The New York Giants were one of the big surprises of the 2022 season as they were a wild card team under first-year coach Brian Daboll. Was that a fluke, or is this franchise on the rise? Let’s break down the 2023 New York Giants.

A Closer Look at the New York Giants 2023 NFL Season

Roster Moves:

DB Darren Evans – Free Agent Signing
LB Jarrad Davis – Reserve/Injured
DB Leonard Johnson – Waived/Injured pic.twitter.com/kXua6pdRdM

— New York Giants (@Giants) July 19, 2023

• NFL Week 1: vs. Dallas Cowboys — 8:20 p.m. ET (NBC)
• NFL Week 2: at Arizona Cardinals — 4:05 p.m. ET (FOX)
• NFL Week 3: at San Francisco 49ers — 8:15 p.m. ET (Prime Video)
• NFL Week 4: vs. Seattle Seahawks — 8:15 p.m. ET (ESPN)
• NFL Week 5: at Miami Dolphins — 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX)
• NFL Week 6: at Buffalo Bills — 8:20 p.m. ET (NBC)
• NFL Week 7: vs. Washington Commanders — 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
• NFL Week 8: vs. New York Jets — 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
• NFL Week 9: at Las Vegas Raiders — 4:25 p.m. ET (FOX)
• NFL Week 10: at Dallas Cowboys — 4:25 p.m. ET (FOX)
• NFL Week 11: at Washington Commanders — 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX)
• NFL Week 12: vs. New England Patriots — 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX)
• NFL Week 13: BYE
• NFL Week 14: vs. Green Bay Packers — 8:15 p.m. ET (ABC)
• NFL Week 15: at New Orleans Saints — 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX)
• NFL Week 16: at Philadelphia Eagles — 4:30 p.m. ET (FOX)
• NFL Week 17: vs. Los Angeles Rams — 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX)
• NFL Week 18: vs. Philadelphia Eagles — TBD (TBD)

How Was 2022?

In January 2022, the Giants hired former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll as their new head coach – the 20th in franchise history — and that proved to be a masterstroke by new GM Joe Schoen, who also came from Buffalo. Schoen was Buffalo’s assistant general manager during Daboll’s entire tenure with the team. In addition to Daboll, the Giants spoke to former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores; defensive coordinators Leslie Frazier of Buffalo, Lou Anarumo of Cincinnati, Dan Quinn of Dallas and the Giants’ Patrick Graham.

While New York faded after a 7-2 start to a 9-7-1 record, that was still good for a wild card spot and a trip to Minnesota in the playoffs. The Giants upset the Vikings 31-24 for their first playoff win in 11 years. Off his best season, QB Daniel Jones passed for 301 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 78 yards in his first career playoff game. Jones became the first quarterback in NFL history to hit these thresholds in a postseason game: 300-plus yards passing, two-plus passing touchdowns and 70-plus yards rushing. Saquon Barkley rushed for two scores, including the tiebreaker midway through the fourth quarter.

Alas, a shaky defense couldn’t hold up the next week in Philadelphia in a 38-7 Divisional Round loss. New York turned the ball over on downs on its first possession, and Jones was intercepted by James Bradberry on its second. Jones finished with only 135 yards passing.

The five-game regular-season wins improvement from 2021 to 2022 was the largest in one season since the Giants jumped from six victories in 2015 to 11 in 2016. Daboll won NFL Coach of the Year honors, the fifth Giants head coach to take home the honor. He modernized the New York offense as the Giants finished fourth in the NFL in rushing yards per game (148.2), fifth in rushing yards per play (4.84), and set a franchise record by scoring a rushing touchdown in each of the team’s final 15 regular-season contests.

Upgrades in the Roster

Both Jones and Barkley could have become free agents this winter, but the Giants agreed to a long-term deal with Jones and slapped the franchise tag on Barkley, who was runner-up for NFL Comeback Player of the Year. Barkley isn’t happy about that and has made some noise about sitting out the start of the season, but that rarely happens. Jones, meanwhile, got a four-year deal worth $160 million plus incentives. He 67.2 percent of his passes for 3,205 yards, 15 touchdowns and just five interceptions this past season and remains one of the NFL’s top running QBs. He also rushed for 708 yards, averaging 5.9 yards per carry and scoring an additional seven touchdowns.

The Giants also got Jones some help by trading for ex-Raiders Pro Bowl tight end Darren Waller. The price was a third-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft, No. 100 overall, which the Giants acquired in the trade with Kansas City that sent Kadarius Toney to the Chiefs. Waller has played in 74 regular-season games with 52 starts and totaled 298 receptions for 3,572 yards and 19 touchdowns.

In 2020, he set a Raiders franchise record with 107 receptions. He played in just nine games because of hamstring and knee injuries last season, when he had 28 receptions for 388 yards and three touchdowns. The other tight ends currently on the roster – Daniel Bellinger, Lawrence Cager, Dre Miller, plus fullback Chris Myarick – have 55 career receptions.

The team also signed Colts WR Parris Campbell in free agency. In 2022, he caught 63 passes for 623 yards and three touchdowns, in addition to carrying the ball five times for 58 yards (long of 28 yards). In Week 17, Campbell had a season-long 49-yard reception against the Giants.

Most scouts praised New York’s draft of cornerback Deonte Banks in Round 1, center John Michael Schmitz in Round 2 and wideout Jalin Hyatt in Round 3. Banks is a crazy good athlete who scored a 9.99 out of 10 on the Relative Athletic Score (RAS). That is because he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.35 seconds, had a vertical leap of 42 inches and posted 11’4” in the broad jump. Schmitz is expected to start Day 1 at center for the Giants.

The Biletnikoff Award winner, Hyatt had 14 catches on passes thrown to 20-plus yards this past season. Eight of those went for touchdowns, which was the second-most in FBS. His eight touchdowns on vertical routes averaged 50.6 yards per reception. No team had fewer 20-plus yard receptions (28) last season than New York.

Does 2023 Look Like a Favorable Season?

The Giants are 3.5-point underdogs for the Sunday night Week 1 home opener vs. Dallas – that line likely rises if Barkley actually sits out. New York has the fourth-toughest schedule in the NFL this year, as its opponents combined for a winning percentage of .549 last year. Five prime time games, including the opener that will begin a stretch of four in the first six weeks, a three-game November road trip and two meetings in the season’s final three weeks with defending NFC champion Philadelphia, highlight the overall schedule. The Giants’ night games are their highest total since they played five in 2016.

This writer expects no better than a 7-10 record, with Jones regressing a bit.

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READ MORE: New York Giants 2023 NFL Season Betting Guide