Improvement. That is what teams look for year after year. There are usually key areas in which they look to improve from a previous year. The Giants have done that in 2020 over their 2019 season.
Defense. The defense was one area to improve following the 2019 season. They were ranked 30th in defensive points allowed and 25th in yards allowed. The 2020 season concludes with the Giants ranked 9th in points allowed and 12th in yards allowed. In 2019 they were 19th in yards per offensive play allowed at 5.9 yards. The 2020 season they were 9th at 5.3 yards per play allowed. In 2020 the Giants were eighth in QB pressure % at 24.8%. This was an improvement over their 2019 rank of 14th with 23.7%.
Fumbles. In 2019 Daniel Jones had a problem with fumbles. He had 18 fumbles with 11 fumbles lost to turnover. In 2020 those numbers were significantly reduced to 11 fumbles with 6 lost to turnovers. In 2019 Jones led the league in fumbles and fumbles lost. In 2020 he was still tie for the most fumbles but moved to tie at second for fumbles lost. Still an issue to watch but this was a significant improvement in an area that was targeted.
Finish Strong. In 2019 the Giants win loss percentage in the second half of the season was 0.250. They had a 2-6 record. That was 26th in the league. This season the Giants finished the second half of the season with a 5-3 record for a 0.625 win/loss percentage. That was tie for eighth in the league. There is a lot to be positive about a strong finish. It shows a positive direction the team is heading. When the weather gets cold and perhaps more nasty for outdoor teams it gives an advantage to those teams. This was a difficult year with no OTAs, mini-camp or preseason games. The Giants had a new coaching staff. Kevin Zeitler was the only starting offensive lineman that was a starter in 2019. The strong finish could show the pains of this season in starting but it coming together at the end.
In addition to team improvements here are players that showed significant improvement in the 2020 season compared to 2019,
Daniel Jones
Jones showed significant improvement in his are of major concern – ball security.
Games started 12 to 14
Fumbles Lost 11 to 6
Interceptions 12 to 10
Passes incomplete 175 to 168
Wayne Gallman
With Saquon Barkley injured Wayne Gallman was called on to play a bigger part in the run game. He not only did so but he showed significant improvement in his run game.
Yards/Rush attempt from 3.79 in 2019 to 4.64 in 2020.
Sterling Shepard
Shepard is coming off a career high in catch percentage and receptions.Shepard was the PFF highest graded Giants thru the first 10 weeks of the 2020 season.
Catch % 68.7% to 73.3%
1st Downs/targets from 34.9% to 41.1%
Golden Tate
Tate has his highest yards before the catch per reception and his lowest drop percentage of his last three seasons. His 56% 3rd/4th down conversion percentage was tenth best among the 33 top receivers on the top ten receiving corps teams.
3rd/4th down conversions from 47% to 56%
Leonard Williams
Leonard Williams has had the best improvement on the team from 2019 to 2020. His sacks, tackles for loss and QB hits are all career highs for his six year career.
Defensive Snaps from 736 to 802
Sacks from 0.5 to 11.5
Pressures from 23 to 41
Missed tackles from 6.1% to 3.4%
Tackles for Loss from 2 to 14
QB Hits 16 to 30
Logan Ryan
Jersey native Logan Ryan come home. He brings much more to the team than just his field performance.
Passer Rating Allowed when targeted from 88.7 in 2019 to 83.6 in 2020
Completion % allowed when targeted from 66% to 61.1%
Lots of other good players on the team but these are the ones that stood out as significantly improving from 2019 to 2020.
