One of the common refrains over the last couple years is that the New York Giants are at a talent disparity compared to the best teams in the NFL.
Yet year after year, the Giants are lauded for their work on draft day and consistently earn “A” grades in the immediate aftermath of the draft.
Don’t believe me? Take a stroll through memory lane to see how highly their drafts have been regarded since 2020:
But surely with the advantage of perspective and hindsight (through the 2024 draft, at least), the Giants drafting wouldn’t be nearly so well regarded.
Right?
Well, the folks over at Gridiron Grading went back and re-graded each draft class from all 32 teams over that period and the Giants still grade out as one of the best-drafting teams in the NFL.
We have scored every draft pick from 2020-2025 using our model.
Now, we are re-evaluating how well each team has set themselves up through the draft.
Here is how we rank all 32 teams
during this span.
Bookmark this thread - we will break down every team individually ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/a8lBoK83u8
— Gridiron Grading (@GridironGrading) May 23, 2025
How could a team like the Giants, who have barely won a third of their games over the last six seasons, also be one of the best drafting teams in the NFL? Let’s dig into it, and we’ll start with the Giants’ draft classes over that period.
Giants draft classes
Giants Draft History: 2020-2025
|First|Second|Third|Fourth|Fifth|Sixth|Seventh|
Overall, the Giants have made a fair number of picks over the last six drafts — 47 to be precise — and are averaging a bit under eight picks per year (7.8). They’re weighted toward the back end of the draft, but that’s to be expected thanks to compensatory picks and late round “sweeteners” added in to consummate trades.
Generally speaking, more picks is better when it comes to draft. But it also matters what you do with them.
There are a bunch of factors at work when it comes to player success. Everything from the quality of the evaluation and projection, to player fit and coaching, to work ethic, to injury and blind luck can all play a part in whether a pick is a success or not.
Having more picks means more opportunities to be right.
Before we move on, let’s take a quick look at how Gridiron Grading arrived at its grade.
9. New York Giants
The Giants are boosted here by spending the 3rd most draft capital during this period and us liking their 1st round picks outside of Neal and Toney.
It’s been really ugly once they get into Day 3, though.
We’ve liked their draft classes a lot more than what the results show.
QB issue? Probably.
Our grades being too high on some of these guys? Also, probably.
Win % (2020-2024): 33.9% — 29th of 32
Gridiron Grading hasn’t shared its system, beyond that it uses “analytics and production”, so I can’t speak to their specific grades.
I do tend to agree that the outcomes haven’t lived up to the potential of many of the players selected. And as I said above, there are a lot of moving parts when it comes to player success.
One of the biggest is health, and that’s been a consistent problem for the Giants. Many — most — of the Giants’ most important picks have dealt with persistent injuries. Andrew Thomas, Kadarius Toney (though that pick seemed to be a disaster right from the start), Azeez Ojulari, Evan Neal, and John Michael Schmitz have all missed real time with injuries.
Those injuries have impacted development and also forced the Giants to rely on depth players to an unhealthy (and often frustrating) degree.
When the injuries are combined with a lack of development and poor performance from players who were highly regarded in college, the picture starts to come into focus. Those factors also help to explain the feeling I, and others, have had that the Giants should be better than they’ve been. That they aren’t untalented so much as failing to live up to their potential.
The Gettleman years
Four of the drafts graded lay at the feet of Joe Schoen, and to the credit of the Giants’ current GM, they’ve resulted in multiple hits and players who have the opportunity become hits.
2020 and 2021, however, were the work of Dave Gettleman. We should give Gettleman credit for drafting Andrew Thomas, who is one of the Giants’ best players and one of the best offensive linemen in the NFL. Gettleman also drafted the Giants’ best player the year prior (2019) in Dexter Lawrence. However, he was also responsible for a significant number of misses or outright busts.
The most notable is, of course, Toney. Not only was Toney an expensive non-factor as a first rounder with just one game where he lived up to the pedigree, but the opportunity cost of drafting him is daunting. In order to pick Toney, the Giants passed on Micah Parsons and Rashawn Slater, either of whom could have been incredible pieces to add to the defense or offensive line. The desire to add a player with stop-start quickness to play in the Giants’ quick-game catch-and-run offense also likely contributed to the Giants grading Toney over more traditional receivers like Rashod Bateman or Nico Collins.
But even beyond Toney, Gettleman’s misses on players like Azeez Ojulari (who was reportedly off some teams’ boards for medical concerns and has since missed many games due to injury), Matt Peart, and Aaron Robinson loom large as well. A second round pick and two third rounders represent significant draft capital, and those players are expected to be significant contributors.
To a certain extent, it’s impressive that the Giants are in the top 10 after a first, second, and two third round picks were busts and off the team in four years.
The quarterback issue
This is, of course, the elephant in the room: 2020 through 2025 was dominated by Daniel Jones.
And while we don’t need to relitigate that all again, but it’s also undeniably true that a quarterback sets the ceiling and floor for a team. Quarterback play touches on, and influences, every other aspect of the team. Things like sack rate, passing yardage, and efficiency are “sticky” and tend to be independent of situation. And from that perspective, Jones is a limited quarterback who limited the team around him. He seldom allowed the players around him to play up to their potential. Likewise, his offenses rarely gave the defense a lead to protect or forced the opposing offense to pass to keep up.
As Gridiron Grading put it “QB issue? Probably.” That’s a sentiment that the Giants’ organization has seemed to echo this year, adding Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston, and Jaxson Dart to transform the quarterback room. Each of those players represents a philosophic shift from Jones and how he the offense was schemed around his play and preferences. Given that they were each chosen by Brian Daboll, we have to assume that they’re more in line with his vision for the offense.
One of the big stories to follow this year is how (or if) players perform after a change, and possible upgrade, at the most important position.
Opportunity for improvement
Personally, I feel that having nothing between “Hit” and “Fringe” is a weakness in Gridiron Grading’s methodology. For instance, saying that Wan’Dale Robinson is in the same category as Matt Peart isn’t right.
Robinson played three-quarters of the snaps last year and produced at the same rate as Stefon Diggs despite having one of the lowest average depths of target in the NFL, while Peart is now a reserve tackle and jumbo tight end for the Broncos.
Players like Jalin Hyatt, Daniel Bellinger, Cor’Dale Flott, and Dane Belton are all probably better described as “depth” than “fringe” players.
They’re also all still on their rookie contracts, and each have traits that can allow them to contribute to the team. The Giants fielded one of the youngest teams in the NFL last year, and maintained continuity in their leadership (outside of the quarterback position) for the first time in a long time. That could create the conditions for some of those young players to take a much-needed step forward.
The fate of the Giants’ season could rest on how many of those “To Be Determined”, “Fringe”, or “Miss” players still on the roster become “Hits” if the quarterback play improves. It’s possible that with a more solid and less limiting foundation, we might find that the Giants have more talent than they’re given credit.
If so, the results on the field might finally match how well-regarded their draft classes have been.