NY Giants Starting to Forge a Winning Identity

The Giants believe they're on the right track to finally shed the loser label that's dogged them for most of the last decade-plus.

Oct 9, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants safety Dane Belton (24) and cornerback Dru Phillips (22) celebrate after a fumble by the Philadelphia Eagles during the fourth quarter of the game at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

For the better part of the last decade-plus, the New York Giants’ identity morphed into a dark place, thanks to a lot of lackluster football that led to one lost season after another.

But in this, head coach Brian Daboll’s fourth season, the hope within the locker room at 1925 Giants Dive is that the identity of the Giants being a bunch of lost boys is on its way out, replaced by a more competitive team committed to the smashmouth style of the 1980s and early 1990s that so enthralled Giants fans.

“If I'm speaking for, I guess, offense, I would say smash mouth football. They're going to try to be physical, and they're going to try to win the game up front,” said outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux when asked if the Giants have finally identified an identity.

“And I would say similar things to defense. We're going to play physically. We're going to try to win the game up front and affect the quarterback. So I would say from an identity perspective, this is a team that when people come here, they're going to have to win it up front.”

Leading the charge in re-establishing the new identity has been the infusion of youth, specifically quarterback Jaxson Dart and running back Cam Skattebo on offense, and outside linebacker Abdu Carter on defense.  

Not since Malik Nabers tried to do so by his lonesome have the Giants had multiple players whose energy has rejuvenated an entire locker room that, for the most part, has been stuck in the doldrums of losing and bad football.

“I think whenever you turn on the tape and watch us play, you see just straight toughness and real hard work and just going out there and doing our jobs and doing everything that we can to come away with victories on Sundays,” said receiver Wan’Dale Robinson..

Left tackle Andrew Thomas opined that the Giants' identity is far from being complete, given where the team is after just two wins and with a young quarterback still cutting his teeth.

“I think we're still building our identity,” he said. “Obviously, we have a young quarterback playing. I think he's done a good job for us.

"But this is just the beginning part of the season. I think your identity is by consistent play, what you do consistently, that's who you are. So, we're just trying to focus on doing the things necessary to win consistently, especially up front.”

Whoever these Giants grow up to be as a collective, it’s hoped that the common denominator is competitive, mistake-free football.

“We don't play cute ball; we play smash mouth football in New York,” Thibodeaux said. “ I think that aside from just the identity of the team, we play with a relentless passion and vigor to win.”

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