The 2022 NFL Draft starts on Thursday, April 28. As a lead-up to the draft, we’ll be giving a team-by-team breakdown for positional needs. For each team, we’ll give an overview of the current depth chart and how big of a need each position is in the upcoming draft. You can find the rest of the team needs (as they’re updated) and the rest of our draft content in the 2022 NFL Draft hub.

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What Picks do the New York Giants have in 2022

The New York Giants have nine picks.

Round 1 (5)
Round 1 (7)
Round 2 (36)
Round 3 (67)
Round 3 (81)
Round 4 (112)
Round 5 (147)
Round 5 (173)
Round 6 (182)

New York Giants Top POSITIONS OF NEED

OT, TE, … Defense

New York Giants Strength of Schedule, 2022

The New York Giants have the 8th easiest NFL strength of schedule for the 2022 season.

2022 NFL strength of schedule ranked by team

New York Giants Offense

By Rich Hribar

QUARTERBACK

Daniel Jones
Tyrod Taylor
Davis Webb
Brian Lewerke

Daniel Jones enters 2022 in a “make or break” season. The early rumor is that the Giants will not pick up the fifth-year option on Jones. They can make that decision after the draft as they have until early May. 

After throwing 24 touchdowns as a rookie, Jones has thrown 21 touchdown passes over the past three seasons.

The addition of Brian Daboll gives Jones an added pulse in hopes of restoring the player they selected sixth overall in 2019. The long-term starter for this new regime may not be on the current roster, but the Giants can enter 2022 with an open slate on Jones and see how things go before being forced to jump into another rookie quarterback or explore a trade in the 2023 offseason. Paired with this lackluster quarterback class on the surface, that is what I expect them to do. 

The team added journeyman Tyrod Taylor as veteran insurance because no matter what you think of Jones, when he missed time in 2021, the Giants’ depth at quarterback was significantly worse.

With Jones off the field, the Giants averaged an anemic 3.9 yards per offensive play and -0.30 EPA per play compared to 5.1 yards per play and -0.10 EPA per play with him under center. 

RUNNING BACK

Saquon Barkley
Matt Breida
Gary Brightwell
Antonio Williams

Another player that may not fit into the long-term plans for this new regime is Saquon Barkley. 

Any potential trade talks for Barkley have been cold to this point of the offseason, but playing on his fifth-year option, the 2022 season will hopefully provide clarity on if Barkley can recapture the production over his first two seasons in the league or not.

Barkley had a brutal 2021, starting off the season slowly returning from an ACL injury. Just when it appeared like Barkley was back to his old self after turning 18 touches into 126 yards and two touchdowns in Week 4 against the Saints, he then injured his ankle the following week after just six snaps. That kept him sidelined until Week 11. 

Barkley was never the same on return, averaging just 3.9 yards per touch over his final eight games. He did return an all-time bad offense that was dead on his arrival. Not making excuses for Barkley, but the Giants had already suffered injuries to Sterling Shepard, Kadarius Toney, and then he played the final six games of the year without Daniel Jones, which noted above, was a disaster on top of an already existing bottom-rung offense.

As is the case with Jones, if the Giants do not trade Barkley over the remainder of this offseason, they can use the 2022 campaign as an assessment period to decide what they want to do with Barkley moving forward. If he plays well, he could potentially net them a higher compensation pick than what they could receive in a current trade if they do not wish to retain him beyond 2022.

Behind Barkley, the team does not have much. Ony Matt Breida has tangible NFL experience, but he also only has handled 68 and 33 touches the previous two seasons. 

The Giants do not have a bellcow option should Barkley miss time again for the fourth consecutive season. They should still be in the market to add a cheap veteran back or a day three option with one of their later picks.

WIDE RECEIVER

Kenny Golladay
Kadarius Toney
Sterling Shepard
Darius Slayton
C.J. Board
Robert Foster
Collin Johnson
Alex Bachman
David Sills
Travis Toivonen
John Rysen
Austin Proehl
Richie James

Kenny Golladay’s first season with the Giants was an outright disaster, catching 37-of-76 targets for 521 yards and zero touchdowns. 

Just 50.7% of Golladay’s targets were catchable (lowest rate in the league) while 41.3% of his targets were contested catches (the highest rate in the league). The positive spin is Golladay averaged 9.1 yards per target from Daniel Jones compared to 4.3 yards per target from the vagabonds they played when was absent. 

The Giants have no choice contractually but to go back to Golladay as a passing game asset and there is nowhere to go but up from last year in terms of quarterback play and offensive climate. 

Kadarius Toney gave us the most Kadarius Toney rookie season we could have gotten based on his collegiate profile. 

Toney was only able to appear in 10 games due to various injuries and managed more than 40 yards in just two games, but in the small sample of him receiving playing time while healthy, he jumped off the screen at his best. 

Toney was pressed into action due to injuries in Week 4, where he caught 6-of-7 targets for 78 yards, forcing five missed tackles. The next week, he then caught 10-of-13 targets for 189 yards and it appeared we were about to experience something Odell Beckham-esque for the remained of the season.

But Toney suffered an ankle injury in that game that derailed the remainder of his season when he reaggravated it after catching three passes for 36 yards on the opening drive in Week 6, appearing in just four games the rest of the season. 

Toney’s albeit tiny sample was exciting enough to see the potential in his ability while the addition of Daboll will stir up more offseason excitement in harnessing that ability. 

Sterling Shepard was expected to be a cap casualty, but he and the organization restructured his contract to keep him on the team for at least the 2022 season. Shepard has a void year in 2023 as part of that restructure in which the Giants can come away with no penalty. 

Shepard opened the year strong with 16 catches and 19 targets through two games, but once again was unable to stay on the field, missing 10 games. 

Darius Slayton enters the final season of his rookie contract. After posting 740 and 751 yards receiving over his first two seasons, Slayton only managed to catch 26 passes for 339 yards with two touchdowns in 2022, reduced to a 64% snap share after rates of 75% as a rookie and 87% in 2020. 

The back end of this receiving roster is something from the movie Major League. I am not sure if a number of these are actual receivers in the league and the ones that I do know of, have been pressed back to the tail of opportunity in the NFL. 

This was not a productive unit in 2021, but there is still talent here that is better than what a number of teams are entering the draft with. That said, only Golladay and Toney are roster locks beyond this season and the Giants are in no condition to bypass adding more talented players. They are especially in need of more talent on rookie contracts since Golladay’s contract likely prevents them from spending at the position in free agency over the next two offseasons. 

TIGHT END

Ricky Seals-Jones
Chris Myarick
Jake Hausmann

The Giants lost nearly all of their production from their tight ends last season, letting Evan Engram walk in free agency and then releasing Kyle Rudolph. Engram and Rudolph combined to catch 72-of-112 targets for 665 yards and four touchdowns. Engram actually led the team with 46 receptions. 

So far, the Giants have only added journeyman Ricky Seals-Jones to the roster in free agency. Seals-Jones has played for four teams in five seasons, with season-highs of 34 receptions and 343 yards over those five years in the league. 

The Giants will surely be exploring adding a rookie to this roster and have already aligned pre-draft visits with both Trey McBride and Cade Otton as part of that signal. 

OFFENSIVE LINE

LT: Andrew Thomas/ Devery Hamilton
LG: Mark Glowinski /Jamil Douglas/Shane Lemieux/Ben Bredeson
C: John Feliciano/Nick Gates
RG: Max Garcia/Wes Martin
RT: Matt Peart/Matt Gono/ Korey Cunningham

The Giants once again enter the draft with immediate needs on the offensive line. In 2021, they ranked 28th in ESPN’s Pass Block Win Rate (54%) and 30th in pass blocking grade as a team per Pro Football Focus. 

Starting off on a positive note, left tackle Andrew Thomas made significant strides in his second season after a rough rookie season in 2020 when the Giants made him the fourth overall pick. 

After allowing 57 pressures (9.3% pressure rate) and 10 sacks as a rookie, Thomas came back with a 3.5% pressure rate and just two sacks allowed last season.

The team has been busy this offseason, signing a slew of veteran linemen on shorter contracts, something we have seen from the Buffalo Bills in recent seasons when they rebuilt their offensive line. 

So far, the Giants have added Mark Glowinski (74 career starts), John Feliciano (39), Max Garcia (52), Jamil Douglas (11), and Matt Gono (four).

Glowinski signed a three-year deal with experience at both guard spots. Glowinski, on paper, is an upgrade in the run game over what the Giants got from their guard spots in 2021, ranking as the 21st graded guard in 2021 per Pro Football Focus while Ben Bredeson ranked 62nd, Will Hernandez 63rd, and Matt Skura 78th. 

Garcia also has experience at both guard spots and at center. In 2021, he played 656 snaps at right guard and another 297 at center. He made 11 starts last season and was a Pro Bowl alternate, allowing a 3.9% pressure rate on his pass protection snaps.

Feliciano signed a one-year deal, following Brian Daboll from Buffalo. Feliciano is another interior option that can play both guard positions and center. Those three are anticipated to be on the starting lineup, giving the Giants multiple possible combinations of where they can play the veterans they have added in free agency.

2021 starting center Nick Gates suffered a gruesome leg injury at the end of the season and is recovering from multiple surgeries. He is not expected to be ready to begin the season. 

The one area that still needs to be addressed is right tackle.

As of right now, their only options at right tackle are Matt Peart, Matt Gono, and Korey Cunningham.

Gono missed all of the 2021 season and has just four career starts. Peart has played intermittently with the Giants, making six starts over his first two seasons and playing 22% and 43% of the snaps. Cunningham only played 59 pass blocking snaps in 2021 but allowed a gaudy 11.9% pressure rate.

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New York Giants Defense

By Dan Pizzuta

Interior Defensive Line

Leonard Williams
Dexter Lawrence
Justin Ellis
David Moa
Raymond Johnson III

The Giants bet big on Leonard Williams multiple times and there was no way the player could ever match how invested the team was in him. Williams had a productive 2020 but in 2021 his quarterback hits dropped by more than half — 30 to 14. With his massive contract extension signed last offseason, Williams has a $27.3 million cap hit for 2022. The Giants will save $18 million if they move on after the season, which seems like a given at this point.

Dexter Lawrence had a bit of a pass rush breakout. He only had 2.5 sacks but that came on 11 quarterback hits and he ranked eighth among defensive tackles in pressure rate, per SIS. The Giants have a choice to pick up his fifth-year option for 2023.

This was a deeper group that has been plucked by trades and free agency over the past few years. Davlin Tomlinson signed with the Vikings. B.J. Hill was traded to the Bengals. Austin Johnson signed with the Chargers after playing on a one-year deal in 2021. Justin Ellis came over from the Ravens, but the 31-year-old is not a long-term answer.

EDGE

Azeez Ojulari
Quincy Roche
Jihad Ward
Oshane Ximines
Trent Harris
Elerson Smith
Cam Brown
Omari Cobb

Azeez Ojulari had some flashes as a second-round rookie with eight sacks, but those came on only 13 quarterback hits. Ojulari also ranked just 79th among edge rushers in pressure rate. The plus side is that Ojulari is an athletic player who will be put in better position in Wink Martindale’s blitz-heavy defense.

There is not a lot of depth after that. Players like Roche, Ward, and Ximines can be useful rotational pieces but there is not a lot of full-time promise. There will be opportunities off the blitz with some free rushes schemed up, but there will be more talent added here.

Off-ball Linebacker

Blake Martinez
Tae Crowder
TJ Brunson
Carter Coughlin
Justin Hilliard

This position looked fine heading into the season but went downhill quickly when Blake Martinez suffered a torn ACL in Week 3. Martinez should be ready by the start of the season, but he also reworked his contract to make 2022 the final season, which leaves a question for his future and the Giants’ outlook at the position.

Tae Crowder played 93% of the defensive snaps and it’s likely the Giants would like to not repeat that. 

Cornerback

James Bradberry
Adoree Jackson
Darnay Holmes
Rodarious Williams
Aaron Robinson
Jarren Williams

James Bradberry had a slightly disappointing 2021 to follow up an impressive 2020 during his first season with the Giants. That disappointment was still above average,  50th in Adjusted Yards allowed per coverage snap. With the Giants looking for cap space and more draft capital, Bradberry could be traded by the time you’re done reading this sentence.

Adoree Jackson was a surprise overpay last season, but he played well in the 13 games he appeared in for the Giants. Jackson ranked 15th in Adjusted Yards allowed per coverage snap.

Darnay Holmes has been a productive slot corner during his first two years in the league. The 2020 fourth-round pick only had 182 coverage snaps in 2021 but he played well in that time. There is some decent part-time depth with Rodarious Williams, Aaron Robinson, and Jarren Williams, all of whom had some flashes with playing time.

With Bradberry likely gone and how much man coverage Martindale should want to run, this is a position to target early in the draft.

Safety

Xavier McKinney
Julian Love

The good news is this is a good safety duo. The bad news is they’re currently the only two safeties currently on the roster. McKinney was all over the field in his second season after an injury-shortened rookie year. He has the range to play deep and the versatility to play in the box and slot.

Julian Love, a 2019 fourth-round pick, is in the final year of his rookie contract. Love has occasionally been buried on the depth chart, whether it be at corner or safety, but he always made plays whenever he was on the field.

This might not be a Kyle Hamilton spot in the first round, but just numbers-wise there will be players added at this position.

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