PFF Preseason Review: Good news, bad news for Giants

As we head into Week 1 of the regular season and dive into talking about the upcoming game against the Dallas Cowboys let's look back one last time at the New York Giants' preseason. Pro Football Focus has, for the first time, graded preseason games. Here are some of the interesting PFF numbers from the preseason, during which the Giants went a meaningless 1-3.

Overall Numbers

As a team the Giants posted a score of -55.4 on offense, tied with the Carolina Panthers for the worst overall PFF grade in the NFL for the preseason.

That score included a -15.3 passing, -34.9 run-blocking and -4.2 in pass-blocking. Before you freak out about those, remember that Eli Manning worked without Victor Cruz most of the preseason and with Hakeem Nicks still rounding back into form. He and new tight end Brandon Myers are also still getting acclimated to each other. The run-blocking had to be impacted by the fact fullback Henry Hynoski did not play, and by the shuffling the Giants did to compensate for offensive line injuries. Those numbers are not as troublesome heading into the regular season as they might appear.

Defensively, the numbers were encouraging for a group that placed 31st in the league a season ago. The Giants ended the preseason with a +26.0 score defensively, 10th among preseason defenses. Want a number that is even more impressive? The Giants scored a +32.4 defending the run, second-best in the league for the preseason.

The pass coverage came in at -8.5.

On special teams the Giants scored an impressive +25.3, best in the league.

Thus, there are plenty of positive signs provided the Giants can get their offense cleaned up.

Individual Numbers

Defense

Best
Mike Patterson +8.1
Shaun Rogers +5.7
Justin Trattou +5.3
Damontre Moore +5.0
Mark Herzlich +3.8
Adewale Ojomo +3.1
Keith Rivers +2.7
Justin Tuck +2.3
Ryan Mundy +2.3
Will Hill +2.0

Worst
Matt Broha -5.7
Adrian Tracy -4.0
Spencer Paysinger -3.6
Corey Webster -2.2
Cooper Taylor -2.0

Want to know why Patterson, Rogers and Trattou made the team and Tracy didn't? Those numbers go a long way toward explaining the decisions. There were 14 other defenders with plus (+) scores, not all of whom made the final roster. For those of you still interested, Marvin Austin ended the preseason at -1.7.

Offense

Best
Brandon Mosley +3.6
David Wilson +2.9
Kevin Boothe +2.4
Julian Talley +1.3
Will Beatty +1.3
Louis Murphy +1.2

Worst
Curtis Painter -6.3
Selvish Capers -6.3
Brandon Myers -6.2
Ryan Nassib -5.3
Adrien Robinson -3.7
David Carr -3.5
Jim Cordle -3.3
Chris Snee -3.2

As you can see, not a whole lot to brag about. None of the backup quarterbacks scored well. Eli Manning also ended up with a -2.2. In all, 29 offensive players scored negative (-) numbers.