What can we learn from the Giants’ Week 10 PFF scores, snap counts?

What did we learn from the Pro Football Focus grades and snap counts from the New York Giants in Sunday’s victory over the Houston Texans? Let’s find out.

OFFENSE

PFF Grades

Wide receiver Darius Slayton had the team’s highest offensive grade, an 84.7. What a rise it has been for the 2019 fifth-round pick.

Many thought odds were against Slayton making the team. He had to take a pay cut to even have a chance, and he spent the summer working almost exclusively with the second- and third-teams. He made the team as the seventh of seven wide receivers, was inactive Week 1 and didn’t have a target until Week 4. Now, he leads the team with 327 receiving yards.

It’s hard to imagine where the Giants’ passing offense, 30th in the league in yards, would be without him.

“It’s been a journey,” Slayton said Sunday night. “I just try to take every day one day at a time, do my best and make plays when they come my way. That’s gotten me here, and I hope it will keep serving me well.”

Left tackle Andrew Thomas (70.1 overall grade) did not allow a single pressure in 24 pass-blocking snaps. Thomas has allowed ONE quarterback hit and no sacks in 332 pass-blocking snaps this season. Thomas’s 89.6 overall PFF grade is second only to Christian Darrisaw of the Minnesota Vikings (89.8) among offensive tackles.

Snap counts

(PFF lists these, but sometimes differs from the official snap counts. The chart below is from the NFL’s official Game Book).

Noteworthy numbers:

• Lawrence Cager played 45 snaps, most of the tight ends.
• Isaiah Hodgins played 43 snaps, while the benched in the second half Kenny Golladay played 26. Marcus Johnson received only four snaps.
• Nick Gates played 13 snaps as the jumbo tight end. Matt Peart and Jack Anderson each played five snaps as jumbo, jumbo, jumbo tight ends in an eight-man offensive line.
• The one offensive snap Julian Love played was the final snap in victory formation, aligned as the deep back in case of emergency.

DEFENSE

PFF Grades

I mentioned in ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’ that it would have been easy to look past Leonard Williams with the dominant way Dexter Lawrence had played. Well, PFF loved the work of both. Lawrence graded at 92.0 and Williams 90.5, both elite-level scores.

Lawrence ended up credited with a sack and nine total quarterback pressures in 42-pass-rush snaps. He had a pass-rush win percentage, per PFF, of 28.9.

For the season, Lawrence’s 91.1 grade is second among interior defensive linemen to Chris Jones (92.6) of the Kansas City Chiefs. Williams, incidentally, is ninth in the league at 87.6.

It is not a stretch to say that the Giants might have the most dominant pair of defensive tackles in the NFL this season.

Rookie safety Dane Belton had a poor 39.8 overall grade, but his end-zone interception was one of the game’s biggest plays.

Snap counts

So much shuffling and so many combinations employed by Wink Martindale. The most significant number I see on the entire list is that linebacker Tae Crowder played only two snaps. His playing time has been evaporating the past few weeks, and it seems apparent the Giants are moving beyond the 2020 Mr. Irrelevant.

Belton played 64 snaps in place of Xavier McKinney, and Jason Pinnock played 23.

Rookie linebacker Micah McFadden played 36 snaps.

Defensive tackle Henry Mondeaux, elevated from the practice squad, played 22.