When the New York Giants decided to reward Daniel Jones with a four-year, $160 million contract last March, they were sure that he could live up to that deal and play like he did in 2022. However, as we all saw, Jones' season was short lived and disappointing to say the least after only throwing two touchdowns to six interceptions.
Then, everything hit rock bottom with him tearing his ACL in the Week 9 loss to the Raiders. This came after he missed multiple games with a neck injury too. While people were furious with Jones for the way he looked in six games, come on, the Giants didn't put him in the best position to be successful. Here's why:
4. The play-calling
Jones has gone through three different head coaches and three different offensive coordinators in his career. Over the last two years, especially under Mike Kafka, the Giants offense has been unable to move the ball at all. This past season was no different, which is exactly why in 2023, the play-calling is part to blame for the rough year.
In 2023, the Giants passing attack was ranked 31st in the NFL, only averaging just under 170 passing yards a game. As for the offense altogether, the G-Men were ranked 29th, only averaging 280 total yards a game. That's unacceptable.
The Giants could not move the ball well enough with Kafka calling plays and that was on full display this past season with the Giants not scoring an offensive touchdown in four of the six games that Jones started. Kafka will be back next season, but goodness, he needs to put Jones and the offense as a whole in a better position to succeed.
3. Injuries for the Giants
Injuries always derail a team, but it was a massive problem for the Giants in 2023 and especially for Jones. Too many star players missed extensive time for the Giants and when Jones was at the helm playing quarterback, the struggles were on full display.
Starting with running back Saquon Barkley, he suffered an ankle injury in the Giants Week 2 victory against the Arizona Cardinals. The former No. 2 overall pick missed three games that Jones started and he struggled without his buddy who stands next to him. Jones' stats in those three games Barkley missed were not pretty, as he only passed for 459 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions. As a matter of fact, Jones' record without Barkley is 8-14 with 16 touchdowns to 20 interceptions in his career.
Barkley wasn't the only injury that was a problem for Jones, as star offensive tackle Andrew Thomas also missed a lot of time for the Giants in 2023 - he was limited to 10 games this past season, with his issues starting in the Week 1 loss to Dallas. Plus, newly-acquired tight Darren Waller, who the Giants had high hopes for, had to deal with hamstring issues once again. Everything that could have gone wrong for the offense did.
2. Lack of No. 1 wide receiver
This has been an issue for the Giants probably since the 2019 season when the Giants decided to say goodbye to star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. Big Blue just doesn't have a solid No. 1 wideout that Jones can rely on and once again in 2023, that was on full display.
The Giants leading receiver in 2023 was Darius Slayton, who only posted 50 receptions for 770 yards and four touchdowns. The next closest to Slayton was Waller, who had just 552 yards and the next closest wide receiver was Wan'Dale Robison who had just 525.
The Giants only had two 100-yard games by wide receivers in 2023 with rookie Jalin Hyatt having 109 back in Week 12 against the Patriots and Slayton who had 104 against the Rams in Week 17. That is the latter half of the regular season which is unacceptable.
Those were also games that Jones did not even start due to his season-ending injury, so he never had a 100-yard game by a receiver. This has to be addressed in the offseason, as the Giants have to find Jones a star wideout. Potentially Malik Nabers or Rome Odunze via the 2024 NFL Draft?
1. The awful play of the offensive line
To nobody's surprise, the offensive line once again was a disaster for the Giants this past season. This has been the case for far too long. Despite Jones' limited and inconsistent play in 2023, there is no doubt the Giants offensive line let Jones down the most in 2023.
The downfall started back in the Giants primetime Week 1 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys where the Giants gave up seven sacks of Jones and it only got worse from there just a few weeks later. In Week 4, the Seattle Seahawks showed no mercy against the Giants and their O-line as they sacked Jones nine, yes nine times. If you think that's to blame on Jones, you're quite mistaken.
In the games that Jones started, he was sacked a total of 30 times which is just an absurd statline. Plus, the Giants in total gave up a league-high 85 sacks in 2023, which was 20 more than the next closest team. Something has to give with this Giants offensive line next season. New bodies simply must be brought in for offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo.