ESPN's Bullish Ranking on the Giants Young Talent Revealed
ESPN released its rankings for all 32 NFL teams by their talent under 25 years old on Monday, and it is forecasting a very bright future for the Giants.
The Giants were ranked second in the NFL, just behind the Baltimore Ravens for best talent under the age of 25.
The ranking credited a young core of key players: running back Saquon Barkley, 23; quarterback Daniel Jones, 23; defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, 22; offensive guard Will Hernandez, 24; and rookie offensive tackle Andrew Thomas, 21.
The article also praised other young contributors like wide receiver Darius Slayton, 23, and defensive backs Julian Love, 22, Jabrill Peppers, 24, and Xavier McKinney 22.
According to the article, the rankings consider the players' age and the length and value of their contracts.
The Giants have made 20 draft picks over the past two years, which has given them a surplus of young players on the first halves of their rookie deals.
Dave Gettleman has had to make several difficult decisions for the organization since taking over as general manager in late 2017, including trades of several high-profile players to acquire those draft picks.
Gettleman traded wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. last offseason in exchange for Peppers, 24, and two draft picks used on Lawrence and edge rusher Oshane Ximines, 23.
Gettleman also traded veteran defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul and defensive tackle Damon Harrison, in return for draft picks that have been used on defensive lineman B.J. Hill, 25, and Slayton.
All three trades may have cost the Giants' initial short-term success in exchange for long-term direction but have likely gone a long way to help the Giants achieve this ranking.
Perhaps the hardest decision Gettleman has had to make was in deciding who to anoint as the successor to long-time franchise quarterback Eli Manning. Gettleman famously passed on drafting a quarterback in 2018 from a deep class, instead opting for Barkley.
Instead, he waited until 2019 to add Jones with the sixth overall pick. Jones was promoted to the starting job in Week 3 of the season.
ESPN cited teams' quarterback situation as a primary component when judging their ranking for talent under 25 years old. The Ravens boast the league's reigning MVP in quarterback Lamar Jackson, who is just 23 years old.
Jones is also 23 years old but hasn't quite had Jackson's success. But ESPN believes that the sample of Jones' rookie year indicates a huge deal of promise for the Giants.
After a modestly productive college career, Jones was the biggest surprise of Gettleman's many surprising draft picks at sixth overall in 2019, nine spots ahead of Dwayne Haskins, who many scouts preferred. But at least compared to the historically inefficient Haskins, Jones enjoyed a successful rookie season with middling 62% completion and 53.6 QBR rates.
Jones will look to build on the success he found as a rookie and take the next step as a franchise quarterback in 2020. He revealed that he added about nine pounds of muscle to his frame during the offseason, similar to how Jackson and other young quarterbacks in the past have done to improve their durability and overall play.
Now heading into 2020, the Giants boast one of the youngest rosters in the NFL with only five players over the age of 30. ESPN seems to believe in that roster's talent, but the Giants' brand new coaching staff will be tasked with molding that talent into a much-improved team from years past.
First-year head coach Joe Judge is young himself for a head coach at just 38 years of age, and he might grow alongside his players in 2020.
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