Big Blue View
A lot of good things happened for the New York Giants during the offseason. Nothing is ever perfect, though. so, what was the worst move of the offseason for the Giants? Below, Big Blue View writers try to answer that question.
Not investing more heavily in wide receiver
It feels a bit odd to suggest that a team that added six wide receivers and a hybrid tight end haven’t invested heavily enough in pass catchers.
However, supporting Jaxson Dart has to be the Giants’ first priority and I can’t shake concerns that the Giants’ passing attack could be the team’s Achilles Heal. I wrote about two weeks ago that trading AJ Brown could have unintended consequences for the Eagles’ offense. Those concerns also hold true for the Giants’ offense as well if Malik Nabers isn’t up to being a dominant force.
There are still concerns that Nabers won’t be ready for Week 1, and might not be “himself” until some date in the murky future. And even then, Nabers’ play prior to being injured leaves me feeling uneasy. He only caught 51% of his passes last year for just 271 yards and 2 touchdowns, a stat line that drops to 41% for 104 yards, and no touchdowns when he wasn’t playing the Cowboys’ putrid defense. Even in his rookie year, Nabers only caught 64% of his passes with a 51% success rate, nine or 10 drops (depending on who’s doing the accounting), and a 46% contested catch rate.
If Nabers isn’t able to be The Guy, do the Giants have a passing attack that can force defenses to choose neutral or light boxes for the run game to be successful? Can they find (or create) the room for their other receivers to succeed? Can they give options for Jaxson Dart so he can both continue to develop as a passer and not feel forced to will plays into existence (and put himself in danger)?
Arguably, the fatal flaw of John Harbaugh’s tenure in Baltimore was not giving Lamar Jackson enough options in the passing game. The Giants have added a ton of receiving options, but how many good ones? How many can be good without a primary threat to dictate to the offense? And can the Giants compete with the top teams that can field not one, but two “number one” receivers?
Teams can’t fix every problem in one offseason, but will not fixing this one going to come back to haunt them?
I don’t know.
Letting Wan’Dale Robinson walk
The Giants may never have had a more undervalued wide receiver than Wan’Dale Robinson. He’s been in the crosshairs of Giants fans ever since Joe Schoen passed on George Pickens to select him in Round 2 in 2022 even though he probably still would have been...
