Giants Will Benefit from a Healthier Offense in 2020

Despite injuries to his skill position players, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones had one of the best rookie campaigns of any Giants franchise quarterback dating back to Phil Simms in 1979. Let's break this down even further.

All eyes will be on second-year quarterback Daniel Jones and the Giants offense, which last year finished 23 in the league in average yards per game (338.5), 19 in average rushing yards (105.3 yards per game) and 18 in passing yards/game (233.2/game).

Jones, for his part, actually had one of the better seasons by a Giants rookie quarterback, despite the turnover issues and the slow processing speed which per PFF saw him mostly throw to hiss first read. 

The stats below show how Jones compared with other Giants franchise quarterbacks in their rookie seasons (based on a minimum of eight games).

Data from Pro Football Reference

Imagine what kind of numbers Jones might have posted had he had all of his playmakers available for any given game. 

Between Golden Tate’s four-game suspension and the injuries that cost the others—running back Saquon Barkley (three games), receivers Darius Slayton (two games), and Sterling Shepard (six games), and tight end Evan Engram (eight games).

According to Football Outsiders, the Giants ranked 17th in the league in Adjusted Games Lost (AGL) due to injury. That was a nine-spot drop from their 2018 ranking.

In breaking that AGL analytic down even further, the Giants offense finished 22nd while the defense ranked fifth.

Although an argument can be made that Jones and the offense weren’t always put in the best possible conditions to succeed by the previous coaching regime, the upgrade to the offensive line and the change in the offensive scheme has many people looking forward to the possibilities.

While stats in themselves don’t translate to wins, if the Giants offense can carry the team, this should help the still young and developing defense in finding its footing, which it couldn’t do last year when forced to carry the team last year.