Five things the giants have to do for a turnaround in 2020

In the off-season, hope usually stays forever, and why not? This is the point in time when it comes to the old and the new with the management talent. In addition, all teams are back 0-0 as they prepare for the start of the upcoming season.

For the teams that had problems in the last year or longer, nothing would be better than transforming into this year’s 49ers team and switching from the worst to the first.

For the Giants, who have won only 12 games in the past three seasons, this could be too steep a goal to achieve in just one year and a very unusual year.

Nevertheless, the Giants can definitely get the ship back in the right direction with just a few things.

Here are the five largest dominoes the giants need to fall in their favor if they want to outperform the four games won last year.

Daniel Jones has to make a quantum leap

Given that he was put on the grid earlier than expected, quarterback Daniel Jones had a more productive rookie season than Eli Manning and Phil Simms, the last two long-term Giants franchise quarterbacks.

Sure, the problem of ball safety was a big problem, but exercises can fix that. Part of it was a combination of unpredictable offensive line protection and Jones’ tendency to hold the ball longer than it should.

The goals for Jones in his second season should be better ball safety and faster mental processing. According to PFF’s Quarterbacks Annual, 71% of Jones’ pass attempts were made at his first reading.

This is fine if the goal is to carry out a quick crime with a three-step fall and fire. If the Giants want to implement more of a vertical concept that requires five- and seven-level drops, they have to read Jones much faster than beginners if he wants to take this next step forward in his development.

Evan Engram must stay healthy

All players need to stay healthy, but no more than Evan Engram, the versatile and talented close end, whose skills can help offensive coordinator Jason Garrett use him as a receiver in some staff packages.

Engram will undergo foot surgery in December. During the last review with head coach Joe Judge, there was some uncertainty about where Engram was in his rehab. (Engram has remained in contact with the Giants throughout the off-season, but it is not known whether the Giants medical team has rated their progress.)

When he’s on the lineup, Engram has proven to be a nightmare for linebackers and defenders to keep up.

Since Garrett is a fan of many sets with two tight ends, Engram has the best opportunity to finally leave an unfavorable start to his professional career and establish himself as one of the best tight ends in the NFL.

The pass rush has to wake up

The Giants haven’t had a pass rusher # 1 for years (think Michael Strahan or even Jason Pierre-Paul), and they won’t have one this year, even if Markus Golden, who received the UFA tender, returns back.

But that is not an excuse for the passport storm for a permanent vacation. As in the past two years, the team relies on the defensive coordinator (Patrick Graham) scheme to achieve a pass rush, but unlike his predecessor James Bettcher, Graham has a little more talent to work with.

This starts with the backend of the defense, where there is more speed to stay deep in the field with receivers and with receivers that get to the second level. If the Giants can consistently cover receivers and force quarterbacks to hold the ball longer than they would prefer, it could result in more pass rushing attempts to get home.

While sacks are nice and the ultimate goal, the giants are likely to take them if the pass rush can also lead to incomplete passes and rushes that the defensive secondary can turn into sales.

If more evidence is needed, look at last year’s patriot defense that led the league in interceptions (25), but in seventh place overall (47) (with the jaguars and bucks).

Andrew Thomas must be the real thing

The Giants are very strong in the rookie offensive against Andrew Thomas, the fourth choice in the NFL draft, and why not?

Thomas was an absolute stallion in Georgia, where he only allowed nine pressures last year, one of which was a sack, according to PFF’s signature statistics for design class 2020.

But which side should Thomas play? Thomas played a left attack for the Bulldogs last season and is considered the Giants’ long term future for left attack. On closer inspection, however, it probably makes the most sense to start Thomas with the right attack, which would be a transition for him, if not one he couldn’t do.

Bringing Thomas in the right direction would mean placing him alongside experienced and reliable Kevin Zeitler, which would be a plus. It would also allow Nate Solder, who had enough problems last year, to stay on the left and work on those issues in his expected last season with the Giants.

Regardless of whether Thomas plays left or right attack for the Giants this season, the Giants need him as a rookie to protect the walls

Joe Judge must back up his words with action

It was hard to criticize the new head coach Joe Judge, who is in the honeymoon phase of his rookie season. Not only did Judge say the right things Giants fans want to hear about putting together a tough and intelligent team, he also has a plan to get the team to fulfill that vision.

But this off-season was anything but normal thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, which wiped out the spring exercises and could potentially shorten the training camp.

That won’t leave Judge and the coaching staff much time to see how players do everything they were taught during the virtual off-season program that could lead to sloppy soccer.

Unless the judge has a plan on how to get the players into soccer shape, work on the installations and work on the fixtures. This is a big “if” for every head coach, let alone for his first season.

In addition to on-site work, Judge has two problems out of the field to solve, namely the legal problems of Cornerback DeAndre Baker and Kicker Aldrick Rosas. Again, Judge spoke a good game about how he sees this team taking shape. How he deals with players who get out of line will tell us a lot about whether he is talking or is ready to go the way.