The Jets got some love from Pro Football Focus in their first two rankings of position groups by team…but sadly, the same couldn’t be said for the Giants, who got some but a lot less dap from PFF.
Brian Daboll was not included in PFF’s ranking of head coaches, as he is a first time coach and was thus omitted, so it was Gang Green boss Robert Saleh at the bottom – but when it came to the wide receiver rankings released last week, Big Blue was No. 22, four below the Jets in the tier of corps that “could be a strength or a weakness.”
Also, PFF mentioned that “availability was the biggest roadblock” for Kadarius Toney, who had a monster game against Dallas in Week 5 but ran less than 200 routes – and is one of those who needs to “both stay healthy and produce more consistently” in 2022.
In their write-up, PFF noted that “expectations for this unit have lowered significantly,” thanks in large part to the underperformance of free agent signing Kenny Golladay – who was last among all WR with at least 50 targets with a 49.9 passer rating when targeted in his first season in New York.
On Monday, offensive line rankings were released, and while the Jets were No. 13 and leading off the “high-end potential” group, Big Blue was No. 18 and leading off a group that has “at least one good tackle.”
That would be Andrew Thomas, who was the anchor in a projected starting lineup that includes “promising rookie” Evan Neal opposite him, with newcomers Mark Glowinski and Jon Feliciano in two spots in the middle and Shane Lemieux penciled back in at left guard if he can return from injury.
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The issue, per PFF, is that “Thomas' abysmal rookie season is still ingrained in a lot of minds, but many missed him become one of the best pass-protecting tackles in the league last year.”
The write-up noted that the Georgia product cut his pressures down to one-third of what they were in 2020 – 18 on 517 pass-blocking snaps last year versus 57 as a rookie -- but the team still has two newcomers, a rookie, and an injury returner penciled in to start, so it could take some time for the group to coalesce.
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