3 NY Giants in danger of losing their starting spot after Week 1

Following their disastrous Week 1 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, the NY Giants have a much darker outlook for the remainder of their season than initially thought. Not only was the offense as decrepit as ever, but even the defense, a large focus for Joe Schoen this offseason, was borderline useless, meaning some changes have to be made.

A part of these changes may include changing the starting lineup. Obviously, one week isn't a large enough sample size to make drastic decisions. However, it could be a sign of the future, and if these three players don't pick it up, they could be hitting the bench before we know it.

Here are 3 NY Giants players who could lose their starting jobs after Week 1

3. CB Nick McCloud

One of the strangest parts of Week 1 was the way in which Shane Bowen utilized his defense. Players like Micah McFadden and Isaiah Simmons didn't receive a single snap, while guys like Dru Phillips were hardly used as Nick McCloud struggled significantly. McCloud received a fair amount of hype throughout the offseason to potentially be the Giants' CB2, and just one game showed us this cannot be the case.

Not only was McCloud picked on by Sam Darnold throughout the game, but he also suffered a knee injury and could miss time. Poor play and injury are the two easiest ways to lose a starting job and McCloud found a way to fall under both categories.

PFF has McCloud only being targeted twice, allowing two completions for 29 yards. However, watching him on film showed how atrocious he was in coverage, and PFF backs this up, giving him a coverage grade of 47.5. This is why his time as the starting outside corner must come to an end.

The simplest solution is to play Cor'Dale Flott on the outside, a spot he played in through all of training camp. Now, we'll get into Flott momentarily, but moving Flott to the outside, making Phillips the full-time slot corner, and benching McCloud seems like the easiest solution to this problem as of now. Keep in mind that Adoree' Jackson is there to help on the outside as well. McCloud is not the long-term answer.

2. CB Cor'Dale Flott

When we say Flott may lose his starting job, this doesn't mean for the defense as a whole, just his current spot in the slot. The decision to have Flott in the slot made no sense at the time, and in hindsight, it's even more head-scratching.

Flott spent the entire summer ramping up to play on the outside alongside Deonte Banks. Yet, when it came time for regular season action, the Giants opted to put him back in the slot, the place where Phillips had seen most of his snaps in the offseason.

This decision was incredibly confusing and the Giants paid the price for it. While Flott would return to the outside once McCloud went down with an injury, it doesn't change the fact that the Giants seemingly changed his position at the last second for no reason. Brian Daboll said Flott will move back to the outside, which is 100 percent the right call.

Against the Vikings, Flott was targeted just once. This happened early in the third quarter when he bit on a fake screen, leaving Jalen Nailor wide-open for a 21-yard touchdown. Certainly not ideal from Flott, but constantly being thrown in and out of position won't help.

1. QB Daniel Jones

Now, Daboll may have put any rumors of Daniel Jones being benched for Week 2 to bed. However, if he continues to play the way he did against the Vikings, there is literally no chance he will remain the starting quarterback throughout the remainder of the season.

Not only was Jones bad, but you could say he played like the worst quarterback in the NFL after Week 1 and many people would not argue with you. Jones somehow managed to complete just 22 of his 42 pass attempts for 186 yards, zero touchdowns, and two interceptions, earning a QBR of 17.4 in the process.

What has to be my favorite stat from the day was the fact that the Vikings racked up five sacks this game, yet the Giants' offensive line was credited with just one. Jones ran straight into four sacks, showcasing just how poor his pocket presence really is in Year 6.

From missing wide-open receivers on hitch routes, to throwing a pass into triple coverage despite having other, more open options, to even just commanding the offense poorly, there really was nothing that Jones did right this game. If he doesn't pick it up soon, Daboll will have no choice but to bench his $160 million quarterback.