Three Giants Poised for Breakout Season in 2025

The New York Giants' 2024 season came nowhere close to anybody’s even mild expectations for the franchise celebrating its centennial anniversary, but that didn’t mean the historically awful campaign didn’t reveal some promising pieces for the roster to build upon.

While the Giants lost all hope for the season, given their inept play at the quarterback position and the injuries that had piled up quickly, a star was to be found in the performances of a few critical players in their locker room who ascended early to offer some credence to the work of general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll.

On the other hand, some players struggled to cement their roles on the team or fell deeper into the pit of uncertainty about whether they’d remain with the Giants organization long-term or become a future roster casualty.

Entering this offseason, Schoen has been tasked with strongly revamping the team’s roster with either veteran talent that can upgrade the positions or depth that can take over in the event of the relentless ailments returning next season.

He has done a pretty good job of that so far and, depending on how certain pieces pan out, will likely continue his search during the season.

As the Giants head into what the current regime is treating as a make-or-break season in 2025, these same members on both sides of the fence will have the challenge of replicating their efforts to help the team reach higher peaks or picking up the slack if they want to remain a face in New York for years to come.

Whether they already have shown the ability to do it or must come up with it, let’s dive deeper into three Giants players poised for a breakout next fall.

Tyler Nubin, SAF

Oct 6, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; New York Giants safety Tyler Nubin (31) during warmups before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Among the few hits that Joe Schoen seemingly made in his 2024 draft class, one of the early discoveries of success was his second-round selection of safety Tyler Nubin.

The Giants tabbed the Minnesota product in last April’s draft after the front office didn’t bring back veteran Xavier McKinney to maintain his starting role in the defensive secondary.

Instead, they let him run off to a larger bag in Green Bay and pursued one of the highest-rated safety prospects in the 2024 class in Nubin to set the foundation of their position group.

Despite his inexperience at the NFL level, Nubin almost fit perfectly into the same role that McKinney held for four seasons with the Giants. He quickly rose to become one of the Ironman producers for Shane Bowen’s defense.

He finished second on the team with 98 tackles (57 solos), four tackles for loss, one pass deflection, and a forced fumble with recovery.

Nubin was practically pacing the Giants in tackles for two separate three-week spans. He notched nine from Weeks 5 through 7 and then beat that out by securing 12 in the same span of contests against the Panthers, Buccaneers, and Cowboys in the middle of the season.

The only thing that stopped the 23-year-old from crossing the 100-tackle threshold and finishing as the Giants' head honcho defensively in his rookie debut was a season-ending ankle injury he suffered in Week 14 against the Saints.

Otherwise, Nubin was a shining player for the Giants and showed he has the intangibles to make it hard for the opposing offense to get past the back line of defense.

Against the run, Nubin was an excellent defender who paid no mind to leaving Jason Pinnock up top and entering the box to offer an extra body to trip up the ball carrier. He held a low 7.8% missed tackle rate last season, and those extended into coverage, where he allowed no more than two mishaps in either zone or press-man looks.

If Nubin returns healthy this summer, he will repeat those numbers in a Giants system that fits his skillset and with an aggressive mentality in pursuing the football and limiting yardage after the catch. He finished in the top rookie safeties with under 300 yards of offense allowed, including 48 yards after the catch and zero touchdowns.

He will also have a great mentor to continue learning from, alongside new free agent addition Jevon Holland, one of the league’s best defensive ballhawks last year for the Miami Dolphins.

The Giants should be in good hands, with that duo serving as the eyes for the entire defense to avoid getting torched through the air again.

Tyrone Tracy Jr., RB

New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (29) runs downfield for a touchdown during a game between New York Giants and Indianapolis Colts at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. | Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

When the New York Giants ultimately lost Saquon Barkley in free agency, joining the biggest divisional rival, the Philadelphia Eagles, the team’s backfield looked like it would be in shambles ahead of the 2024 season.

Joe Schoen’s first move was to sign Devin Singletary, a familiar veteran from his and Brian Daboll’s Buffalo days. Then it took a flier on a former wide receiver named Tyrone Tracy Jr. out of Purdue to pair with Singletary for the rushing attack.

Little did the general manager realize his selection would become arguably one of the best steals of that draft class. Tracy would lead the Giants in rushing production and form a promising young tandem with fellow draftee and first-round wide receiver Malik Nabers.

Nabers, who led the Giants in any offensive yards metric with 1,204-yard and seven touchdowns, joined forces with Tracy to become the NFL’s first rookie duo to surpass 1,000+ yards each from scrimmage since Marques Colston and Reggie Bush for the Saints in 2006.

For Tracy’s half of the bargain, he carried the pigskin 192 times for 839 yards (4.4 average) and five touchdowns with an average of 49.4 yards per contest. His dual-threat background as a collegiate pass catcher enabled him to add another 38 catches on 53 targets for 284 yards and a touchdown.

Short of the great Bucky Irving over in Tampa Bay, the Giants certainly got more value from a Day 3 prospect than expected. Per PFF’s data, Tracy finished second among rookie running backs in attempts, rushing yardage, touchdowns, yards after contact (546), and missed tackles forced (34).

With his ability to shed tacklers and fight for extra yardage, Tracy gave the Giants 18 runs of 10+ yards, 10 of 15+ yards, and 286 breakaway yards, meaning he has the chance to hit home runs if he gets the right holes open up for him by the offensive line.

The Giants are hoping to revamp their offensive front this offseason, and adding guys like James Hudson III and retaining a few others in free agency should help.

There is more work to be done, but having a confident young back like Tracy between the tackles could help the Giants improve their rushing game, which was still in the middle of the league last season.

Tracy is bound to earn the starting role in camp, and it’ll be interesting to see if the Giants find a running back late in the draft or off the scrap heap to add some depth to their unit.

Singletary would presumably back him up, but the team hasn’t gotten what it had expended from Eric Gray, including his recent snaps in special teams.

If he stays healthy, Tracy could amass a 1,000-yard season on the ground alone, and the Giants could breed the following constant in the backfield for seasons to come.

It’s not the first fifth-round pick that has worked out for New York, but it’s one with bigger shoes to fill and aims at a breakout season seen not too long ago by his predecessor, who left town.

John Michael Schmitz Jr., Center

Aug 24, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants center John Michael Schmitz Jr. (61) after the game at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The story with Giants starting center John Michael Schmitz differs slightly from the first two players in this article. This time, the 2023 second-round pick has to prove himself and put together a more solid resume in his third season protecting the quarterback.

Schmitz, the 57th overall pick in that draft, has struggled to become the anchor of the Giants' offensive line since he took over two years ago.

Much of that has come from injuries that have made him miss as many as four games in the last two seasons, stunting his ability to gain quality reps and gel with the same set of teammates up front.

In over 1,130 pass-blocking snaps in that span, Schmitz hasn’t graded above a 50.2 PFF mark and has been almost a turnstile for stronger, more experienced pass rushers. That has translated into the 26-year-old allowing 11 sacks and 58 total pressures with a sub-97.0 pass-blocking efficiency rating, which dips below 95.5 in true pressure sets.

In 15 games played this past fall, Schmitz played in a career-high 646 pass-blocking snaps and finished with a 50.2 pass-blocking grade, allowing six sacks and 28 total pressures.

He saw 337 snaps and earned a slightly better 67.0 grade, but he was penalized five times, which didn’t help the Giants set the tone in the trenches and often put them back into difficult long-yardage situations.

What also doesn’t help Schmitz’s case is that he is slightly undersized for a starting-caliber offensive lineman at 6-foot-3 and 310 pounds.

However, the Giants have done what they can to surround the youngest piece on their starting unit with veterans who can help pick up the slack when pass rush schemes and double teams are thrown into the mix and mentor him.

The rest is up to Schmitz to step up, take what he has learned from his two seasons under center, and translate it into more efficient and tougher protection for the Giants' offense to thrive next season.

He has to be the main communicator and establish the tone up front, but he is also the shortest line to the quarterback, and typically, it all caves in when the center position is not strong enough.

Schmitz came out of the 2023 draft as one of the top two prospects in his position, and the Giants invested a decently high selection in him.

He needs to return to the elite blocking they saw on his tape at Minnesota and give the team a staple name at the most critical spot on the offensive line, which they’ve lacked since David Diehl's days.

If not, that position will become a serious need that the Giants must tackle before the calendar reaches this time next year once they lock down the guard and tackle positions.

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Tyler Nubin, SAF

Tyrone Tracy Jr., RB

John Michael Schmitz Jr., Center

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