How New York Giants stack up after first quarter of the regular season

We’re a quarter through the 2024 season and the New York Giants sit all alone in last place in the NFC East with a 1-3 record.

New York and three other teams (Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals) are at the bottom of the NFC. The Giants are actually last (16th) in the NFC as they have a 0-3 conference record. At this pace, they’ll have no problem landing their player of choice in the 2025 NFL draft.

If the season ended today, they would have the third overall selection in the draft.

Many are pointing to the parting of the ways with star running back Saquon Barkley as a contributing factor and they wouldn’t be entirely wrong.

The Giants are 30th in the NFL in rushing, averaging 85.7 yards per game. Their scoring output (15.0 PPG, 29th) is actually lower than last season’s (15.6).

Quarterback Daniel Jones, who famously uses his legs to make plays, has rushed only 23 times for 70 yards (3.0 YPC) this season. In his career, Jones has averaged 34.3 rushing yards per game and 5.6 yards per attempt.

They were 29th in total offense last year (280.0 YPG) and are up slightly to 22nd (296.3) this year. A good portion of that rise can be attributed to the addition of rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers.

There are some positives, however. Big Blue is 13th in total defense –14th against the pass and 16th versus the run. The Giants are eighth in red zone defense and 17th on offense.

Nabers leads the NFL in receptions (35) and is second to Houston’s Nico Collins in receiving yards (386).

Nabers has been targeted 52 times this season, more than any other player in the NFL through four weeks. His 52 targets make up 38.2 percent of the Giants’ target share this year.

Wan’Dale Robinson is second with 38 targets and Darius Slayton has 15.

What is surprising is that Jalin Hyatt, who was featured almost daily in training camp as the team’s top deep threat, has been targeted just three times this season and has no receptions.

Devin Singletary has been getting the lion’s share of the touches out of the backfield. Through four games, Singletary has gotten the ball on 56 of the Giants’ 72 running plays this year. So much for the running-back-by-committee approach.

The Giants’ tight ends have been relegated to mainly blocking this year. Rookie Theo Johnson has three catches for 37 yards and Daniel Berlinger has two for 20.

On defense, Micah McFadden, who has played in just three of the first four games, leads the team in total tackles with 27. They only have one interception this season and that was by rookie linebacker Darius Muasau.

The team sack lead does not belong to either of the Giants’ high-profile pass rushers (Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux) but to defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence and safety Jason Pinnock, who have three each.

On special teams, the Giants are in the middle of the pack return-wise, averaging 24.4 yards on kickoffs and 10.3 yards per punt return.

88 percent of the Giants’ kickoffs have gone for touchbacks. The one that was returned went for 35 yards.

Their punt coverage has been fairly solid, allowing 8.86 yards per return on seven attempts with a long of 24.

Just a side note: Safety Xavier McKinney, who left the Giants this past offseason via free agency to sign with the Green Bay Packers, leads the NFL in interceptions with four.