Former Giants OL Justin Pugh Believes Giants Are Still Searching for Their Identity

Who are the New York Giants? Justin Pugh believes the answer is still a work in progress.

Oct 1, 2017; Tampa, FL, USA; New York Giants offensive guard Justin Pugh (67) blocks as Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Noah Spence (57) rushes during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. / Kim Klement-Imagn Images

Very few players in today’s NFL can say that they’ve seen and understood the game from all different angles, but former New York Giants offensive lineman Justin Pugh is proud to be one of them. 

For Pugh, the Giants’ 2013 first-round draft pick, it started when he jumped into a significant role early in his tenure and played a combined 4,023 snaps at both tackle spots and the left guard position until the end of the 2017 season. 

After leaving for another five-year stint with the Arizona Cardinals that ended with an ACL injury in 2022, Pugh was relegated to the open market and had to adjust to the challenges of being an unsigned free agent watching the game from the sidelines. 

Pugh had his triumphant return to the Giants in Week 6 of the 2023 season when he was called back to provide depth to a severely banged up front, becoming infamous for his “straight off the couch” self-introduction on Sunday Night Football that re-endeared him to the Giants fanbase. 

Once again, the journey has taken him off the gridiron and into a new type of sideline endeavor, namely his new NetWorth podcast, a part of the Athlete Podcast Network, where he delves into the fandoms and experiences that impact the broad landscape of the National Football League.

Even with his new hobby, Pugh does not put his football mind and desire to play again behind him. Instead, he is as connected as ever, following the league and dissecting the film of his beloved Giants, whom, despite their 1-3 start, he believes have one question they need to discern as the remainder of the season progresses: What the entire organization wants its identity to look like.

“I think we're starting to get our identity,” Pugh told the Locked On Giants podcast. “(Giants director of player personnel) Tim McDonnell said it best during Hard Knocks. If we let Saquon Barkley walk out the door, what is our identity going to be?

“We're going to drop back, and we're going to throw it to (receiver) Malik Nabers. Fifty percent of the time, we're going to hand it off to (running back) Devin Singletary in this revamped offensive line, and he's going to get rushing yards. So, really, the Giants are going back to that philosophy.”

Through the first quarter of the regular season, the Giants have made no mistake in displaying their excitement for Nabers as the centerpiece of their offense. The rookie from LSU leads all wide receivers in targets (52) and stands second with an average of 96.5 yards per contest. 

For the first time in his career, quarterback Daniel Jones has been given a trusty No. 1 option in Nabers and made heavy use of his skill set, completing nearly 40 percent of the team’s passes to the young buck for 386 yards, three touchdowns and an average of 11 yards per reception. 

With Nabers’s contributions, the Giants offense has hung around the middle of the pack in several passing categories, including 15th in yards and 18th in touchdowns. The problem tends to arise when Nabers is taken out of the equation and can’t get his hands on the ball, as just one other player in Wan’Dale Robinson has amassed over ten receptions and 150 yards. 

Pugh, who watched a similar player in Odell Beckham Jr. light up the scene in the Big Apple in his rookie season, doesn’t want history to repeat itself with an overreliance on Nabers and believes the Giants must figure out who their next weapons can be to diversify their offensive identity. 

“The one thing that I will say about Malik is you have to find the number two and number three threats and consistently feed them the ball because teams will start bracket-covering Malik, hitting him, and trying to take him out of his game.

“So I look for Wan’Dale Robinson, Darius Slayton, and really getting a tight end in there. Having either Bellinger or Theo Johnson step up into that role to be that across the middle, kind of sitting in zones, making catches like a Travis Kelce…someone that can fill that void and take some of the pressure off Malik because right now he's carrying the offense.”

Many in the New York market have been quick to blame Jones for the Giants' failure to find positive consistency within their huddle.

In the season opener against Minnesota, Jones looked the opposite of a sixth-year veteran in the starting role, throwing two bad interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown to bury the Giants at home. 

He’s also been critiqued for his inability to connect with receivers on deep shots, a few of which, if he had connected, could have tilted the outcome of their Week 4 game against Dallas the other way.

In between his miscues, Jones has put together two proper performances in which he has completed over 70 percent of his throws and tallied over 200 yards in the air. 

The best was his outing in Cleveland, when he went 24 of 34 for 236 yards and two touchdowns, appearing as an improved arm behind solid pass protection to lead the Giants to the win.

Despite the mixed results on the gunslinger’s stat sheet, the elements Jones brings off the field and into the locker room feel almost as impactful to the identity Pugh sees developing in East Rutherford.

“I mean, he is the leader of this football team, and I think that's the one thing he must have taken from Eli…he's the first one in. He's the last one out. He does and says all the right things. He outworks everybody, and that's something that you want to see out of your quarterback.

He is doing everything in his power to be successful on Sundays, which fans don't necessarily appreciate because if you produce, they don't care what you do outside of football. As long as you're producing, they're happy.”

With three-quarters of the year left in front of them, it’s clear to some that something is beginning to brew within the walls of the Giants facilities. The franchise will need that secret sauce to continue cooking as they advance through the gauntlet of the first half of their 2024 campaign. 

Not only are they being tested talent-wise, but by mounting injuries as well. Their secondary has begun to crumble from the core over the past couple of weeks, and there is a chance that New York could be without their stud pass catcher in Nabers, who is in concussion protocol and could be forced to sit out Sunday’s game against Seattle. 

That is exactly what Pugh understands as the next step in the Giants' discovering of their overarching identity this fall. It’s not just about the men at the forefront but about who they’ve got within the depths of their ranks and who is ready to step up and be the next faces of the team for years to come. 

If they find the right answers, one of their biggest supporters believes they have what it takes to keep steering the ship in the right direction. 

“You have 53 guys on that roster and once the front line on the offensive and defensive line aren't out there, can Evan Neal take that next step and become the player he was drafted to be? Can Kayvon Thibodeau continue to progress and live up to that draft type? … Deonte Banks figuring out where he fits–is he, is he a true, legitimate cornerback?

So it's just continuing to identify who those guys are and who the cornerstones are to build off of going forward. And I have the utmost confidence in this team.” 

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