In the 2019 NFL Draft, the Giants spent seven of 10 picks on defense. Despite this, their defense was awful.
Undeterred, the Giants spent seven of 10 picks again on defense in the 2020 NFL Draft. On top of that, they overpaid a bit for Packers linebacker Blake Martinez, way overpaid for former Jets flameout Leonard Williams, then made a wise move by bagging free agent cornerback James Bradberry. They also got the Nick Saban seal of approval, with the lord of college football asserting that the G-Men got a steal by drafting safety Xavier McKinney in the second round.
If you saw the documentary on the bond between Saban and Bill Belichick — two notoriously ornery and private people — you were likely flabbergasted when Saban said most NFL clubs draft Alabama players without even asking the Crimson TIde's coach about them. It proves how few NFL personnel people know their job and how hard that makes it for us to judge their draft picks and free agent signings before they take a single NFL snap.
The Giants, like most teams, will live or die by the draft. To that end, they took the safest player when they picked Georgia tackle Andrew Thomas with the fourth overall pick. They passed on Clemson LB Isaiah Simmons, whom some see as a true game-wrecker who will have his mail forwarded to the Pro Bowl. Still, Thomas was the highest rated tackle according to Pro Football Focus, even if he doesn't have the highest ceiling. And the Giants desperately need a lockdown left tackle after splurging on Nate Solder, who has been woefully mediocre.
The Giants had just 36 sacks last season, yet still don't have their sack leader, Markus Golden, in the fold. Golden had 10.5 sacks, while no other Giant had five. Big Blue is hoping for big things from Kyler Fackrell, who had 10.5 sacks in 2018 when he played with Martinez in Green Bay. Unfortunately, Fackrell has just six total sacks in his three other NFL seasons.
Then we have DeAndre Baker, the only Giant who had arrest warrants issued in his name this spring. There have been mutating accounts of what happened that night when Baker allegedly robbed some folks of some jewelry. But it's never good to be facing four counts of armed robbery, with each charge carrying a 15-year prison sentence. Maybe Baker walks without jail time. But the Giants still spent three draft picks to sneak back into the first round last year to grab Baker, who then stunk for much of his maiden NFL season.
But Big Blue's true weapons play on offense. Daniel Jones is looking like a franchise quarterback. Saquon Barkley is already a franchise halfback. The club made a sneaky-good move by signing the versatile RB Dion Lewis, who's a perfect compliment to the stone-hewn Barkley. And the Giants poured myriad resources into their offensive line.
If the G-Men are well-stocked at one position it's wide receiver. Golden Tate and Sterling Shepard are productive veteran players and Darius Slayton should improve upon a stellar rookie season. Tight end Evan Engram remains a pass-catching threat, but you just worry about Engram's brittle body, which has allowed the 25-year-old just 25 starts in 48 possible games.
Perhaps the two most important additions are guys who won't touch the ball all season — head coach Joe Judge and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. The Giants shocked the football world when they signed the Patriots special teams coach. While you like the pedigree you don't love the lack of experience with the 37-year-old Judge. John Harbaugh was hired by the Ravens while coaching special teams, so it's not impossible to make that quantum coaching leap.
Judge has to not only deal with a turbulent NFL season as a rookie head coach, he will be flanked by Garrett, who was canned by the Cowboys this winter. The affable Princeton grad is a New Jersey native who also spent his last season as a QB in a Big Blue uniform. What happens if the Giants stumble to an 0-2 or 1-4 record? Will the media and the masses call for the man with the Mayberry mien? Garrett is super smart, spent 10 years sweating in the boiler room / locker room in Dallas, and left with a wholly respectable 85-67 record.
Maybe it won't happen, and thus it won't matter. But the Big Apple has a way of hurling a few fluttering passes at unseasoned coaches — just as Pat Shurmur — and very few coaches not named Parcells have had the strength and wisdom to handle them.
We're not there yet. We can only give grades based on the limited data we have on people who have yet to play or coach in the singular speed and violence of the NFL. Right now the Giants, like all NFL clubs, are an unfinished portrait. So we can only project and predict.
If you can get past his homespun bromides and eardrum-bashing Boston accent, Dave Gettleman has been decent the last few months, if not longer. Other than Baker, he's largely shed the malcontents and locker room toxins. And he's added a few of his favorite players, the infamous Hog Mollies. For that, at least he and the Giants look better now than they did last year.
Grade: B
