Jalin Hyatt #13 of the New York Giants is tackled by DeMarvion Overshown #13 of the Dallas Cowboys. <span class="credit">Getty Images</span>
There is no peace for the Giants.
Are there pieces?
As a franchise record-tying nine-game losing streak, a rash of injuries and banner-carrying airplanes flying over two-thirds-filled stadiums turn up the temperature on a lost season, the Giants (2-12) still need to evaluate their players to know what they have moving forward.
“I don’t think it makes it difficult,” head coach Brian Daboll said. “They compete as hard as they can, you evaluate their technique, you evaluate their understanding of the schemes, their competitiveness, all the things that they need to do at each position.”
Here are 12 this-way-or-that-way players — nine draft picks and three veterans — of whom you can ask “What is he really as a player?” when these next three games are over and the offseason begins:
WR Jalin Hyatt
General manager Joe Schoen traded up in the 2023 third round to draft Hyatt after nearly taking him in the second. Is the former Biletnikoff Award winner a fringe player, as his seven catches for 53 yards this season and zero touchdowns in 30 career games suggest? Or is a coaching staff that has used him for 16 or fewer snaps seven times to blame for his underdevelopment?
WR Wan’Dale Robinson
As Darius Slayton heads to free agency, can you comfortably pencil in Robinson as the No. 2 receiver out of the slot? Not based on his 7.4 yards per catch (ranked No. 139 in the NFL) on 111 targets (No. 14). Unless you think that’s a symptom of poor quarterbacking and the yards after catch that he was meant to provide is being masked.
RT Evan Neal
Is it time to put the “bust” label on the 2002 No. 7 pick? He has started the past five games (allowing two sacks and 12 pressures) after losing his starting job following last season’s poor play and foot injury. Offensive-line experts say Neal still is on the ground too often. He won’t be the starting right tackle in 2025. Should he be tried at guard? Or traded for pennies on the dollar before his walk year?
OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux
If Schoen has a top-three-round pick to celebrate from the 2022-23 draft classes, it’s Thibodeaux. But the former No. 5 pick is quietly playing out the stretch. Thibodeaux has 18.5 sacks and five forced fumbles in 40 career games, after missing five this season due to wrist surgery. Supporters point to his run defense. Critics say the metrics behind his 11.5 sacks in 2023 (6.4 pass-rush win rate) suggest it was unsustainable production.
C John Michael Schmitz
Just because he clears the low bar as the best of Schoen’s four offensive line picks (Neal, Josh Ezeudu and the long-gone Marcus McKethan) doesn’t mean that he should be penciled in as a starter. The six-year collegian was advertised by scouts as a plug-and-play starter near his developmental ceiling. He is ranked as the No. 53 center by Pro Football Focus and still is getting knocked off the ball by power rushers.
CB Deonte Banks
All the good vibes that Banks created as a solid rookie are gone. The 2023 first-rounder’s tackling effort was questioned multiple times. He has allowed six touchdown catches in 12 games. This season proved he is not yet up to being a No. 1 corner, but can he be a solid No. 2? Schoen often claims that he doesn’t draft for scheme, but Banks sure seemed to be a better fit for man-to-man press coverage.
LB Micah McFadden
Unlike most youngsters on this list, McFadden’s arrow is pointing up. It must be determined if his 102-tackle, three-sack breakout so far is just scratching the surface or if it’s the product of someone needing to fill out the stat sheet with so many injuries. The 2022 fifth-rounder’s motor never runs cold, and he is getting a small late-season taste as the defensive signal-caller.
TE Theo Johnson
The rookie fourth-round pick was just hitting his stride as a pass catcher when he suffered a season-ending foot injury on Thanksgiving. Can he be counted on to elevate next season? The Giants didn’t trust Daniel Bellinger to do the same after a very similar rookie season in 2022.
CB Dru Phillips
The rookie third-round pick is the No. 2-ranked cornerback in the NFL, according to PFF — behind only Defensive Player of the Year candidate Patrick Surtain Jr. And that’s with just two forced fumbles, one sack, no interceptions and 32 catches allowed on 38 targets in five starts across 11 games. The analytics darling is good as a slot in run support, but where are the impact plays?
FS Jason Pinnock
The pending free agent is the signature waivers pickup of this regime, which has squeezed 34 starts out of a Jets’ cut. Pinnock is best at blitzing, but his angles in pursuit and positioning on deep balls has opened the door to big plays. Schoen has had three of the NFL’s top-10 safeties — as graded by PFF — walk out the door in recent years, and rookie second-rounder Tyler Nubin is considered the future on the back end.
LB Bobby Okereke
An iron man who was a playmaking Pro Bowl snub in 2023 under former coordinator Wink Martindale, Okereke still forced three fumbles and tallied two sacks in 2024. But he was in the middle of the worst-ranked rushing defense in the NFL for the first 12 games before injury. He probably lies somewhere in the middle of these last two seasons.
OT Jermaine Eluemunor
The journeyman probably had the best season of his career at age 29. He showed versatility on both ends of the line. Is he going to keep getting better and halt the never-ending search for starting offensive tackles? Or is he a high-end swing tackle?
