Five Questions Ahead of the New York Giants Regular Season

Rehearsal time is over and now it's time to get to work. But the Giants still have a number of lingering questions as they get set to kickoff the 2021 regular season at home against Denver next week.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Sep 3, 2021 4:59 PM EDT

It’s every NFL head coach’s dream to have zero outstanding issues and questions about his roster once training camp and the preseason ends.

However, in the real world, that’s not the case. The New York Giants, in particular, are facing a lot of questions after concluding their 2021 training camp and preseason, questions that, depending on the answers, could sway the outcome of the team’s goals of posting its first winning season since 2016 and cracking into the playoffs.

Let’s take a look at some of the most pressing questions facing the Giants, who return to the practice field Monday following a three-day weekend…

The Offensive Line

Mention those words to anyone who follows the Giants, and chances are you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone outside the organization who doesn’t shake their head and lament the fact that the Giants not only declined to address the unit in the off-season better than it did.

The Giants organization won’t admit to having concerns. Still, it certainly can’t be feeling warm and fuzzy after their two lone veteran off-season additions—guard Zach Fulton (retired) and center Jonotthan Harrison (cut)—are not part of the team moving forward.

Even though the Giants traded for two young offensive linemen, these guys won’t necessarily have the time to review the playbook in its entirety to understand the deeper concepts behind the plays.

And let’s not forget the struggles of the young offensive tackles, Andrew Thomas and Matt Peart. In 57 preseason snaps (11 in pass blocking), Thomas finished with a 93.9 pass-blocking efficiency rating, not exactly what everyone was hoping to see from the fourth overall pick in last year’s draft.

Offensive line coach Rob Sale hasn’t lost faith in the group, telling reporters that all he can do is continue to coach them up. But at some point, if the arrow doesn’t start pointing up in terms of consistency and performance, the Giants will be in big trouble.

Will Saquon be Saquon again?

There is a lot of optimism that Saquon Barkley will indeed be better than ever before despite coming off a torn ACL requiring reconstructive surgery.

Expecting Barkley to be ready to take on a full workload in Week 1 of the season is probably wishing for a little too much too soon. Barkley, remember, has been brought back slowly since coming off the PUP list midway through last month.

And although he finally got what’s believed to be his first live contact in Thursday’s practice, it’s probably safe to assume that Barkley’s teammates didn’t knock him around with the same intensity as he might receive in a regular-season game.

Then there is the ongoing question of whether he’ll even be ready for Week 1. The early thought is he will, but any snaps he receives will be limited in nature—after all, at some point, the Giants are going to have to take the bubble wrap off their star running back, right?

Regardless, the Giants need Barkley’s success story to have the happiest of endings not just for the team but for the young man as well.

How much will they be able to get from their draft picks?

This is a question many people aren't asking, but it does warrant a look-see since the NFL draft is universally regarded as the backbone of successful teams.

Of the Giants' first three draft picks--receiver Kadarius Toney, edge Azeez Ojulari and cornerback Aaron Robinson--only Ojulari, who could end up as a starter, stands to make an impact on Day 1.

Toney, who has been slow to ramp up after dealing with COVID, and Robinson, who starts the season on inactive/PUP, aren't going to make the kind of impact that Ojulari stands to make in the early part of the season.

At the back end of the draft class, edge Elerson Smith is on injured reserve for at least the first three weeks. That leaves questions about how much the Giants will get from their two sixth-round picks, RB Gary Brightwell and CB Rodarius Williams.

Brightwell came on strong as a runner late in the summer, and he, of course, has special teams in his back pocket. But it might not be prudent for the Giants to activate him and both fullbacks (Cullen Gillaspia and Eli Penny) on game day.

Penny is going to get a uniform, given he can contribute on offense. So unless the coaches lean more toward Brightwell, the rookie, ahead of Gillaspia, there's a chance that Brightwell could be among the game-day inactives.

Williams? With Adoree' Jackson dealing with his ankle sprain, an early guess is he'll be on the game-day active roster.

Will Daniel Jones take that big step?

Some will say that quarterback Daniel Jones's upcoming season rests heavily on the offensive line. To a degree, that's correct, but two things rest solely on Jones's shoulders: his decision-making and his ball security.

Jones is entering Year 2 of running the same offensive system, and it is hoped that he will be much more at ease running the offense, especially when it comes to making faster decisions in tighter windows.

He can prove that he is more at ease by ceasing with the gambles he tended to make earlier in his career and just recognizing when a play wasn't going anywhere as opposed to trying to force the ball into windows that just weren't there.

Will the defense be improved?

The Giants defense was a pleasant surprise last year, finishing 12th overall in the league despite having just one player--defensive lineman Leonard Williams-- hit double-digit sacks (11.5) and lacking the personnel to plan man coverage.

That's why the defense received just as much love in the off-season as the undermanned offense. The Giants are hoping to play far more man coverage than they did last season, something defensive coordinator Patrick Graham admitted is a necessity in this league and especially with the opposing receivers on the Giants' schedule this year.

And what about the pass rush? Last year the Giants managed to produce 40 sacks through the creativity of Graham, but with teams now having had an entire off-season to study what Graham did, the onus will be on him to change things up and be more creative if the Giants are to build on last year.

Can the Giants start fast?

Last year the Giants started 0-5 while the coaching staff tried to figure out what they had. And while the season is a marathon and not a sprint, it's probably fair to say that there is no such thing as a throwaway game regardless of where a team is in its schedule.

That said, of the first four games (Denver, Washington, Atlanta, and New Orleans), a 3-1 record is not entirely out of the question. A fast start would undoubtedly help the team build confidence and momentum with a tough stretch that kicks off in Week 8 against the Kansas City Chiefs.

A fast start also means the questions the Giants currently have, some of which have already been mentioned, were resolved satisfactorily. But even if the Giants should stumble out of the gate, the important thing is that they show forward progress each week.