A pessimist’s guide to the 2024 New York Giants

After a frustrating 6-11 season, Giants fans have plenty of reasons to be pessimistic about their football team. 

Here’s why New York could struggle in 2024.

Daniel Jones hasn’t improved

The Giants won two of Jones’ six starts before an ACL tear ended his 2023 season in Week 9. Jones averaged a career-low 5.7 yards per attempt last year, throwing just two touchdowns against six interceptions and finishing with a QBR score of 36.3, the worst of his career.

Keep in mind, quarterbacks like Kenny Pickett (38.1) and Sam Howell (42.4) posted better QBR numbers last season, and both were traded in the offseason. Jones signed a four-year, $160M contract last offseason, but the Giants would actually save $30M against the cap with his 2025 release.

Jones hasn’t passed for more than 15 touchdowns in a season since 2019, and with a 22-36-1 record as a starter, time may be running out for the injury-prone 27-year-old quarterback.

The offensive line has been a mess

To be fair, the Giants did their quarterbacks no favors by allowing a league-worst 85 sacks for 465 yards last year. 

Only the 1986 Philadelphia Eagles gave up more sacks (104) in a single season, which explains why New York added players like Jermaine Eluemunor and Jon Runyan Jr. and offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo in the offseason.

Eluemunor spent the last two seasons at right tackle for the Raiders, but the Giants hope to use him at guard. Unfortunately, Evan Neal, the team’s current right tackle, allowed seven sacks and committed seven penalties in seven games played last year. He’s also recovering from offseason ankle surgery, which could complicate the team’s plans for Eluemunor.

Runyan is expected to take over for right guard Mark Glowinski, whom the team released in the offseason. While the former Packer hasn’t missed a game in his four-year NFL career, he did lose snaps to Sean Rhyan towards the end of the 2023 season.

Of course, Bricillo will be New York’s eighth offensive line coach in the last 10 years, which speaks to the team’s inconsistency. With so many moving parts, it’s no wonder Pro Football Focus named New York’s offensive line as the “weakest” in the NFL. 

The tight end options aren’t encouraging

The Giants traded a third-round pick for Darren Waller last year. In return, he gave them one touchdown and 552 yards in 12 games. 

Those numbers aren’t great, but now that he’s retired, the team’s options to replace him are even less encouraging.

Daniel Bellinger, a fourth-round pick in 2022, has two years in head coach Brian Daboll’s system but just 523 yards and two scores over that span. He was also limited during spring practices due to an undisclosed injury, per Dan Duggan of The Athletic.

Theo Johnson, this year’s fourth-round pick, is big (6-foot-6, 264 pounds), but his numbers as a Nittany Lion were anything but. Johnson had 938 yards and 12 scores in four years with Penn State. He’ll need more than that to crack the starting lineup in 2024.

The New York Giants open their 2024 regular season against the Minnesota Vikings at MetLife Field on September 8.