What's Next for the Giants?
No one would have guessed the Giants were going to start the season 0-5. With additions of Brandon Marshall and Evan Engram, the Giants built arguably the best receiving core in the league with Odell Beckham Jr. and Sterling Shepard already on the roster. Even in the NFC East, the Eagles, Redskins, and Cowboys all have weak areas in the cornerback position, allowing the receiving core to capitalize on these weaknesses.
However, the Giants couldn't seem to turn on the engine in their first four games. OBJ contributed a solid 302 yards and 3 touchdowns, but Brandon Marshall didn't meet expectations with only 144 yards. Shepard racked up 219 yards, but 77 of those yards came after one breakaway touchdown. However, all of the hopes and dreams the Giants had this season were shattered during Week 5 against the Chargers. Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall both suffered season ending injuries while Sterling Shepard a suffered multi week injury.
Currently, the top wide receivers seem to be Evan Engram, Roger Lewis, and Tavarres King. Evan Engram averages about 4 receptions a game, which will go up - hopefully. Engram was targeted a season-low of 4 targets during Week 5, even with their top 4 wide receivers out. This is very scary for the Giants. The opposing defense will most likely shift to cover Engram more and have a linebacker cover him on almost every play. As a rookie Tight End, it is very unlikely that he will be able to lead this team's offense. This being said, things do look good for Engram who will most likely see more targets throughout the rest of the season. This leads to Tavarres King and Roger Lewis, both of which are receivers who had less than 100 yards last season. Similar to Engram, Lewis, and King are not experienced enough to carry this team in a positive direction. However, both receivers will see a large jump in targets and hopefully receptions.
So, what do the Giants do? When looking at their upcoming schedule, they have two possible wins: the 49ers and the Cardinals. Even then David Johnson could be back in Week 16 from his wrist injury and change that possibility entirely. Additionally, there is some chance the Giants get a win somewhere, possibly from the Redskins or Raiders if Carr is still hurt by then. So this leaves the Giants with a likely record to 2-14 or 3 -13.
Therefore, the Giants will have a top 5 overall pick in the draft. While the defense is decent now and has the capability to be top 5 in the league, the largest holes to fill are surprisingly on the offense, despite their stacked wide receiving core. The Giants need to fill the running back position. For the past few years, the Giants have not had a solid running game, averaging 25th in the past four years. If they want to fill this hole, they should draft Saquon Barkley from Penn State. Let alone Barkley’s impressive Heisman worthy stats, we have seen that rookie running backs have absolutely dominated in the past few years. Todd Gurley, Ezekiel Elliott, and Kareem Hunt, all of which are rookies have led the NFL in rushing yards their rookie year. Some rookies like Todd Gurley and Leonard Fournette show that they can still be powerhouse running backs with poor offensive lines. Based on the past trend, Saquan Barkley should be a phenomenal, if not the best, running back in the NFL during the 2018 season. Not only will Barkley establish the running game, but provide the Elliott affect.
A large part of Dak Prescott’s incredible rookie year performance is attributed to Ezekiel Elliott. The major running threat forced teams to focus on the run defense and less on the passing game, most of the time stacking the box against the rookie running back. Prescott’s receivers were able to be open in a weaker coverage allowing Prescott to be a very successful quarterback during the 2016 season. A heavy run game will force opposing defenses to contain Barkley and thus have a weaker coverage for their high quality receiving core.
As seen in statistics and in tape, Barkley is able to catch just as good as a wide receiver can. On any passing plays with Barkley in, the Giants could have Beckham Jr., Brandon Marshall, Sterling Shepard, Evan Engram, and Saquon Barkley all running routes. On these plays, defenses would be forced to cover these players leaving fewer defenders to attack Eli, and thus give him more time, something that the Giants Offensive Line struggles to do. This phenomenon is very rare, where the running back improves the offensive line instead of the other way around.
By drafting Barkley, this man could improve a long time lacking running game, passing game, as well as potentially the offensive line, something that is very uncommon in the NFL.