The New York Giants selected dynamic LSU wideout Malik Nabers with the sixth overall pick in this year’s NFL draft, a move that should help their low-scoring offense improve.
The addition of Nabers may not be enough to move the needle in some critics’ eyes, however. In Bleacher Report’s latest rankings of all 32 NFL teams, Alex Ballentine lists the Giants at No. 30 heading into this season.
It’s a bit of an oversimplification, but the New York Giants offense was one of the worst in the league last season and lost its best playmaker in Saquon Barkley. That’s not a recipe for a much better attack in 2024.
That’s not completely fair, though. They did lose Daniel Jones for all but six games, and he’ll be back. That’s not necessarily a huge upgrade, though. The silver lining for the Giants is they made moves that will give them a better shot at being good—it just might take a year.
Malik Nabers gives them a legitimate No. 1 receiver, and signing Jermaine Eluemunor and Jon Runyan Jr. gives them more functional offensive linemen.
The injuries, which caused the shuttling of offensive linemen and quarterbacks all season, led to much of the inconsistency last year. The Giants averaged just 15.6 points per game. Only New England and Carolina averaged less.
Ballentine does, however, offer some hope for the Giants. As usual, it requires the team to stay healthy and gain some traction with their young core.
Most of the improvement needs to come from young players growing into their roles. Evan Neal is going to get another chance at right tackle. Jalin Hyatt is going to have every opportunity to carve out a large role in the passing game. The same can be said for Wan’Dale Robinson.
Brian Daboll did turn the offense around in 2022 with Jones at the helm. If he stays healthy, Nabers is electric from Day 1 and others step up, this offense could surprise.
The Giants are going to give Jones some rope here once he’s deemed healthy. If he can’t get things going, they could quickly pivot to free agent Drew Lock to see if he can take this offense where it needs to be.
