The Giants are sitting at 4-8 out of the playoffs and lead the NFL in players on the IR. So what are we even rooting for at this point?
That is a very difficult question and there’s really not much, so I will let you know what I am looking to see. As a whole, I want to see the team continue to fight for Joe Judge and give us some hope that Judge will be a good coach of the future. I want to see the players continue to be disciplined and continue to be fundamentally sound. I’d like to see going for it on a 4th and 2 around the opponent 40 yard line while losing in the second half. So pretty simple stuff for Joe Judge.
On the Offensive Side, I would like some signs of life. If Daniel Jones can’t come back, I would like to see The Giants getting Kenny Golladay involved and see Kadarius Toney progress a little bit with 5 games left. Saquon Barkley is someone who we should also be watching closely and trying to figure out what a fair package would be if we decide to trade him away or if we should potentially look in the 3rd round for a running back. If Daniel Jones comes back, those games are HUGE in his evaluation and deciding what The Giants should do at the quarterback situation. I wrote a blog post yesterday taking a bit of a deeper dive.
Defense! Lets keep seeing what we have been seeing the last 7ish games. I love what I am seeing from Patrick Graham. I understand we have no pass rush and we are completely unable to stop the run. I believe that is more of a personal issue, Blake Martinez being out is proving to be a much bigger loss than we thought it would be. Tae Crowder has been playing good football as of late, but I want to see him sticking to his assignment and coming up to make plays instead of chasing the ball around the field and getting washed out – this has been a big reason for many of the longer runs we have given up. These last few games are very big for James Bradberry. Will The Giants look to cut James or maybe restructure his contract to free up some money this year and move a good chunk down the road? I do think Bradberry is still playing good football. It is just not the great season we saw last year and it is the situations when he is giving up these big plays that make them stand out even more. Anyway, these last few games are huge in figuring out what we have with him.
Lastly, I want to talk about all the young players on the team. Guys in their first or second year. Aaron Robinson looks like he is going to be GOOD. I would like to see him continue to progress and make plays. Xavier McKinney is a stud and I would like to continue to see him get better week to week. Than Quincey Roche and Azeez Ojulari – After the win against the Raiders, there were talks about them being the next Tuck and Osi. That is a WILD statement. They should still progress as the season comes to a close and I do think they will be on the team for a long time.
So overall, individual players have a lot on the line these last few games as far as evaluation goes with a new GM coming in and the team just being flat out bad. These games are big for Joe Judge and the rest of the coaches to see if they will lose the locker room. That is what I am looking for as this season closes out and we look to next season.
A Fan With A Mic 