What version of the New York Giants will we see in 2024?
Can Daniel Jones rediscover his stellar play from two years ago and assert himself as the franchise’s quarterback of the future? Or will he struggle as he did before injuries cut his season short after six games?
The quarterback is obviously the largest story surrounding Big Blue heading into the new season, which begins on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium against the Minnesota Vikings. But the unknowns permeate the entire roster and even the coaching staff.
Let’s take a look at the largest storylines surrounding the Giants heading into the new season.
New York Giants top storylines in 2024
‘Prove it’ sentiment goes beyond Daniel Jones
All eyes are going to be on Jones, understandably. This is his last chance to prove that he can be the franchise quarterback, after all. Yet general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll have made numerous changes to a roster that won just six games last year and there needs to be some sort of tangible progress seen to provide some reassurance that the franchise is moving in the right direction.
They opted to let Saquon Barkley walk to the Philadelphia Eagles and have replaced him with Devin Singletary, a rusher who has never had a 1,000-yard season but has familiarity with the Giants’ leadership duo from their time in Buffalo.
Jon Runyan Jr., Jermaine Eluemunor, and Greg Van Roten should bolster what was one of the worst offensive lines in NFL history last season to open the lanes for Singletary and provide more time for Jones in the pocket.
On the outside, they are going with a youthful revolution. New York’s top three receivers are rookie Malik Nabers (21), Jalin Hyatt (22), and Wan’Dale Robinson (23).
If things go sideways for the offense — especially with Daboll taking over play-calling duties from Mike Kafka — it looks all the worse for the head coach and Schoen.
Is the defense as inconsistent as it looks?
Schoen’s largest acquisition of the offseason, edge rusher Brian Burns, suddenly creates a vaunted defensive line for the Giants in 2024.
Burns has had at least nine sacks in each of the last four seasons and will line up opposite Kayvon Thibodeaux, coming off a promising sophomore campaign in which he notched 11.5 sacks. Dexter Lawrence anchors the line in the middle as one of the very best defensive tackles in all of football.
The problem is when you start to move further away from the line of scrimmage. The organization obviously did not feel good about the state of its secondary behind second-year cornerback Deonte Banks, who will need to take a considerable leap in his development this season if he wants to remain the team’s No. 1 corner.
Rather than ride it out with Cor’Dale Flott and Nick McCloud, they brought back Adoree’ Jackson as the perceived No. 2 corner after letting him languish on the free-agent market for five months.
It has all the makings of being a mediocre defense, as opposing quarterbacks who find any shred of time should not have much trouble dissecting New York’s secondary.
