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New York Giants Midseason Report Card: Offense

Grading the Giants offensive position groups at the halfway point of the season.

As former Giants head coach Bill Parcells once said, "You are what your record says you are."

The 2020 Giants certainly aren't transcendent of their 1-6 record, as they've been a pretty lousy team in most respects. But beneath the surface, some of the unit performances have surprised in some respects, good and bad.

Here's a look at some grades for the units on offense.

Quarterback: D

Quarterback Daniel Jones avoids receiving a failing grade to his position by virtue of his durability so far this season and some impressive runs.

Still, quarterbacks aren't ultimately judged by rushing highlights. The lack of overall passing production, frequent mistakes, and missed opportunities have ultimately sunk the team to its 1-6 record. Jones has completed 143 passes on 231 attempts for 1,410 yards, five touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

Additionally, Jones has also lost a league-high five fumbles, bringing his turnover total to 12.

His passer rating of 73.7 is the second-lowest in the NFL, only better than the Jets' Sam Darnold.

Jones does lead the Giants in rushing yards with 296, already surpassing his season total from 2019. However, Jones' leading rushing speaks more to the struggles of the Giants' running backs with the absence of Saquon Barkley.

Despite coming off his best performance of the season against the Philadelphia Eagles, in which Jones passed for 187 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception, he has been more inconsistent this year as he navigates learning his third offensive system in as many years.

Whether that new system is behind Jones' failure to show noticeable improvement in his mental processing is up for debate, but given he's now halfway into this season, by now you'd have expected more of a comfort level and the ability to adjust.

Offensive Line: F

There's no getting around it. The Giants' offensive line has failed the team thus far in 2020.

While Jones has struggled with his decision-making, much of his trouble can be credited directly to inadequate protection and lack of running game, which all comes back to the offensive line and how poorly it's played in 2020.

The Giants offensive line is currently tied for last in the NFL in pass protection according to Football Outsiders with a 9.2 adjusted sack rate, as Jones has been taken down 20 times already.

Things get even uglier in the run-blocking department, as the Giants boast a league-worst 3.2 adjusted line yards. 

To put into context just how poor that metric is compared to the rest of the league, the difference between the Giants and the 31st ranked unit in the Buffalo Bills is the same difference between the top-ranked Los Angeles Rams and the 11th-ranked Kansas City Chiefs.

Undoubtedly the most disappointing aspect of the Giants offensive line is the performance of rookie left tackle Andrew Thomas.

Thomas, the first offensive tackle taken in the 2020 NFL Draft, has performed worse than the three next tackles taken after him in Tristan Wirfs, Mekhi Becton, and Jedrick Wills, according to Pro Football Focus.

Thomas, the very picture of inconsistency, has allowed 37 quarterback pressures and six sacks already and has even been benched for being late to a team meeting. 

It's been a rough start for the Giants' projected franchise left tackle and he's been the most prominent liability in a failing effort by the Giants' offensive line this season.

Running Backs: D+

The Giants' running backs were destined to struggle after Barkley went out with a torn ACL in Week 2. Running behind the worst run-blocking offensive line in the NFL wasn't going to help matters, but even then, the running backs have managed to improve to respectable over the last few weeks despite the circumstances.

But the production just hasn't been there to warrant this unit grading any better than a D+.

The Giants' rushing trio of Devonta Freeman, Wayne Gallman, and Dion Lewis has combined for just 336 yards on the ground and 164 receiving yards as one of the least-productive groups in the NFL through six weeks.

The Giants currently rank 26th in the NFL in rushing yards per game with 98.1, and that includes Jones' numbers. Without Jones, the Giants' rushing offense drops significantly to just 55.8 yards per game, which would be worst in the league.

That's not to say the group hasn't had its moments and improved on a week-by-week basis. The Giants have managed to surpass the 100+ rushing yard threshold in three of their last four games, and while Jones has done the bulk of that rushing, the running backs have found ways to contribute behind a spotty offensive line.

Freeman gave the team a slight spark after signing averaging 34 rushing yards and 11.6 receiving yards per game but went down with an ankle injury in Week 7 against the Eagles. There's no established timetable for his return.

Gallman assumed top back duties and had his best game of the season, racking up 54 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown, and will likely get an opportunity to start in Week 8 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Then there's Lewis, originally signed to take some of the load off the No. 1 running back, but who instead has seen his role shrink significantly since he led the team in rushing in Week 2. Lewis has received five carries in the past five weeks, rushing for 33 yards.

Lewis has been involved slightly more in the passing game, but not by much, as he's only been targeted 11 times in that span, hauling in six receptions for 29 yards after a 36-yard performance as a receiver in Week 2.

Wide Receivers: C

Production from the Giants' wide receivers has suffered due to the offense's ineptitude and the injury to Sterling Shepard. Still, a handful of impressive plays in recent weeks boosts this unit's grade.

The group has especially benefited from the presence of second-year man Darius Slayton, who continues to be the Giants' best wide receiver for the second season in a row. Slayton has 27 catches for 429 yards and three touchdowns.

For six weeks, Slayton was the only Giant to catch a touchdown pass at all, but impressive scores by Golden Tate and Sterling Shepard, the latter making his first game back from injury, finally spread the wealth around the unit in Week 7.

Still, the Giants receivers have only accounted for 889 receiving yards as a whole, which is well below the league average at this point in the season.

The unit is also not very deep beyond the starting three of Slayton, Tate, and Shepard as the Giants have had to shuffle undrafted free agents in and out of the lineup in Shepard's absence to less-than-ideal results.

However, with Shepard back in the lineup, the wide receiver group has one of the best chances of any other unit on the roster to make significant improvements in the second half of the season.

Tight Ends: D-

Evan Engram has disappointed, to say the least.

The third-year tight end came into 2020 with the expectations of a potential career year under offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and has instead been more detrimental to the offense recently.

Engram's production is lukewarm, racking up 26 catches for 226 yards and no receiving touchdowns, with his only score coming on an end-around run in Week 5.

Engram currently ranks 29th in receiving yards per game among tight ends, as missed opportunities and cold streaks have wasted his seemingly healthy season to this point.

Engram has been good for a handful of first-down catches, but the Giants haven't utilized his ability as a deep-threat receiving tight end at all, as his longest catch this year has only gone for 22 yards.

He hasn't been a necessarily reliable target for Jones either, as Jones' passer rating when targeting Engram is a measly 38 per PFF, as Engram has committed four drops.

Two of those drops were on full display in the team's Week-7 loss to the Eagles, as the first resulted in an interception, and the second came on a critical third-down, which allowed the Eagles to get the ball back and win the game.

Engram has been somewhat serviceable in his limited use as a pass blocker, only allowing one quarterback pressure on 16 pass-block snaps. However, in 102 run-blocking snaps, Engram has not quite delivered, posting just a dismal 37.3 run-blocking grade.

Engram's place as a featured starter has hamstrung the other tight ends from boosting the group's overall performance.

Backup tight end Kaden Smith has only played 43% of offensive snaps, hauling in just ten catches for 61 yards, and hasn't been an impact player in any respect.

Levine Toilolo has been utilized even less, playing just 19% of offensive snaps hauling in only one pass for 13 yards.

Thus, the tight end group is ultimately distinguished by Engram's lowly performance so far this year.