Wink Martindale was with his place here with the Giants. So unhappy that he decided to walk away rather than continue to work for what he thought was an inferior coach in Brian Daboll.
Martindale will be difficult to replace. He was well-respected and knew how to get the best out of his players and made them feel empowered. There aren’t too many coordinators around the league with as many pelts on the wall as Martindale.
Giant fans should be concerned about Daboll wanting his coaches to show fealty to him (if that is the case) rather than working together for the betterment of the team.
Free agent decisions
Running back Saquon Barkley, safety Xavier McKinney, quarterback Tyrod Taylor, and cornerback Adoree’ Jackson are the big names here. You can add Bredeson if you want as well.
Barkley appears ready to walk and not looking forward to playing under the franchise tag again. The Giants should simply sign Barkley to a market-level deal and be done with it. Unfortunately, they still don’t appear ready to do that.
They rolled the dice on McKinney and he fooled them by having a superb season. Now they might have to use the tag on him if they want to keep him.
Jackson has been overpaid for years and the Giants could be done with him. Taylor is still a good investment and Bredeson just showed you his worth by playing the most snaps and playing several positions.
A special teams coach
With Thomas McGaughey gone, the Giants lost one of the best ‘teams’ coordinators in the NFL. We’re not sure why he was let go.
Special teams are reliant on who dresses on game day. With all the injuries the Giants had this year, McGaughey was charged with forming units on the fly and hoping they forged some type of continuity.
Injuries to placekicker Graham Gano and punter Jamie Gillan hurt as well.
Now, the Giants have to find a new ‘teams’ guru. Could Joe Judge be coming back?
