Welcome to Pain’s Points, offseason edition, a recurring list and thought process that gives all Giants fans… well, Pain. The season might be over but there are more than enough Pain Points to share:
Pain Point #1: Injuries
To say that the team dealt with some injuries would be an understatement. The team lost multiple starters in Lemieux, Gates, and Blake Martinez within the first 3 weeks of the season. The team would also lose out on several other key players including breakout LT Andrew Thomas (weeks), Jabril Peppers, and QB Daniel Jones who suffered a neck injury. Even pricey free agents Kenny Golladay and Adoree’ Jackson were in and out.
Since 2009, no team has more missed players due to injury than the Giants. It would not be a bad idea to take a look at our strength and conditioning program and medical team, a dozen years’ worth of data isn’t a coincidence.
Pain Point #2: Effort
As the losing continued and the weeks went by, the visible lack of effort showed. Players disengaged in tackling was noticeable (looking at you Bradberry). We watched multiple players on defense whiff on tackles, while watching players on offense make little to no effort to block downfield. While Joe Judge is now gone and effort is an indictment on your coach, at some point all athletes play for some pride and self-respect. Fans didn’t see a lot of that and that is why we are seeing wholesale changes.
Pain Point #3: 2021 Draft Class
While only a season in, it has been an ugly and disastrous start for a draft class that looked fairly good when being drafted.
1st round pick – Kadarius Toney dealt with Covid and injuries on more than one occasion. He played a measly 301 snaps in 10 games over a 17 game schedule. He showed flashes of elite elusiveness and dominance, but there is only so much you can do in 301 snaps.
3rd round pick – Aaron Robinson missed all of training camp & the entire first half of the season with a core muscle injury. He ended up appearing in 9 games and played only 268 snaps on defense with 3 passes defended. He showed some tough, physical play, but like Toney, there isn’t much to go off.
4th round pick – Elerson Smith played even less, 107 snaps with 2 QB hits. No real production to talk about since he also dealt with a multitude of injuries in camp and the first half of the season.
6th round pick – Gary Brightwell played mainly on special teams, considering Barkley was hurt, he got 1 carry for 4 yards all season long behind Booker. Considering the only other back behind Booker was fullback Elijah Penny, this is not a good look for the running back. He contributed nothing on offense playing 12 snaps over 13 games.
6th rough pick– Rodarius Williams played 50 snaps on defense before tearing his ACL. When he was on the field, he was getting cooked. He looked a step slow and gave up completions with ease, I am not even sure that he makes it back on the roster next season.
Except for promising 2nd rounder Azeez Ojulari (8 sacks), it has been a terrible start for this draft class.
Stay tuned for more, there are always Pain Points in life, especially if you are a Giants fan. Remember, this is our Pain and we have every right to be mad about it.