New York Giants’ Gunner Olszewski named to PFN’s 2020s All-Decade Team

We may be just four seasons into the 2020s, but that hasn’t stopped Pro Football Network from compiling an All-Decade Team.

Allow them to explain:

This is Pro Football Network’s NFL All-Decade Team for the 2020s. We’re not quite halfway through the decade, but we already have a sense of which players will come to define this period of the NFL.

PFN’s All-Decade Team isn’t a projection; it’s a retrospective of the last four seasons. So, while C.J. Stroud, Puka Nacua, or other exciting players with limited track records could eventually end up on the 2020s All-Decade Team, they won’t be highlighted here.

With that out of the way, how did the New York Giants fare? As expected, not too well but they also weren’t blanked.

Many might assume that running back Saquon Barkley or nose tackle Dexter Lawrence would make the cut, but neither appeared on PFN’s 2020s All-Decade Team. Instead, the sole Giants honor belongs to wide receiver and return specialist, Gunner Olszewski.

Gunner Olszewski was 0.1 yards behind (Devin) Duvernay and earned a first-team All-Pro nod of his own in 2020. He joined the New York Giants last October before returning a punt for a 94-yard touchdown in Week 17.

Olszewski helped stabilize the Giants’ return game when he was picked up last October. He went on to average 11.9 yards per punt return and scored the aforementioned Week 17 touchdown.

There’s little doubt that Olszewski is one of the best punt returners in football but still, this entire All-Decade Team seems like an odd exercise here in June 2024.