The New York Giants’ success of 2022 took many by surprise and now they will look to build off of that this coming season. One of the biggest reasons for the sudden turnaround was the progress of quarterback Daniel Jones.
Jones took a huge leap a year ago, leading the Giants not only to a playoff berth but winning in the opening round of the postseason against the Minnesota Vikings. It was Jones’ strongest game of the year.
Despite his performance last season, Jones still has plenty of doubters, including ESPN analyst Herman Edwards.
Herm Edwards is NOT sold on the #nygiants upgrades this offseason pic.twitter.com/NHpMAz22Og
— awthentik (@awthentik) July 2, 2023
“When you think about this offense, they were last in the National Football League in passing with explosive plays; in other words 20 yards or more. Now, Waller will help them. Hyatt — the receiver you mentioned they brought in,” Edwards said on NFL Live.
“The star player is the runner; it’s (Saquon) Barkley. And when you think about his numbers, he touched the ball for these guys 352 times — 295 were runs, and he caught 57 passes. And by the way, he was their leading receiver. So when you think about the Giants, trying to defend the Giants’ offense, the first thing you say is this: Stop the runner. If we can stop the runner, we can beat the Giants; make the quarterback throw the ball.”
Ideally, the added weapons on offense will help Jones and the Giants turn a corner in 2023 and become a more serious contender. Still, undeniably, the offense has a lot to prove.
Edwards is correct in that the Giants relied heavily on Barkley, especially over the first half of the year. But if an offense has only one legitimate star and game-changer, if the defense takes them away, every quarterback would struggle. That speaks more to the roster than the quarterback.
But Edwards is not the only one who doesn’t believe in Jones and the direction the Giants are going in 2023. Many anticipate the team will fall back to earth this season and reestablish themselves as one of the NFL’s underwhelming and mediocre teams.
