NY Giants face critical questions about the future that must be answered over the second half of this season following a loss that dropped the Giants to 1-7.
The NY Giants insist they are making progress, even though after falling to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-23 Monday night they are entrenched in the NFC East cellar with a 1-7 record through the first half of the season.
“I see a lot of improvement,” Giants head coach Joe Judge said following Monday’s game. “I like the way our guys are working day by day, sticking together, we have a good foundation of the culture in this building right now, and we have a lot of really good guys to build with.”
Giants safety Jabrill Peppers was much more blunt, following the Giants’ third loss in the last four weeks in a game they were leading in the fourth quarter.
“Personally, I don’t even care about the record,” Peppers said. “If you watch our tape against the teams that we’ve played, it [comes down to] a play here or a play there. It’s not like we’re going out there and getting our ass kicked.”
The harsh reality for the Giants, even in the woebegone NFC East, is that this organization remains in the infancy of would possibly remains a multi-season rebuild.
With questions abound on both sides of the football, and potentially an eight-game audition for Jones to convince the Giants not to go shopping for a quarterback such as Ohio State’s Justin Fields in the 2021 NFL Draft, the final eight games are more about evaluating this roster than competing for the postseason.
Likewise, there is uncertainty abound over whether general manager Dave Gettleman will be entrusted to see this rebuild through after winning just 10 of his first 40 games, this feels like an appropriate time to take stock of just who should stay and who should go for the Giants at season’s end.
Scroll through for a breakdown of every starting player and whether they should stay and remain a part of the Giants’ rebuild, or need to be dumped prior to 2021:
RT – Cam Fleming
Fleming served his purpose.
When Nate Solder opted out this season, the Giants had a gaping hole at offensive tackle, and Fleming was a more than adequate stopgap option. For a stretch early in the season, Fleming was the Giants’ most consistent offensive lineman.
However, over the past several weeks, the Giants have rotated third-round rookie tackle Matt Peart in both for Fleming and fellow rookie Andrew Thomas, and Peart has flashed. Over the second half of the season, Peart should be given every snap possible at right tackle to prepare him for 2021, and Fleming should prepare to find a new team next season.
GO
RG – Kevin Zeitler
Zeitler is likely to be a wanted commodity ahead of the trade deadline, particularly among playoff caliber teams looking for help shoring up the offensive line.
While Zeitler has been the Giants’ highest-graded offensive lineman the past two seasons, he’s also the third-most expensive player on the roster next season, when he’ll be 31. Zeitler is set to count $14 million against the cap in 2021.
As the clock ticks towards 4p.m., Gettleman and the Giants would be wise to try to find an offenisve line needy contender to try to deal Zeitler to in order to create cap space and clear a path for rookie Shane Lemieux to get meaningful regular season snaps the rest of the way.
GO
C – Nick Gates
The Giants signed Gates to two-year deal worth upwards of $6.8 million, and while he has been wildly inconsistent at center, Gates’ versatility provides value to a rebuilding offense.
Even if the Giants believe that rookie Shane Lemiuex is ready to step in as the starting center in 2021, Gates is a reliable insurance policy and has the ability to play right tackle or either guard spot.
STAY
LG – Will Hernandez
While Hernandez has regressed a bit each of his first three seasons and is teetering on being labeled a “bust,” he remains a cheap and serviceable left guard option entering the final year of his rookie deal.
So far this season, prior to testing positive for COVID-19 this week, Hernandez has allowed one sack and 21 total pressures, while producing an overall grade of just 55.7 from Pro Football Focus.
Even if the Giants draft an offensive guard at some point during the draft, or sign a possible upgrade in free agency, Hernandez should have a chance to compete for the starting job next season.
STAY
LT – Andrew Thomas
No rookie has allowed more pressures than Thomas’ 37 through the first six games of the season, and he certainly has been going through plenty of growing pains.
However, Thomas has also had the misfortune of lining up opposite T.J. Watt, Khalil Mack, DeMarcus Lawrence, Brandon Graham, and Jason Pierre-Paul in the first half of his rookie season. For all of his struggles in pass protection, Thomas still entered Monday night’s game with a 64.9 run-blocking grade.
The Giants’ can’t just toss aside the No. 4 pick in the draft, and need to weather this early storm that Thomas is going through, after being thrust into the starting lineup without the benefit of an offseason program and a truncated training camp. Thomas will be back in 2021 and should be given every opportunity to prove worthy of starting at left tackle in his second season.
STAY
WR – Golden Tate
The Giants’ decision to sign Tate in the first place in 2019 made little sense at the time, and his contract is about to become an albatross.
Next season, Tate is due to count $10.8 million against the cap when he will be 33 years old, on a team that is likely at least one more season away from legitimately competing for the postseason and further away than that from a possible Super Bowl run.
Still a very productive slot receiver and capable punt returner, Tate is the type of player who can give a contending team a weapon that might help push them across the finish line in a playoff chase down the stretch.
Gettleman would be wise to burn the phone lines trying to move Tate to the Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, or another receiver-needy contender Tuesday, and if he’s unable to move him before the deadline, try again this offseason.
GO
WR – Darius Slayton
Slayton is unquestionably Jones’ favorite target, and the lone Giants receiver with the kind of speed that can take the top off a defense.
Through eight weeks, Slayton has caught 32 passes for 485 yards and three touchdowns this season.
Chosen in the fifth-round out of Auburn in 2019, Slayton has a strong case for being the best overall choice made by Gettleman in his third draft when you consider talent matching need and value. Slayton is the type of offensive playmaker who will only benefit from adding other game-altering talent around him.
STAY
WR – Sterling Shepard
Shepard has suffered through multiple injuries the past two seasons, but when healthy and on the field has proven to be integral to the success of the Giants’ aerial attack.
Shepard is the second year of a four-year contract extension that the Giants can get out of after the 2021 campaign if he proves unable to stay on the field for 16 games or the team just decides to go in a different direction. Until then, Shepard should be back.
STAY
TE – Evan Engram
Each week, it becomes more obvious that the Giants either have no idea how to utilize Engram in this scheme.
Whether it is before Tuesday’s 4p.m. trade deadline or during the offseason, the Giants should make finding a trade partner with a team that has a system to optimize his explosiveness and athleticism in the open field.
Trading Engram would create upwards of $6 million in cap space in 2020, which seems more valuable to a rebuilding franchise than a miscast tight end.
GO
RB – Saquon Barkley
The Giants will likely pick up Barkley’s fifth-year option before opening long-term contract talks if he can prove that he is the same player post-ACL surgery and can stay healthy in his fourth season.
Through his first two-plus seasons, Barkley has rushed for 2,344 yards with 17 touchdowns and added 149 receptions for 1,219 yards and six more scores.
When healthy, Barkley is among the five most dangerous running backs in the league, and a threat to score whenever he touches the ball, even as a receiver out of the backfield.
STAY
QB – Daniel Jones
As we’ve seen from the likes of Kyler Murray, Joe Burrow, and Justin Herbert in recent seasons, rookie quarterbacks have shown the ability to perform at an elite level almost immediately, something Jones has only shown in brief glimpses.
An NFC personnel director told me last week that Justin Fields is the second-best prospect in this year’s class, behind Trevor Lawrence, heads and shoulders above any position player prospects.
The Giants need to give Jones every opportunity to prove down the stretch he can win, and show progress in his development. But, if New York is picking in the top-two next April, Gettleman must give serious thought to taking Fields and having him either compete with Jones or flipping Jones in a trade to accumulate assets to keep building around Fields.
STAY … For now
DL – Leonard Williams
Despite trading a third-round pick and conditional fifth-round pick to the Jets in 2019 being a callous misuse of resources by Gettleman, Williams has improved as each week progressed this season and has been one of the Giants’ most disruptive defensive linemen.
Through eight weeks, Williams has produced four sacks, and 29 total tackles.
If Gettleman and the Giants are truly committed to winning along the line of scrimmage with stout defensive line play being the foundation of the rebuild on defense, talks would already be underway on a long-term extension keeping Williams in East Rutherford in 2021 and beyond.
STAY
DL – Dalvin Tomlinson
Entering Monday night, Tomlinson had 30 tackles and one sack, and he has consistently been among Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded Giants defenders.
Tomlinson is one of the most underrated defensive linemen in the NFL, consistently productive, and a homegrown talent. He’s exactly the type of player that the Giants should be building around.
STAY
DL – Dexter Lawrence
Arguably the foundational centerpiece of the Giants’ defensive line, Lawrence has met or exceeded any expectations put out for him when he was chosen No. 17 overall in 2019.
Consistently among the Giants’ highest-graded defenders, Lawrence has 65 career tackles, 4.5 sacks, and already has two sacks through the first half of this season.
Lawrence is a dominant run-stopper, but an even better interior pass-rusher, who entered Monday night with a 77.5 pass-rush grade from Pro Football Focus after producing 13 pressures and nine hurries to go with his two sacks.
As he continues to improve, Lawrence is going to be the type of player that keeps offensive coordinators and offensive line coach awake on Saturday nights.
STAY
LB – Lorenzo Carter
Prior to rupturing his Achilles against the Dallas Cowboys back in Week 5, Lorenzo Carter looked like the type of player the Giants hoped they were getting in the third-round of the 2018 draft.
Carter produced one sack and eight total pressures in slightly over four games and seemed to have improved this season as a run-stopper.
The Giants still need to make adding an elite pass rusher a top organizational priority this offseason through the draft and free agency, but if Carter is healthy he’s more than adequate as a rotational rusher and maybe even more.
STAY
LB – Blake Martinez
Martinez, the Giants’ leading tackler, was signed this offseason to provide much-needed stability at inside linebacker and serve as an upgrade over Alec Ogletree, and he’s exceeded all those expectations.
The most consistent linebacker on the Giants’ roster, Martinez leads the Giants with 91 total tackles and has two sacks and one forced fumble.
There’s no question the Giants need to add at least one more dynamic playmaking linebacker this offseason, either via free agency or the NFL Draft, but Martinez has proven to be a building block type player.
STAY
LB – David Mayo
Mayo has been an above average and competent linebacker for the Giants the past two seasons, despite missing the first six games of this season with a torn meniscus.
However, the Giants drafted Cam Brown, Carter Coughlin, T.J. Brunson, and Tae Crowder this past April and will likely prioritize linebacker through free agency and the draft this offseason.
Mayo is a serviceable player, but the Giants have plenty of young players they need to get on the field and would be well-served to upgrade further here this offseason.
GO
LB – Kyler Fackrell
The Giants’ most productive pass rusher this season, Kyler Fackrell while playing on a one-year deal, has showcased himself nicely for teams looking to sign him long-term this offseason. The Giants should be that team.
For a defense that has struggled mightily to pressure the quarterback in recent seasons, Fackrell has been disruptive as they come, producing eight pressures and three sacks, along with an interception returned for a touchdown.
STAY
CB – James Bradberry
Bradberry is the Giants’ highest-graded defender and most dominant player on the roster.
The gifted cornerback has been everything the Giants hoped he would be when he was signed on the first day of free agency earlier this spring.
Opposing quarterbacks have a meager 62.7 quarterback rating when targeting Bradberry, and he has already pulled down three interceptions.
In an era where passing offenses reign supreme, and championship caliber defenses are built from back-to-front, Bradberry is as close to a cornerstone player as the Giants have on the roster.
STAY
CB – Ryan Lewis
For the past three years, it seems at least one of the Giants’ cornerback spots has been a revolving door, and Lewis is just the latest to pass through it.
The Giants need to once again prioritize cornerback in free agency on the heels of Bradberry’s success, and likely invest a top draft choice in the position as well to finally provide some much-needed stability in the secondary.
GO
DB Jabrill Peppers
Peppers has been one of the Giants’ top defensive backs the past two seasons, and has the ability to be a dynamic special teams contributor.
The Giants have yet to have the chance to get rookie Xavier McKinney on the field alongside Peppers, with McKinney sidelined since late August with a fractured foot. However, adding McKinney to the secondary should mask some of Peppers’ inconsistencies in coverage and allow him to be more of a weapon against the run and up near the line of scrimmage.
STAY
DB Logan Ryan
The Giants signed Ryan days after McKinney’s injury to step into the starting lineup for the rookie and add veteran leadership to a young secondary, and so far he’s done exactly that.
However, Ryan is 29, playing on a one-year contract, and has more value to the Giants at this stage as a trade chip than he does on the field. If Ryan can fetch a draft pick prior to Tuesday’s trade deadline, the Giants would be wise to pull the trigger on a trade to bolster the war chest. Otherwise, there’s little reason to re-sign Ryan this offseason.
GO
Matt Lombardo is the site expert for GMenHQ, and writes Between The Hash Marks each Wednesday for FanSided. Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattLombardoNFL.