Grading the Giants’ 2024 season: Players, coaches, and the front office

After the reality check that came in 2023, the Giants hoped to get things moving in the right direction again in 2024 behind the returning Daniel Jones.

Unfortunately for Big Blue, things didn’t go according to plan, and the Giants look set to start rebuilding again in 2025.

Despite their struggles, there were some strong individual performances. Obviously, there were plenty of players who failed to meet expectations, though.

Here are the grades:

QB Daniel Jones

Jones returned from a torn ACL, but the pressure was on from the start as he entered the second season of a four-year, big-money deal. Under tough conditions with injuries on the line and to some of his pass catchers, Jones competed hard and posted reasonably good numbers. However, his inability to elevate the team ultimately led to his benching and departure after just 10 games.

GRADE: D

RB Tyrone Tracy Jr.

As a mid-round pick, Tracy wasn’t expected to be much more than a rotational reserve in his rookie season. However, when he got a chance to start, he grabbed the opportunity with both hands, posting three 100-yard games in his first six starts. However, he hit a bit of a wall down the stretch. He didn’t surpass 60 rushing yards in his last seven games and averaged just 3.6 yards per carry in his last five. He also had some issues with fumbles.

GRADE: B

RB Devin Singletary

Replacing Saquon Barkley was always a tall order, especially as the former Giants star went on to have a career-year with a division rival in Philly. However, Singletary had plenty of chances to produce at the start of the season and was underwhelming. He ended the season with a yards per carry average of below 4.0 and lost his job to the rookie Tracy after an early-season injury.

GRADE: C-

TE Theo Johnson

The Giants had high hopes for the fourth-round pick, but he got off to a slow start with dropped passes, penalties and inconsistent blocking. However, by the end of the season, he had established himself as a consistent contributor and the top tight end on the team, so the Giants will expect him to build on this in 2025 and beyond.

GRADE: C+

WR Malik Nabers

After an impressive camp, the expectation was that Nabers would have a huge rookie season. He overcame injuries, and some frustrations over how he was being used, to ultimately deliver this. With a thousand-yard season and more than 100 catches, Nabers has already established himself as a star and ended up as a second alternate for the Pro Bowl despite the Giants’ struggles.

GRADE: A

WR Darius Slayton

The veteran led the Giants in receiving in four of the past five seasons, but Nabers clearly displaced Slayton as a No. 1 option this season — and his production was down. Slayton was still a valuable contributor, though, and showed that he can still be a big-play threat as he led the team in yards per catch. However, he also dropped seven passes and is expected to depart in free agency.

GRADE: C

WR Wan’Dale Robinson

Robinson is an underrated possession option who had a career year in 2024 with 93 receptions. While he averaged just 7.5 yards per reception, Robinson was a useful security blanket or check-down option for whomever was under center.

GRADE: B-

G Greg Van Roten

Van Roten was an afterthought during the offseason, as he didn’t sign until late July. However, as it turned out, he brought valuable durability to an offensive line unit that had been injury-plagued in 2023 and was the only offensive player to start every game. Overall, he played quite well, although he did get beaten for a team-high seven sacks.

GRADE: C

C John Michael Schmitz

After an inconsistent rookie season, the 2023 second round pick Schmitz made some progress in 2024. While he still surrendered more pressure than you’d like to see in pass protection, he continues to have a bright future and will look to keep developing next season.

GRADE: C

OT Jermaine Eluemunor

Eluemunor was brought in as a free agent and gave the team plenty of options with his versatility, although they ultimately never used him on the interior. Eluemunor was probably the Giants’ most consistent pass protector, but did lead the team with nine offensive penalties.

GRADE: C

T Evan Neal

It was looking like a lost season for the former seventh-overall pick after he began the year on the bench following an injury in training camp. By the time he got an opportunity, the Giants were already out of contention but, to his credit, Neal made a solid impact as a run blocker and improved his pressure percentages in pass protection. Nevertheless, he remains an unpopular player among the fan base and still has lapses at times, which his detractors waste no time in highlighting.

GRADE: C-

G Jon Runyan

Runyan was another free agent addition who brought some consistency and a steadying influence to a struggling group until he ended up on IR in December. He only gave up two sacks in 13 games but was inconsistent as a run blocker.

GRADE: C

EDGE Brian Burns

The Giants brought Burns in via trade during the offseason and he had a solid first season with Big Blue. Burns had 8.5 sacks and more than twice as many tackles for loss as anyone else on the team with 17 as he was named as a first alternate for the Pro Bowl. At the same time, his production was inconsistent, and he perhaps didn’t manage to elevate the group as much as was hoped.

GRADE: B+

EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux

Thibodeaux was looking to build on a 2023 season where he led the Giants with 11.5 sacks but seemed to take a step back in 2024 as he ended up with just four. A midseason stint on IR didn’t help much. While he was perhaps more consistent against the run than last year, it was still a disappointing year for the former top-five pick.

GRADE: C-

EDGE Azeez Ojulari

Ojulari was a player many fans expected the Giants to trade at the deadline, but he stepped up in Thibodeaux’s absence and ended up with six sacks despite only starting five games. However, he suffered a season-ending injury shortly after the deadline.

GRADE: C

DT Dexter Lawrence

Lawrence was deservedly voted to his third Pro Bowl, although in October he had been in the mix for Defensive Player of the Year. He was off to an incredible start with a league-high nine sacks in the first six games and his usual disruptive play against the run. However, the sacks dried up over the next five games and then he suffered a season-ending injury at the end of November.

GRADE: A

DT Rakeem Nunez-Roches

Nunez-Roches quietly started 15 games this year, tied for the third most among defensive players. However, he’s not a player who has made much of an impact and is likely someone for whom the team will be looking to find an upgrade.

GRADE: C-

LB Bobby Okereke

After a solid first season with the Giants, Okereke was productive again this season but missed the last five games due to injury. He once again provided important leadership and communication while leading the team in terms of forced fumbles and fumble recoveries.

GRADE: B

LB Micah McFadden

McFadden led the Giants in total tackles as he posted over 100 for the second straight year despite not playing a full-time role. He also added three sacks and dramatically improved his tackle efficiency compared to last season.

GRADE: B-

CB Deonte Banks

Last year’s first-round pick had a tough season as he found himself matched up against a murderer’s row of top wide receivers. While he competed hard, Banks got beaten for six touchdowns and his frustrations boiled over at times. He was also benched in the middle of the season as his effort level was called into question.

GRADE: C-

S Jason Pinnock

Pinnock is now being relied on to be a veteran leader in the secondary and he provided the team with good durability as he led them in defensive snaps. Although he was productive with 83 tackles and three sacks, Pinnock didn’t make enough impact plays.

GRADE: C

S Tyler Nubin

Another rookie who showed some promise was Nubin, who started 13 games and ended up with 98 tackles. He had some impressive moments, especially against the run, but — like Pinnock — didn’t make many impact plays. He has a promising future ahead of him, though.

GRADE: C+

CB Dru Phillips

Phillips also played a big role in his rookie season, as he racked up 67 tackles, including seven tackles for loss and made good contributions against the run and pass. He’ll look to build on this in 2025.

GRADE: C+

K Graham Gano

Gano only missed two kicks, but both were costly as one was blocked at the end of a 14-11 loss to the Saints and the other came in a game the Giants went on to lose in overtime. The Giants haven’t been able to rely on Gano to stay healthy for the past two seasons and he ultimately missed eight games this season.

GRADE: C-

P Jamie Gillan

Gillan has been a consistent contributor, but his numbers were down this season. He did put a career-high percentage of his punts inside the opposition’s 20-yard line, though.

GRADE: C

GM Joe Schoen

It’s easy to second guess Schoen’s decision to let Barkley walk and the Jones extension given how each of these moves worked out. In his defense, the Giants got a lot of production out of their draft and the big splash to bring in Burns was reasonably successful — but the roster and results just haven’t been good enough.

GRADE: D

Head coach Brian Daboll

The best defense you can make for Daboll is that it was always going to be difficult to post a good record with a roster that lacked star power and became increasingly depleted by injuries over the course of the season. The shine from his initial successes with the team has certainly worn off in recent years.

GRADE: D

OC Mike Kafka

The Giants’ offense was statistically poor, hurt by a dearth of veteran playmaking talent.

GRADE: D

DC Shane Bowen

Wink Martindale’s replacement entered with a new system, which promised to pressure opposing quarterbacks into mistakes without relying on blitz packages. The results were not great, with the run defense ending up near the bottom of the league. His pass defense did spend most of the year in the top 10, though.

GRADE: C-

Others

There were plenty of other players whom we haven’t given a grade to because they played less than half of the season due to injuries or only had minor roles. For example, Andrew Thomas only started six games. Players like Elijah Chatman could play bigger roles next season.

Overall

Another frustrating season for Giants fans was headlined by the 10-game losing streak, which included five double digit losses. Entering the offseason, the Giants will be looking to clear out some dead weight and build around some of their young talent.

GRADE: D