Three Team Stats Giants Must Improve in 2024

The Giants have a lot they need to improve on in 2024, starting with these three team stats.

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

The New York Giants earned their sixth overall draft position in 2024. Their poor performance on both sides of the ball was tied to injuries and underperformance. The Giants must improve themselves in many areas to compete in the upcoming season.

The NFC East will once again be a tough division, and it could get a lot tougher with the Washington Commanders' rebuild coming to fruition. The Giants as a team have a lot of questions to answer in the coming weeks, but most of all, they’ll need to figure out a way to improve in these three team stats if they want to find success in 2024.

Time of Possession

The Giants finished with an average possession time of 29:27 per game in 2023. Average time of possession can be misleading when gauging an offense’s efficiency. However, there is a feasible correlation between average time of possession, points per game, and winning football.

In 2023, 15 teams had an average time of possession of 30 minutes or more. Those teams, outside of an outlier in the Carolina Panthers, all averaged over 20 points per game. Twelve of those teams finished in the Top 15 for most points per game. Ten teams made the playoffs. All but two teams had records over .500.

If you have the ball, the other offense can’t score. Simple enough.

First Down Yardage

The Giants averaged just 3.20 yards per rush on first down and 2.80 yards per pass on first down. On second downs, the rushing number fared worse, at 2.80 a clip. Second and short is crucial, especially when the Giants were ranked 30th in third-down efficiency.

If the Giants were within one to two yards of converting on third down, they succeeded 71.43 percent when running. Three to five yards out was a different story -- the Giants only converted on rushes 7.69 percent of the time when running.

Last season, the Giants were without Saquon Barkley for a string of games, which likely affected the season averages as a whole. 

Devin Singletary is a good acquisition for the Giants. His punishing running style, which averaged 2.85 yards after contact last season, should translate to better-rushing numbers on first and second down for the Giants in 2024, should he remain healthy.

Passing the ball on third and short was not much better. With one to five yards to a conversion on third down, the Giants could connect for a first down just 44.26 percent of the time.

Defensively, the Giants must improve upon allowing 6.2 passing yards on first downs and 4.8 on second downs. Distance on third downs could be a vital factor for the Giants’ defense. Signing edge rusher Brian Burns should help knock that number (and opposing quarterbacks) down.

First Half Scoring

Strong starts are crucial to winning football games, and the scoreboard is a big indicator. Last season, the Giants only scored 25 first-quarter points, compared to their opponents dropping 92 points in the first frame.

For overall first-half scoring, Giants opponents outscored them 213-113. It's hard to win football games when constantly down in the first quarter or entering the second half. Of course, it points to a more significant problem for the Giants. They were outscored 407 to 266.

The Giants should improve those numbers in 2024, with Daniel Jones and the offensive line healthy and the addition of top 2024 NFL Draft prospect Malik Nabers. 

A balanced run game led by Singletary and a handful of options like Jashaun Corbin, Eric Gray, and rookie Tyrone Tracy could be an upgrade from the home-run-reliant rushing attack predicated on Barkley.

Defensively, the Burns addition on the defensive side of the ball should only had to a team that brings back a solid core with the likes of Bobby Okereke, who has emerged as one of the best linebackers in the league; Dexter Lawrence, possibly the best interior defender in the league; and outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux, among others.

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