Former NFL quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan breaks down DeVito’s game against New England in his series The QB School. O’Sullivan is impressed with DeVito’s pocket presence, his willingness to go deep in a collapsing pocket, and his ability to layer throws into the honey hole against a Cover 2 defense. He also points out times when DeVito left plays on the field, taking a sack when he had both a checkdown to Sterling Shepard and an intermediate crosser to Wan’Dale Robinson open, and when he overthrew Jalin Hyatt just enough to allow Hyatt to catch the ball but too much to keep him in-bounds after the catch so he could turn upfield. If anything, DeVito may be a little too aggressive at times; passing up shorter gains may be one reason he has taken as many sacks as he has.

The next two games are a step up in class. Green Bay is better than average in pass coverage, and New Orleans has one of the best coverage units in the NFL. Then come the Eagles, whose pass coverage has been surprisingly mediocre this year but whose pass rush is as disruptive as ever. Will DeVito start these games, and if so, will he show that he can be effective against better defenses?

If so, 2024 has all sorts of possibilities. Will it affect the Giants’ decision to draft a quarterback in Round 1 as opposed to waiting until Round 2? Could DeVito actually start Game 1 in 2024 if Jones is not ready and be QB2 for the season? Three weeks ago it would have seemed ridiculous to even ask. Now it’s not as far-fetched.

Azeez Ojulari

One of the biggest disappointments and puzzles on this Giants team has been edge defender Azeez Ojulari. Ojulari was viewed as a steal in the second round of the 2021 draft. He was seen as a first-round talent in a deep class at the position whose stock dropped before the draft. Ojulari had a high school ACL tear that gave him no trouble in college, but in a pre-draft medical evaluation he was diagnosed with a degenerative lower leg condition. The Giants traded down from No. 42 and still were able to select Ojulari at No. 51.

Bucky Brooks and Lance Zierlein had Ojulari as a first-round talent and were surprised that he lasted until Round 2. The one misgiving they expressed was not his health, but that coming out of college he was a one-trick pony who wins mostly with speed. Dane Brugler of The Athletic had Ojulari ranked as EDGE1, although he noted that he was somewhat undersized and needed to diversify his rush and learn how to counter moves by blockers:

Ojulari had a great rookie season, appearing in every game and earning 8 sacks. When the Giants drafted Kayvon Thibodeaux in 2022, it looked like the Giants would be set at edge defender with Oshane Ximines, Quincy Roche, and Elerson Smith backing up Ojulari and Thibodeaux.

Fast forward to the present and the cupboard is bare at edge defender other than Thibodeaux. Ximines never built on his early promise and was just released from the practice squad. Roche played well opposite Ojulari in 2021 but was released in 2022. Smith was injured for most of his Giants tenure and was released. Ojulari has played only 13 games the past two years and has been mostly ineffective when he did play. He did register 5.5 sacks in seven 2022 games, but has done virtually nothing in 2023. He ranks next to last in pass rush among 2021 draft class edge defenders with at least 100 snaps:

In 199 snaps, he has zero sacks and only nine total pressures. This year he has missed six games, with a hamstring injury and an ankle sprain. In 2022 he missed 10 games with a calf injury. Before the 2022 season, Ojulari did considerable work to build up his upper body, presumably so that he could add power moves to his arsenal. His relatively small size had been another possible factor in teams passing on him in the draft. The work didn’t seem to help him increase his productivity.

Considering that Ojulari is not especially good at setting the edge against the run, pass rushing is most of what he brings to the table. (That said, here’s a clip from Nick Falato showing a nice play by Ojuari against the Patriots run game last Sunday):

It’s not clear why Ojulari hasn’t regained his 2021-2022 form, unless he is not completely recovered from his earlier injuries. As a second-round pick, he does not have a fifth-year option, so 2024 will be his final year as a Giant unless his production ramps up. His $2.2M 2024 cap hit is low enough to pretty much guarantee that he will return for the 2024 season, but the final five games this year will determine whether the Giants seek to draft his replacement or sign a free agent next spring.

Evan Neal

The stakes don’t get much higher than being a top 10 draft pick at the position of greatest weakness and arguably third-highest importance on the team (after quarterback and left tackle) and being on the verge of failure after two years.

Neal’s weaknesses in college were known. Here e.g. is Lance Zierlein’s assessment of them for NFL.com:

Yet Zierlein had Neal as his OT1 in the 2022 draft, slightly ahead of Ikem Ekwonu and well ahead of Charles Cross. He wasn’t the only one. Dane Brugler of The Athletic rated Neal as his OT2, behind Ekwonu and ahead of Cross, and as the No. 3 overall player in that draft. His summary said:

PFF in its 2022 Draft Guide said, “What Neal has, can’t be coached. He is a special physical talent who is only scratching the surface.” They noted the following strengths and weaknesses:

Courtesy of Pro Football Focus

The bottom line is that everyone highlighted Neal’s leaning and balance issues in college, yet everyone assumed that they would be easy to correct in the pros and that he would be a dominant NFL tackle. It hasn’t happened. The lunging is still there. The athleticism Brugler saw isn’t obvious against NFL edge defenders.

His tirade against the fans after another poor performance aside, Neal has tried to get better, working with Willie Anderson (a Hall of Fame semi-finalist again this year) to improve his stance. We don’t know what is happening behind the scenes, but if there is anything that would indict the effectiveness of Bobby Johnson as offensive line coach, Neal’s failure to correct his college weaknesses and adapt to NFL-caliber edge defenders would be Exhibit A for the prosecution.

Maybe he has improved a little since Year 1:

He is giving up sacks at about half the rate he did in 2022 (although his hurries surrendered are on track to be higher per snap). We can see slightly better performance in his most recent two games, with higher pass blocking grades and fewer pressures of any kind. And that is a reminder that the Giants faced a horrendous early season schedule, with Neal facing some of the best pass rushers in the league.

Unfortunately, Neal’s two ankle injuries, first to his right ankle, keeping him out for two games, and then to his left, causing him to miss the last three, don’t help. It’s hoped that he will get back on the field this season, but it’s not guaranteed. If he doesn’t, that creates a quandary for Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen. Do the Giants move Neal to guard in 2024 and draft a right tackle in Round 1 or 2? With needs at quarterback, wide receiver, and edge defender, they’d probably like to avoid that.

Xavier McKinney
The 2020 NFL Draft was considered a bonanza for teams needing a safety, with five good ones expected to go on Day 1 and 2. As the end of Round 1 approached, Mel Kiper was (figuratively) salivating on the broadcast pointing out that Xavier McKinney, considered the best of them along with Antoine Winfield Jr., was still on the board. The first round ended with no safeties being chosen, and then in Round 2, the Giants chose McKinney with the No. 36 pick. Kyle Dugger went No. 37, Grant Delpit No. 44, Winfield No. 45, and Jeremy Chinn No. 64. McKinney would always be viewed in comparison to those other four, since the Giants could have had any of them.

McKinney suffered a pedal foot fracture in his first training camp and missed most of the season, but he returned just in time to make an end-zone interception in the final game of the season against Dallas to seal a rare Giants victory over the Cowboys and keep their playoff dreams alive. In 2021, fans started to see McKinney’s potential unfold, as he intercepted 5 passes, tied for second in the league among safeties. His overall PFF grade was 75.4, second only to Winfield, and fans thought that position was settled for the next decade.

Exit Patrick Graham, enter Wink Martindale. Graham used McKinney as his “centerfielder” in mostly zone defenses, while Martindale has used him all over the place and more in man coverage than in his first two seasons:

Under Graham, McKinney rarely lined up on the line and rushed the passer; under Martindale, much more often of both. Under Wink, McKinney has lined up in the box as more of a strong safety much more often (especially this season) than under Graham.

Has it affected his play? It’s hard to say. After his breakout 2021, McKinney didn’t intercept a single ball last season and had none this season until the New England game last Sunday. Of course McKinney had that self-inflicted injury during his ATV ride during the break last season, and perhaps it has taken time for him to fully recover from that.

Whatever the reason, McKinney has seemed more like the problem and less like the solution through much of 2023. It all came to a head after the Las Vegas embarrassment when McKinney called out Martindale for not listening to the team leaders. Given that McKinney has an agent known for seeking big contracts, it seemed that McKinney’s days as a Giant might be numbered.

Things have changed, though. Although Wink gave an extended answer to the question of how he felt about McKinney’s remarks (which may have been a source of friction with Daboll), the two seem to have kissed and made up. McKinney has played his best ball of the season in the past two weeks:

For the season, his overall PFF grade of 81.3 (which is not simply an average of each game, because PFF takes into account that even the best players have bad and mediocre games sometimes) is fourth among 20 safeties from the 2020 class.

It’s not because Wink is letting him play free safety more and in the box less. In the first 10 games he was at free safety anywhere from 17 to 43 plays, in the past two he’s been there 32 and 34 plays. He was in the box 13-27 times the first 10 games, 28 and 19 the past two.

Is it because of how much man vs. zone defense he is playing? Here are the Giants’ coverage schemes for weeks 1-11: