New York Giants: life without Jason Pierre-Paul

New York Giants’ star defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul has found himself in a bit of trouble. His finger amputation and possible legal issues could really be a thorn in the side of the Giants front office. In the absolute worst case scenario, the Giants have to cut ties with Pierre-Paul. What would life without Pierre-Paul be like for the Giants? All signs point to it being pretty horrible.

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Pierre-Paul was a huge part of the Giants success in their 2011 Super Bowl run. Ever since then, Pierre-Paul hasn’t been the same player. He has had a history of lagging injuries. If you look at the Giants record these past couple of seasons, it’s been pretty horrific. Since Pierre-Paul wasn’t at full health, you could argue that it’s the same as not even having him on the roster.

From that example, life without Pierre-Paul is going to be pretty rough. When they didn’t have him at full health, it was very clear that he was sorely missed. The Giants defense has been in the bottom half of the league for a while now. Now the player they were counting on to make a difference lost his index finger. Things aren’t looking to good for the Giants.

Most likely, the Giants will retain Pierre-Paul and try to help him work through his issues. Even though it’s not the smartest idea, they don’t have much of a choice. The Giants need him injured or not injured. What everyone is worried about is how badly his gameplay will be affected by his injury.

If the Giants retain Pierre-Paul, it’s almost as if they have a shell of a once great player on the roster. This issue is not getting enough attention. Missing an index finger is a big deal. Recent news came out that Pierre-Paul can’t even get a prosthetic finger.

Life without Pierre-Paul will set the Giants defense back by a huge margin. Their pass rush was bad enough with a healthy Pierre-Paul. The unit was making strides this offseason under Steve Spagnuolo and this is going to put a serious block in the road. Pierre-Paul was going to be the centerpiece of Spagnuolo’s defense.

The loss of Pierre-Paul could put the Giants defense in a downward spiral that may spill over into the regular season. In a highly competitive division, things may not look so great for the Giants’ chances at the playoffs either.

Next: Jason Pierre-Paul: no advantage of letting him go elsewhere