SB Nation ‘Reacts’ polling: Giants trade deadline reaction, fan confidence, more

We asked several New York Giants questions during this week’s ‘SB Nation Reacts’ polling. Let’s checks the results.

Wide receiver

We asked Giants fans if they were disappointed that General Manager Joe Schoen did not swing a deal for wide receiver help at Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline. Only 27 percent of respondents said they were disappointed, meaning 73 percent of those who voted said they were fine with the first-year GM standing pat.

The Giants are 30th in the NFL in passing yards. They have lost wide receivers Sterling Shepard and Collin Johnson for the season. Kadarius Toney was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. Wan’Dale Robinson missed considerable time with an injury. Kenny Golladay has barely played. Only Darius Slayton, with 232 yards, has surpassed 200 receiving yards.

Schoen said on Tuesday that he had tried to find a deal to upgrade the roster, but nothing materialized.

“We had several conversations with teams on multiple positions, but the price point just didn’t work out,” he said. “It just didn’t work out. We were active with phone calls and trying to improve the roster, which we’ll continue to do.”

The Giants did claim wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins off waivers from the Bills Bills on Wednesday.

Keeping assistant coaches

One of the realities of being a good team and a well-run organization is that teams try to copy your success. Often they do that by hiring your assistants to more important roles, hoping they can bring some of that success along with them. Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots have dealt with that for years. The Giants hired Schoen and Brian Daboll away from the Buffalo Bills.

Veteran defensive coordinator Wink Martindale has long made it clear that he would like to be a head coach. Martindale interviewed for the Giants’ head-coaching vacancy in 2020 when the job went to Joe Judge. One of the reasons Martindale has given for leaving the Baltimore Ravens and coming to the Giants was the idea that a fresh start helping build the Giants defense might help him find the head-coaching vacancy he seeks.

Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka is a guy who could be the fast track toward being interviewed for upcoming head-coaching vacancies. He is in his first year calling plays for the Giants, so that might not come during the 2023 hiring cycle. If the Giants continue to have success, NFL teams will eventually begin knocking on Kafka’s door.

In this week’s polling, 50 percent of Giants fans are worried about losing assistant coaches to promotions elsewhere.

My $.02? It’s the price of being good. Be happy that teams want your people and when the Giants have to replace them trust that they are capable of finding and hiring more quality people.

Fan confidence

Confidence in the direction of the Giants’ franchise has been running at 99 percent for a month now, and has been above 90 percent for the past six weeks.

Confidence polls like this one almost always reflect the most recent event. With that having been a loss last Sunday the Seattle Seahawks, somewhat of a dip in confidence could have been expected, likely even.

That, though, did not happen. Perhaps that is a reflection that Giants are bought in on the idea that the Schoen-Daboll pairing is the right one to take the Giants into the future.

Join ‘SB Nation Reacts’

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in New York Giants fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate.