The New York Giants officially moved on from Eli Manning last year when they started Daniel Jones for the final 12 games of the season. The Giants look to take a step up this season after adding pieces in free agency and the draft.
Key Additions: OL Cameron Fleming, CB James Bradberry, DB Logan Ryan, LB Blake Martinez, and LB Kyler Fackrell
Key Departures: LB Deone Bucannon
With the Giants now showing their future, let’s dive into the starters for the 2020 season.
Offensive Starters:
- QB: Daniel Jones
- RB: Saquon Barkley
- WR: Sterling Shepard
- WR: Golden Tate III
- WR: Darius Slayton
- TE: Evan Engram
- LT: Andrew Thomas
- LG: Will Hernandez
- C: Nick Gates
- RG: Kevin Zeitler
- RT: Cameron Fleming
Defensive/Special Teams Starters:
- DE: Dexter Lawrence II
- NT: Dalvin Tomlinson
- DT: Leonard Williams
- SLB: Lorenzo Carter:
- MLB: Blake Martinez
- WLB: Devante Downs
- OLB: Oshane Ximines
- CB: James Bradberry
- CB Corey Ballentine
- SS: Jabrill Peppers
- FS: Julian Love
- K: Graham Gano
- P: Riley Dixon
Strongest Position: Running Back
In 2018, the Giants drafted their franchise running back and haven’t looked back. Saquon Barkley is an elite running back and in my opinion, the second-best in the entire league. Barkley lit up the league in 2018, posting a league-leading 2,028 total yards and 15 total touchdowns. Despite only playing in 13 games last year, Barkley tallied over 1,400 total yards and 8 total touchdowns. Barkley is healthy and is looking to dominate again this season as the top player on the offense.
Update: Barkley has torn his ACL in just his second game, cutting short what look like a promising season for the young running back.
Weakest Position: Offensive Line
The Giants used the No.4 overall pick to draft OT Andrew Thomas out of Georgia to boost the offensive line. OT Nate Sodler opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns, leaving Cameron Fleming as the OT opposite of Thomas. In his 12 starts last year, Jones was sacked 38 times. He was under constant pressure and the line did not get tremendously better over the offseason. The got an upgrade at LT, but other than that, the line is still closer to the bottom of the league’s offensive lines.
The Giants have a lot of talent on offense for this season with three solid wide receiver options and a good tight end, when he is healthy. Barkley is going to carry the load on offense as one of the league’s best offensive weapons. As for the defense, the secondary looks much better with Bradberry and Ryan as new signings, but the defense only recorded 36 sacks last season and they did make any big moves to upgrade the pass rush. I expect the Giants to be better this season, but not near playoff contention.
