Despite Poor Record, Giants Have a Lot They Can Build On
One year after taking the NFL by surprise with a 9-7-1 record that included a postseason berth, the 2023 New York Giants have put together a total disappointment of a season that, besides being wrought with injuries, saw the team fail to advance in its growth, particularly on offense.
The result is that the Giants, currently 5-10, are facing a major revamp in the upcoming off-season, one in which some hard decisions need to be made, starting with the coaching staff (where one or more coordinators could be in danger of being replaced), to the assistants to the players.
But much as was the case when general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll were hired to turn the lack of fortunes of the franchise around, there are plenty of pieces the Giants can pour into a foundation moving forward and build upon.
On the December 27 edition of Locked On Giants, Giants Country writer Gene Clemons weighed in on who those pieces are as just one of many topics covered in the 50-minute interview.
Here's a look at all that Clemons believes Giants fans have to be thankful for regarding the roster.
Coach Gene Clemons: Well, one thing that I think--and I still don't believe that Giants fans have apologized enough for it, and I'm going to continue to bang the table until I see more people do so-- is walk back their Darius Slayton takes. There are a lot of people who owe Darius Slayton an apology.
Not only has he performed well from last season, their fantastic year, but he's performed well this year amongst having to deal with three different quarterbacks thrown in at different times, different types of game plans, a slight shift in his role,, and what he does that's different.
I think that he's proved that he is a legitimate wide receiver number two. If he had a number-one receiver and consistency at the quarterback position, I think he would thrive in the receiving corps.
I think that we've seen once again that Saquon Barkley is himself. Throughout this year, even through injuries and offensive line woes, people talk about the quarterbacks being sat, but they don't talk about the fact that a lot of holes aren't being opened the way that some holes are being opened for other running backs around the league.
I think that what Saquon's been able to do in that shelf that people always say that running backs fall off, after 25 or 26 years old, I don't think you see any signs of Saquon Barkley slowing down or being what he is right now, which is a dynamic football player and somebody that this team should be looking to invest in going forward in the future.
I actually think that we've seen out of the offensive line that we've probably seen some people emerge who probably should be quality backup offensive linemen.
When you plug in some starters into a couple of places, like the left guard position and the right tackle position, I think you're going to be left with much better depth on the back end than you've had this year because people have been forced into starting roles that we never really thought would be starting for this team.
I think you see emerging depth at defensive back. We say, 'Hey, what's going to happen when we potentially say goodbye to Adoree' Jackson after this season?' I think that you see that the fall off from Jackson to whoever would come in for him to replace him isn't probably going to be that much.
I think we have flexibility in the types of safeties that the Giants have. I think that we've seen the linebacking corps become more solidified with Okereke's Pro Bowl-caliber play this year.
I think that we've seen Micah McFadden has done a great job-- I think the next key for him is to get stronger to be able to bring guys down more easily because he's always going to be an undersized guy, but like we saw with Ivan Pace in Minnesota, size is not a skill. McFadden has shown the ability to get to the football on a regular basis, and that's something that you can build around.
The question marks are with edge rushing and pass rushing, those things are things we can't think of. But we know what we have over on that other side inKayvon Thibodeaux, who can be a top-level pass rusher in this league. I think that what he showed in the second half of last year and this entire year when given the opportunity is a guy who can get consistent pressure.
And even if he doesn't get to the quarterback because of the pressure he provides, somebody else will get to the quarterback.
So I think when we look at all of those things--and Dexter Lawrence is Dexter Lawrence--there are a lot of building blocks at every level that you can say, 'Hey, if Houston can be a playoff team in a year with just a couple of changes and Indianapolis or the Colts can be a contender with just a couple of changes, if the Jaguars can be a contender with just a few changes, why can't the Giants?'
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