How Do New York Giants Stack Up at Pillar Positions?
It’s no secret what the most valued positions in the NFL are. Look at where the early draft picks and largest contracts are invested. These “pillar positions,” as former Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff called them, are the positions that make the highest impact on the game and are usually a strong indicator of a good roster.
I like to put a spin on the positions to adjust for modern football to have them as quarterback, pass-catcher, offensive tackle, pass-rusher, and outside cornerback. The only changes I made were changing wide receiver to pass-catcher and edge rusher to pass-rusher to account for elite tight ends and interior rushers.
Looking at the teams that made deep runs in the NFL Playoffs, the only team that you could argue doesn’t have a great player at the premium positions is the team many didn’t expect to make it this far: the Detroit Lions.
But what about the New York Giants? How do they stack up at these pillar positions? Let's run down the list.
Quarterback
The quarterback position is the most important of the premium positions and arguably the most important in all sports. For the Giants, they currently don’t have a franchise player here. Daniel Jones, Tyrod Taylor, and Tommy DeVito haven’t shown they can lead a team to a deep run in the playoffs unless they had an elite supporting cast.
In 2024, Jones is currently set to be the sixth highest-paid quarterback in the NFL despite never being a top-ten quarterback. In the 2023 NFL Draft, it was understandable why the Giants didn’t invest an early pick in the position given their draft position. They would have had to trade up more than 20 spots to get in position for Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, Anthony Richardson, or draft Will Levis, who showed flashes in Tennessee.
With the sixth pick in the 2024 draft, the Giants can either stay put and hope a quarterback falls to them, or they could move up for one of the top quarterbacks.
Pass-catcher
At pass-catcher, the Giants have a roster that, if you add a true top wide receiver to a room that has a plethora of WR2s and WR3s, it would be great. Darius Slayton and Jalin Hyatt are great vertical stem workers, with Wan’Dale Robinson as an underneath yard-after-catch option.
The tight end is a strong room, but Darren Waller doesn’t appear to be the same lethal threat that he was a few seasons ago, as well as his struggles to stay healthy--he hasn't played a full season since 2020. Daniel Bellinger is a good “Y” option for the team, but he was virtually nonexistent in the passing attack in 2023.
Luckily, the wide receiver position can be addressed on Day 2 to find an impact player. If the Giants choose not to address quarterback in the first round, this is one of the spots they can choose to target early on. The pending free agent class at receiver also has strong options, with names like Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman Jr, and Calvin Ridley headlining the class.
Offensive Tackle
Finally, we come to a position where the Giants have a building block to be comfortable with in left tackle Andrew Thomas. Thomas had a difficult rookie year but, ever since then, has been one of the more reliable tackles in the NFL.
In 2023, Thomas had 214 true pass-blocking reps with an efficiency rating of 95.7, 12th best in the NFL among qualifiers. Only seven players above him also played more snaps than he did.
Ideally, In the modern NFL, a team will have one franchise tackle with their other tackle being above average. Still, the Giants are in a situation with one franchise tackle and abysmal play at all other spots on the offensive line.
Pass-rusher
The Giants have an elite pass-rusher on the defensive line and one that’s shown tremendous promise. Dexter Lawrence is the best nose tackle in the NFL, ranking seventh in pressures among interior defensive linemen in the NFL, although he’s the only one in that top seven who plays nose tackle.
On the edge, Kayvon Thibodeaux flashed but also didn’t see many opportunities to rush the passer in one-on-one scenarios. When the Giants stuck to rushing four, he would often be the man that would face a tackle and tight end or tackle and running back. When the Giants blitzed, he often found himself unblocked off the edge.
Thibodeaux put together a solid film in one-on-ones but has a small sample size. Similar to tackle, this is a spot where a roster ideally has at least one franchise player and an above-average talent surrounding him.
Cornerback
Similar to the edge, the Giants have a player who has shown promise to develop into a franchise player in this position. That would be 2023 first-round pick Deonte Banks, who had a decent year as a 22-year-old who stepped in as an immediate starter, including games where he played lights out against elite offenses like the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins.
In his seven games against playoff teams, Banks allowed 144 yards and two touchdowns on 19 catches (35 targets) while playing almost exclusively on the outside. Changing defensive coordinators could benefit Banks, who played better in quarters, and Cover 3 as a rookie.
Overall
The Giants have a proven offensive tackle and a proven pass rusher, but outside of that, this roster lacks proven talent at premium positions. With the investment in Banks at cornerback, this team has (at best) three pillar positions addressed for the 2024 season.
I expect the Giants to take a similar approach to the offseason they took last year: use cap space to address non-premium positions, draft premium positions early, and retain your early draft picks in the long term.
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