Giants Have A lot of Holes To Fill

A year ago, the New York Giants were off to Minnesota to play the Vikings in the Wild Card round. They went on to win that game - their first postseason victory since 2011. And even though they were blown out by the Philadelphia Eagles in the Divisional round the following week, the feeling around 1 MetLife Stadium Drive was that the future was bright.

Well, we all know what happened. The 2023 season got off on the wrong foot and very quickly got away from the Giants. Injuries, poor execution on the field and questionable coaching decisions, all contributed to a 6-11 record that, once again, left Giants fans justifiably frustrated and wondering whether the current regime was up to the task of turning this thing around.

With this franchise now on its fourth head coach since Tom Coughlin was relieved of his duties following the 2015 season, it was highly unlikely that John Mara was going to fire Brian Daboll, especially given he won Coach of the Year in 2022. But, clearly, some changes had to be made. And made they were.

Gone are special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey, offensive line coach Bobby Johnson, outside linebackers coach Drew Wilkins and defensive assistant Kevin Wilkins. Based on the press conference Daboll and GM Joe Schoen held on Monday, the plan was to keep defensive coordinator Wink Martindale and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka on, but Martindale apparently didn't take too kindly to his assistants being fired, so he resigned in a huff.

My take on Martindale's departure is mixed. While he had his good points, it's worth noting that his former team, the Baltimore Ravens, haven't exactly suffered since he left. This year, the Ravens allowed the fewest points in the NFL; the year before they allowed the fourth fewest. Buddy Ryan, he wasn't. The Giants should have little problem replacing him.

It's on the other side of the ball where things become more dicey. Pick a position: quarterback, offensive line, wide receiver, tight end, running back, all have profound questions that will demand answers in order to avoid another calamitous performance in 2024.

Thanks to their season finale win over the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife, the Giants will pick sixth in next year's draft. Regardless of whether the Chicago Bears decide to trade or keep their number one pick, a top quarterback prospect will fall into Schoen's lap. Washington's Michael Penix, Jr distinguished himself in the national title game against Michigan. While no Caleb Williams, he'd be an interesting choice for a franchise that still hasn't fully lived down taking Daniel Jones with the sixth pick in 2019.

If Schoen believes that Jones has what it takes to lead this team, or, more to the point, if Mara "convinces" him he has what it takes, he may opt to go for a wide receiver or an offensive lineman.  God knows the Giants can use help at both. And if they decide not to franchise tag Saquon Barkley, they will need help at that position, as well.

Bottom line: Plenty of holes to fill, plenty of decisions to make. I don't relish the spot Schoen and Daboll find themselves in. But that's what you get when you underperform expectations the way the Giants did in 2023. Mara knows it takes time to rebuild; his father went through a similar rebuild in the 1980s. But he is also acutely aware that the fan base is restless and running out of patience.

Which makes this the most consequential offseason possibly in franchise history.

The Pressure is on John Mara and Steve Tisch Now More Than Ever

Now that the Ren and Stimpy Show has been canceled at MetLife Stadium, the real work begins. The New York Giants, owners of the worst win-loss record in the NFL over the last five seasons at 22-59, are in the market for a new G.M. and a new head coach at the same time. That hasn't happened since 1978 when head coach John McVay was fired and G.M. Andy Robustelli was allowed to "retire."

If you recall - and the memory has been seared into my consciousness for decades - the Giants were the laughingstock of the league that season. Come to think of it: they were the laughingstock of the league for six years running. But 1978 took the cake. That was the year of "The Fumble" - the double reverse handoff to Larry Csonka that wound up in the waiting hands of Herman Edwards of the Eagles who ran it in for the winning touchdown. 

That stunt would prove be the last straw for Wellington Mara and his nephew Tim. After the season, they commenced to find someone who could reverse the team's fortunes. The problem was the two couldn't agree on who was best qualified. After a bitter public feud, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle stepped in and appointed George Young to run the football operations. Young would subsequently hire Ray Perkins as his head coach. And so marked the beginning of what would become the most stable period in the franchise's storied existence since its glory days of the 1950s and early '60s.

Perkins in his third year got them in the playoffs before leaving to coach Alabama the following season. Defensive co-ordinator Bill Parcells was promoted to HC and guided them to two Super Bowl wins in 1986 and 1990 before resigning. Young's specialty was drafting and during his tenure, the Giants drafted the likes of Phil Simms, Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks.

Young eventually stepped down as G.M. after the 1997 season, and it was his successor, Ernie Accorsi, who, like his predecessor, assembled the makings of a championship-caliber team that included Tom Coughlin as coach and Eli Manning as quarterback. That team would go on to win two more Super Bowls in 2007 and 2011. 

When Accorsi retired in '07, Jerry Reese took over the reigns. But unlike Accorsi and Young, Reese was a lousy talent evaluator. His draft selections, with a few notable exceptions, were dreadful, and after the 2011 season, the team began to decline, making the playoffs once in ten years. Reese was eventually fired in 2017 and replaced by Dave Gettleman, who in his relatively brief four-year stint managed to make things even worse.

And this, my dear Guinevere, is where we came in. A franchise wrecked by poor management, inept coaching and bereft of talent is now in tatters. The parallels to 1978 are unmistakable. It'd be easy to say things can't get any worse, but sadly that's not true. If there's one thing we know about professional sports, it's that the pit is bottomless. If you think 4-13 is bad, try 2-15 on for size; or perhaps even, dare I say it, 0-17. Don't laugh, it can happen, because it has.

That's why these next few weeks are critical for both John Mara and Steve Tisch. The two co-owners must work together to find the right man who can rebuild this once proud franchise. The pressure couldn't be greater, especially since they aren't the only ones looking for a G.M. Both the Vikings and the Bears cleaned house after their disappointing seasons as well. Misery, it appears, does love company.

Fortunately, there is an abundance of potential candidates out there from which to choose and Mara, to his credit, is looking outside the organization. He's already reached out to several teams in an attempt to get a head start. Indeed, the Giants have already interviewed Buffalo Bills Assistant G.M. Joe Schoen, and have asked permission to speak with Kansas City Chiefs Director of Player Personnel Ryan Poles. Both men would be excellent choices, especially Poles who, if he's hired, could entice Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to join him in New York as his head coach. Bieniemy is considered one of the best and brightest offensive minds in the league, and if there's one thing the Giants desperately need, it's someone who knows how to run an offense.

Whoever gets chosen is going to have his work cut out for him. Gettleman not only screwed the pooch, he took out a four-year mortgage on it. The Giants went crazy last year signing players who didn't pan out, and because they got creative with the cap, they're going to be in cap hell for the foreseeable future. And that means any hope the fans have of seeing Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson in a Giants uniform next season will have to remain the stuff of dreams. Like Young, the next G.M. will have to go through the draft to repair the damage.

And that's why as difficult as these last few years have been to watch, things might not get much better next season. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will the Giants. When you clean house, it takes time to put in place an infrastructure that can endure. Remember, it took Young eight years before he could deliver a Super Bowl. Expectations, both for the fanbase and ownership, will have to be managed. Incremental progress will be the catch phrase. It's worth noting that the last last three coaches this franchise hired - Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge - all regressed in their second season. By comparison both Bill Parcells and Tom Coughlin had losing records their first season, only to reach the postseason in year two, followed by a championship two years after that.

That's how this typically works. You take your lumps early, while you construct the building blocks that inevitably leads to a parade outside your stadium. Successful franchises know this, which is why they can survive the odd bad year or two. As disappointing as the Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints were in 2021, both teams have the right personnel in place to rebound next season. 

And speaking of the right personnel, the Pittsburgh Steelers have them in droves. Their head coach, Mike Tomlin, has not had a single losing season in 15 years. He didn't accomplish that with smoke and mirrors, or by referring to other teams as "clown shows," or by calling consecutive quarterback sneaks on second and third and long deep in his own end. He did it because he knows how to motivate his players to win.

Look, this isn't rocket science. When you hire the right people, good things tend to happen. John Mara needs to find the right man, and that right man needs to hire a lot more right men to turn this shipwreck of a franchise around.