Revisiting the biggest “what ifs?” » giants of the 2024 season

The New York Giants’ 100th anniversary season will go down as one of the worst in franchise history and one that saw the team’s 10-game losing streak (and counting) plunge the franchise in a state of disarray as this campaign approaches.

But looking back, one can’t help but wonder if the Giants had done some things differently; maybe this disaster of a season could have played out differently. As such, we offer you six “what ifs” for the 2024 season.

Let’s get one thing out of the way now. If Saquon Barkley had been on the Giants this year, it is highly unlikely that he would be on track to break the NFL single-season rushing record currently held by former Rams star Eric Dickerson ( 2,105 yards) established in 1984, not when you consider the stark differences between the Giants and Eagles offensive lines.

But given the uncertainty the Giants had at quarterback when they entered the 2024 season, how much more tolerable would it be to watch an otherwise anemic offense if Barkley was still on the team ?

Of course, the Giants have promising young running back Tyrone Tracy, Jr. on the roster, a very promising runner. And yes, the Giants needed to invest in their offensive line and pass rush.

That said, on Hard Knocks, general manager Joe Schoen considered offering Barkley a three-year contract. with $25 million guaranteed, $1 million less than what Barkley ultimately signed with the Eagles for. (Schoen never made the offer after thinking it over and deciding to let Barkley test the market.)

We know how the story unfolded. Barkley and the Eagles headed to the playoffs; the Giants are not.

Barkley showed that you just need a strong offensive line to be successful, even if you’re over 27 for a running back. And the Giants are in a race for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft in the midst of one, if not their worst season ever.

The Giants attempted to sign a veteran cornerback in free agency to pair with Deonte Banks. Veterans they were related to include Darious Williams, Tre’Davious WhiteAnd Stephen Nelson.

Yet for some reason (probably money) they weren’t able to do so, and by the time the OTAs arrived, they were talking excitedly about third-year Cor’Dale Flott and all the trust they had in him to be. an entry.

The problem, however, is that Flott couldn’t stay healthy and didn’t exactly land the starting job in camp, competing with former cornerback Nick McCloud for the job. Flott is ranked 54th out of 85 cornerbacks with at least 300 cover shots.

As injuries began to creep into this group, the Giants had to bring back Adoree Jackson, whom they had moved on from after the previous season.

The Giants briefly flirted with adding quarterback Russell Wilson after the Broncos released him, and they probably could have had him for a song and dance, considering the Broncos were still owed money to Wilson.

So why not roll the dice? Only Joe Schoen knows for sure, but there are probably two reasons.

The first is that Giants management (Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll) told everyone who asked that Daniel Jones, who was recovering from a torn ACL suffered the year before, would be the starter.

By not promising at least one contest, who could blame Wilson for telling the Giants, “Thanks but no thanks”?

The second is that the Giants invested a minimum of $5 million guaranteed in Drew Lock to be Jones’ replacement and probably didn’t want to invest similar money in Wilson (who, one would have to think, would have wanted a comparable deal) .

The biggest headache, however, is that Daboll and Schoen are still discussing competition for jobs and that it’s a good problem to have.

Yet for some reason they didn’t see fit to have a competition for the most important spot on the roster, even though their 2023 starter looked just as bad before his ACL as he did upon his return of injury.

As we learned from Hard knocksit was either Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels, or the Giants’ failure at quarterback in the first round.

The fact that the Giants were willing to give up their assets to move forward in the draft order if they had had a willing partner told us all we needed to know about how they Really saw Jones as the long-term solution.

But when the Giants couldn’t make the trade, they completely walked away from the position and didn’t even bother to make it. add an undrafted rookie to their list.

Worst case scenario is the undrafted rookie wouldn’t have made the practice squad, but without taking a chance at the position the Giants will never know if maybe a roll of the dice on Sam Hartman or Taulia Tagovailoa could have worked for them. .

Plain and simple, the Giants win this Week 2 game against the Commanders and advance 1-1 heading into Week 3 against Cleveland, which they were going to win. And if the Giants had won in Week 2, that would have given them a 2-1 record and maybe a little more confidence boost.

Instead, the giants made a bad story. It was the first game in their 100-year history that they lost despite scoring three touchdowns and allowing none.

The 2023 season, like the 2024 campaign, saw the Giants rocked by injuries on both sides of the ball. On offense, the team also used four quarterbacks, one more than in 2023. Although the Giants offense currently ranks dead last in the league (292.3 yards per game), that still represents 12 yards per game better than in 2023. .

So why did the Giants keep offensive coordinator Mike Kafka as their play-caller? Daniel Jones.

The Giants, remember, hitched their wagon to Jones, determined to reinstate him as a starter. So why not let Kafka, whose play helped Jones achieve his best season as a pro since his rookie campaign in 2019, stay as a player?

There are several reasons why Daboll chose this path. The first is that Daboll missed the calls and was eager to get back into that role, which he temporarily put on the back burner as he transitioned into his head coaching position.

The other possible reason is that Daboll, upon realizing that Kafka wanted to move on – remember the Giants blocked Kafka from speaking with the Seahawks about opening their offensive coordinator – wanted to arrange the things so quarterbacks don’t have to worry about having a different play call in their ear every other season.