New York Giants Considered a "Tire Fire" in New Report

The Giants attempted to upgrade their roster, but one analyst still has some very real concerns.

East Rutherford, NJ -- June 11, 2024 -- Quarterback Daniel Jones at the NY Giants Mandatory Minicamp at their practice facility in East Rutherford, NJ. / Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA

Despite the upgrades made during the off-season by general manager Joe Schoen, the New York Giants roster is, in the opinion of Jarrett Bailey of USA Today’s Touchdown Wire, a “tire fire.” 

Bailey, who created seven categories for all 32 NFL teams, put the Giants in the last tier, aptly titled "Good Luck in 2025," and even predicted that the Giants could very well be the team that lands the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft.

"The Giants are a tire fire,” Bailey wrote. “They are somehow still doing the Daniel Jones thing, and their offense as a whole lacks any sort of star power outside of Malik Nabers. Label the Giants as the team who will have the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft."

That’s a pretty bold declaration by Bailey considering none of the 32 teams have taken a snap in 2024. But his concern about Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is certainly a valid one.

Jones, as is well known by now, is coming off a torn ACL and has had three significant injuries now over the last three seasons. Even when healthy, he hasn’t played up to the level one might expect from a top 10 draft pick, which he was in 2019.

Not all of that is Jones’s fault, though. As we have seen through the years, and as Schoen himself said in the series premiere of the off-season itemization of Hard Knocks that is focusing on the Giants, Jones didn’t have much of a chance due to poor protection by an injury-riddled offensive line in which his pressure to sack rate was a carer high 31.6 percent.

Still, it’s also fair to say that Jones, when his protection did hold up, looked as though he did a 180-degree turn from being the decisive quarterback he was in 2022.

His adjusted completion percentage dropped from a career-high 80.1 to 75.2, his NFL passer rating fell to a career-low 70.5, and of the three quarterbacks on the Giants roster last season, Jones’s 20 percent rate in which he was directly responsible for the pressures he faced led the group.

The Giants, who invested $40 million per year in Jones following the 2022 season in which the quarterback finally showed signs of being a legitimate franchise quarterback, appear to be pitching a Hail Mary to save face on that decision. 

Schoen made upgrading the offensive line depth a high priority in the off-season, perhaps at the expense of not being able to retain running back Saquon Barkley, their best player.

He also drafted receiver Malik Nabers, giving Jones his first truly legitimate No. 1 receiver of his NFL career. He also added edge rusher Brian Burns and ball-hawking safety Tyler Nubin to the defense, all in the hope that the defense improves enough under new coordinator Shane Bowen to get Jones and the offense the ball back with advantageous field position.

So, while the Giants roster does appear to be upgraded on paper, until they show it on the field, anyone with doubts about the direction this team is headed is not wrong to have reservations about just how good (or otherwise) the Giants roster really is. 

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