Changes to Giants Offense That Have Sunk the Unit
The 2022 New York Giants, under head coach Brian Daboll, fought and clawed their way to a 9-7-1 record and even added a playoff win along the way. So far, through the first five weeks of the 2023 season, the offense has been about as anemic as possible. The rushing game is 23rd in the NFL, and the passing offense is 31st, leaving this offense ranked 31st in points scored and 32nd in yards gained.
Last season, the Giants had the 4th-ranked rushing attack, and the passing offense was 26th with the 15th-most points scored and 18th-most yards gained. So what has happened in between seasons?
The rushing attack is easy to explain, as Saquon Barkley played in the first two games of the season and hasn’t made another appearance since due to a high ankle sprain.
The lack of a rushing attack has undoubtedly hurt this Giants' passing attack, as the team is constantly forced into obvious passing situations. Only the Commanders and Bengals have had more dropbacks in second or third-down situations with seven or more yards to go (the Rams have had the same number of dropbacks).
The reality is that the first month of the 2023 season has become a Murphy’s Law type of deal for the Giants in that anything that can go wrong will and has. On top of injuries, this offense has imploded every step of the way, and it’s not just the offensive line, the play-caller, the quarterback. Everyone has contributed to this catastrophic failure.
We’ll start along the offensive line, as that’s what’s been making waves every week on social media for Giants fans as they watch front defenders simply pummel this unit and any backfield player.
This past week, Giants right tackle Evan Neal seemingly left an edge rusher unblocked, and the play resulted in Daniel Jones getting sacked. Every time you watch the play, there are new things wrong with it.
At first glance, Neal leaves Emmanuel Ogbah (#91) untouched off the edge, and it appears Neal messed up his assignment. Neal spent the entire rep trying to slide over and get ahead of the rushing linebacker Jerome Baker (#55).
Looking at Marcus McKethan at right guard and Ben Bredeson at center, it’s difficult to know if Bredeson just messed up his assignment and McKethan went to help or if McKethan was always supposed to go after Christian Wilkins (#94) playing as the 0-technique. The line's left side shifted towards the left with how wide the two Dolphins rushers are lined up.
Depending on the protection call, there are three main possibilities on the call. First, the protection was to shift to the left, and the edge rusher was supposed to remain unblocked, which could have been the call if the Giants were expecting a 6-man rush.
Second, the center and right guard were supposed to double team Wilkins in the middle, and that left Neal on an island vs. two rushers, him choosing to pick up the blitzing backer (the correct decision in this case), leaving the edge unblocked.
Third, the plan was for every lineman to pick up the closest rusher to them, and Neal messed up by leaving him unblocked.
While the knee-jerk reaction has been to blame Neal, it’s possible that wasn’t his responsibility, and Jones should have either had Eric Gray block out of the backfield or thrown hot to Gray in the flat.
The fact of the matter remains that the protection call doesn’t even matter that much because even in a five-man protection against a five-man rush, the Giants' offensive line was dominated and crumbled to have three rushers get into the backfield, with the unblocked man not even being the first one to get in.
That was mostly using the Giants backup offensive linemen, but that’s been the story of the season so far, as the Giants offensive line is on pace to give up 326 pressures, topping last season's 212 total. We can talk about the Daniel Jones contract until we’re blue in the face, but the fact remains that this offensive line is historically bad, and nobody could perform very well behind it.
The passing attack has taken several step backs schematically and personnel-wise, which falls more on the front office and coaching staff than anyone else. Jones is an average quarterback who can make plays with a strong supporting cast surrounding him.
I don’t think he was worth the $40M annual contract because he won’t elevate players around him. The contract is on the higher-ups, but at the same time, it’s the responsibility of the front office and coaching staff to get a supporting cast that Jones could thrive with, and they haven’t done that.
The pass-catchers on this team leave plenty to be desired. Tight end Darren Waller was a great addition to this roster, but he’s not a top wide receiver who can take over for a quarterback. Wan’Dale Robinson can become a great slot receiver, but he needs time to develop. Darius Slayton is a second wide receiver at best. Isaiah Hodgins is too limited as a separator to be relied on consistently. Parris Campbell has been used as nothing more than a gadget.
The pass-catchers aren’t great, but this coaching staff has fallen off schematically in 2023. Last season, the deep throw was at least a part of the arsenal that could threaten and stretch defenses vertically. In 2023, Jones has just 31 pass attempts that travel 10+ yards past the line of scrimmage, putting him on pace for 105 attempts, which is down from the 120 attempts he had in 2022.
Passing behind the line of scrimmage isn’t something I generally talk down on, but how the Giants have gotten to it this year has been miserable.
Plays like the swing pass to Campbell have been something that the Giants have gone to often this year, as they provide easy completions for Jones. But they also consistently lose yardage or barely gain any yards. It’s become predictable when the Giants look for it, so defenses key in to make the stop.
There’s been no semblance of a deep or even intermediate passing attack this season, further allowing defenses to condense the field and destroy yards after catch opportunities. Barkley’s return to the lineup will help force defenses to respect the run game and have an outlet receiver that can make men miss, but things look bleak at the moment.
This 2023 passing attack is nothing short of a catastrophic failure across the board. The front office failed to improve the offensive line with outside talent except for John Michael Schmitz, and the coaching staff failed to develop internal talent and is failing to scheme protection.
The front office also failed to acquire a legitimate WR1. The coaching staff is failing to scheme pass-catchers into a strong position to make plays. The front office failed by extending Daniel Jones at the contract value that they did, and the coaching staff is failing to maximize Jones’ talent as a dual-threat quarterback.
The simple fact is that this coaching staff has gotten too conservative with play-calls, and the personnel isn’t good enough to hold their own this year with a tougher strength of schedule. The result has been some bad and non-competitive football, with little hope for improvement for the rest of this year.
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