New York Giants News

Giants news, 9/7: Rule changes, offensive line, Daniel Jones, more

Your New York Giants headlines for Tuesday

By Ed Valentine@Valentine_Ed Sep 7, 2021, 6:52am EDT

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Good morning, New York Giants fans!

How NFL rule changes for 2021 will impact the game - Fewer low blocks, expanded review and balanced holding calls

I honestly had not thought much about these, but they are interesting things to be aware of.

FMIA: 2021 NFL Season Predictions, Super Bowl LVI - Peter King, NBC Sports

King is not impressed by the Giants’ offensive line acquisitions:

I think the Giants made two moves for the offensive line this week that left me scratching my head—and left me worried for Daniel Jones and that offense. They trade a useful defensive lineman, former Giants third-round pick B.J. Hill, to Cincinnati for Billy Price, a guard-center bust. Price, per PFF, is the league’s 86th-rated center out of 89 who have played the position since he entered the league in 2018. His guard grade is no better. Then the Giants traded a fourth-round pick in 2023 to the Ravens for guard Ben Bredeson (who I was told was unlikely to make the Ravens’ roster), and late fifth and seventh-round picks. If you look at the where those picks in the Bredeson were in the 2021 draft, the fourth-rounder would be 116th overall, the fifth-rounder 175th overall and the seventh-rounder 254th. The value of the 116th pick on the draft-trade value chart is 62 points, and the lesser two picks the Giants received are worth 21 and 1 points. So Bredeson, to be worth this trade, almost has to become either a contributing swing player for multiple years, or a starter. A big ask for someone who played 48 offensive snaps in 2020.

So now GM Dave Gettleman is responsible for importing all eight active offensive linemen on the Giants’ roster, at a total cost of $122.6 million. (Big-ticket guys: Nate Solder, who has two years of his four-year $62-million contract remaining, and Andrew Thomas, who has three years of his four-year, $32.3-million deal left. Solder has been okay, Thomas poor—and he was the first tackle picked in a rich 2020 draft crop for tackles.) The bottom line is if the line struggles to give Jones time this year and the Giants don’t somehow win seven or eight games, it’s going to be tough for Gettleman to be handed the reins for a fifth draft in New Jersey.

One stat that matters for every NFL team | Touchdown Wire

For the Giants, it’s the deep ball.

New York Giants: 138.6

Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett seems a step behind when it comes to maximizing what makes quarterback Daniel Jones potentially above-average. Jones’ penchant for making big plays downfield as a deep passer in 2020, as opposed to the number of opportunities he had to do so, would be Exhibit A in that argument. Last season, Jones completed 20 of 43 passes of 20 or more air yards for six touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 132.5, which was the highest among any quarterback taking at least 20% of his teams’ snaps. But those 43 deep attempts tied him for 21st in the league with Gardner Minshew and Jared Goff.

Here’s the thing — Jones was below-average in efficiency on every other distance. He threw no touchdowns and four interceptions on passes of 10-19 air yards, five touchdowns and six interceptions on passes of 0-9 air yards, and on passes behind the line of scrimmage, no touchdowns and no picks. If the Giants are to really see what they have in Jones, it’s time to let him throw it deep more often, and see how it goes.

Simulating the 2021 NFL season - Projecting 285 games, biggest storylines and a Super Bowl winner

ESPN’s simulation predicts an ugly 5-12 season for the Giants.

Breaking the NY Giants roster down position by position

Gee, I wonder who else has done this recently?

Broncos getting healthy for season opener vs. Giants - nj.com