As the 2022 regular season approached, the New York Giants seemed to have depth at the wide receiver position. Injuries changed that in a hurry and despite a 6-2 record, the Giants have been pretty thin at receiver for the better part of the year.
With Kadarius Toney now in Kansas City and Sterling Shepard out for the season, the Giants are lacking playmakers at the position — especially until Kenny Golladay returns.
General manager Joe Schoen was handcuffed by the lack of salary cap space as he tried to upgrade the roster.
Schoen was a guest on WFAN’s Tiki & Tierney earlier this week and talked about addressing the offensive line to protect Daniel Jones rather than adding to the receiver core.
How much better is Daniel Jones in the eyes of Joe Schoen compared to when he first took the GM job?@TikiBarber @BrandonTierney @TikiAndTierney pic.twitter.com/uxcbq2ySNG
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) November 2, 2022
“I always thought, even when I took the job watching the film before I got here, that he had the physical tools. I didn’t really know him as a kid, I hadn’t been around him but he’s got enough arm strength, he can make all the throws, he’s athletic, he can run. He’s got a lot of dominant traits at the position that are desirable,” Schoen said of Jones. “And then getting to know the kid, being around him — his work ethic, his passion, his leadership, again, he’s a captain. And then, he’s continued to get better in this system from the spring, to training camp.
“I know a lot of people aren’t into training camp but, again, with Wink’s defenses, you’re not game-planning for people coming from left field all the time on you. Once we got into a game plan and again, we’re trying to figure out our team, what our guys do well. What runs does Saquon like, what routes do our receivers like to run. So, as our offense has been evolving on a weekly basis, he’s continued to get better and he’s now giving input on what he likes, what plays he likes and what routes he likes to throw, so I like where he is. You talk about gotta have it moments when you are evaluating a quarterback — he’s got five fourth quarter come backs; he’s done a good job on third down for us.”
But those receivers… What about those receivers?
“I hear you on the receiver thing but again, when we got here, we only had X amount of money to deal with,” Schoen said. “One of my goals was to make sure he can stand on his feet, first and foremost. You have four new starting offensive linemen and Andrew Thomas is playing at a high level. It wouldn’t matter who you have at wide receiver if he can’t stand on his feet, so with the resources we had, we tried.
“I think Wan’Dale has got a bright future here. He’s going to be able to help us out. So, that was kind of the goal of the offseason. Again, I know we’d love to see him with three number ones to throw to but we’ll get there. It’s going to take time, it’s not going to happen overnight.”
Thus far, Jones has had better pass protection than he has in previous seasons.
If the Giants got better production from Darius Slayton and injuries didn’t keep Sterling Shepard, Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney and Wan’Dale Robinson off the field, the constant wide receiver discussion might not exist. But that’s not how things played out.
Schoen was forced to make a choice and the choice he made was to give Jones a chance. And while the stats tell a less than impressive story, the record does not. With Jones on his feet, the Giants are 6-2.
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