The New York Giants moved on from Eli Manning this season and ushered in the Daniel Jones Era. It had a… bumpy start. However, the return of Evan Engram, and a full offseason as the QB1 under Jones’s belt should have the 2020 New York Giants off to a better start than the 2019 Giants. However, the 2019 iteration of the team provided much fodder to remember for the 2020 version of the New York Giants. What should you remember from that squad for next season?
What to Remember from the 2019 New York Giants Season
- The death throes of the Eli Manning Era dragged the entire team down with him. Well, at least that’s the narrative we’ve all been fed and are likely to believe. Here’s the truth. The 2019 Eli Manning Giants averaged 403.25 yards and 21.75 points per game. After Daniel Jones took over, the Giants offense averaged 317 yards, and… 21.67 points per game. That includes two big outbursts against the Dolphins and Washington in weeks fifteen and sixteen. In the end, Eli Manning guided the Giants to a more potent offense, and went 2-2; Daniel Jones took his lumps and went 2-12.
- The Giants played Daniel Jones in order to get him some experience under center. After the Geno Smith debacle in 2018, they could not return to Eli once Jones came in. The Daniel Jones rookie season was… inconsistent. Turnovers marred an otherwise nice campaign for Daniel Jones, but his turnover problem should improve if he stops taking so many hits. His interception rate (2.61%) was better than the rookie campaigns of Andrew Luck, Baker Mayfield, and Cam Newton. Only seven rookie QBs over the last two decades threw at least 450 passes with a lower interception rate than Jones did. Now, he just has to clean up the fumbles and he should take a huge step forward in 2020.
- Saquon Barkley, full of the dumb oddities that make up a brash early-twentysomething, returned from his ankle injury far, far too early. He failed to follow the proper timetable and did not post a decent rushing game until week thirteen (ten weeks after his injury). His receiving yardage kept him somewhat afloat but his week ten one rushing yard performance certainly raised alarms. However, starting in week thirteen against Green Bay, Saquon returned to form. After that point, he averaged 144 yards and a touchdown per game. Prior to that point, he pulled down “just” 81.8 yards per game on 2.77(!) yards per carry. Wherever you wanted to draft Saquon in 2019… do the same in 2020. He’s the same player, and everything around his issues solely stemmed from him not letting his ankle recover, not the offense.
- Someone needs to take a back seat in the Giants passing offense in 2020, or the NFL needs to figure out a way to implement some sort of multiball system to allow Daniel Jones all the targets to passing weapons he needs. Golden Tate, Darius Slayton, Sterling Shepard, and Evan Engram all averaged 6+ targets per game, with Engram and Shepard clocking in over eight targets per game each. The four played one game together last season… Evan Engram had eleven targets, Slayton had five, Tate had six and Sterling Shepard had nine. This was before Slayton’s breakout, and it speaks to Tate being the odd man out for targets come 2020.
- Evan Engram played eight games last season. This marks the second time in three years that he’s missed at least five games with injuries. He played exactly four each with Eli Manning and Daniel Jones and played on a pace for 88 receptions, 934 yards, and 6 touchdowns on 136 targets. However, in his four games with Eli Manning, Engram turned in two 110+ yard performances and paced for 1,324 yards. On the flip side, Daniel Jones experienced significant growing pains and Engram never topped 50 yards in four games, pacing for 544 yards. This will likely right itself in 2020, but if it doesn’t, you can’t say I didn’t warn you.
Check out the rest of the What to Remember series as it develops!
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