We are officially at the bye week for the NY Giants. This might have been the longest 12 weeks of football for many given the season hasn’t gone how everyone thought it might. The Giants sit at 4-8 after they rattled off two straight wins against the Washington Commanders and New England Patriots. Those wins got the Giants out of fhe NFC East basement.
It might not seem like a lot, but it actually gives the Giants a glimmer of hope for the final fives games once they return from the break and bye week. We all know that the Giants hold the No. 6 overall pick for the 2024 NFL Draft if the season ended today. But the flip side to that is the Giants are two games back for the No. 7 seed and final Wild Card spot in the NFC Playoffs.
Some think we’re crazy for talking playoffs, but until the Giants are mathematically eliminated, we will talk possible playoff scenarios to go along with the NFL Draft ones. For the Giants, if they want to make the playoffs, there can not be any losing on their part.
At least, not to the teams who are ahead of them in the playoff picture and also are on their remaining schedule like the Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams. The Giants would need to win all of those in order to move up and catch the No. 7 seed Minnesota Vikings, who are 6-6 currently.
For the Giants to do that, some players might need to see less playing time for others. It would result in a lot of tough decisions made by Brian Daboll, but he’s had to make tough decisions in the past to benefit the team. So, which Giants need to see less time on the field and more time on the sidelines?
5. Sterling Shepard
This was a gut-wrenching decision to make because since his rookie year, Shepard has been as reliable of a player and receiver as it got. But watching Shepard play, it’s pretty clear that he is no longer the guy making big third down catches and getting deep balls for touchdowns like he once did. If you look at Shepard’s stats for 2023, they could be puzzling to those who don’t watch the team consistently,
Shepard has seven catches for 93 yards and one touchdown, which would be a good game for a receiver. But that’s Shepard’s season totals through 11 games played. His one touchdown came in garbage time in a loss to the Dallas Cowboys a few weeks ago when the game was well out of reach.
At this point, any playing time for Shepard should be going to Isaiah Hodgins and Jalin Hyatt, as they are the younger receivers who give the Giants better options. It’s sad to see Shepard be a shell of the player we once all knew. However, he looks like a player who may be done and ready to ride off into the sunset.