Vikings at Giants Depth Chart Preview 2024
Sept 7, 2024 19:05:43 GMT -6
Funkytown and FSUVike like this
Post by Danchat on Sept 7, 2024 19:05:43 GMT -6
We're finally back! It's time to get back into regular season football, which means the return of my Depth Chart Preview articles. Every matchup I analyze the opponent's roster and make a prediction on who will win. Without further ado, let's get started.
These grades come from PFF, see the Vikings Depth Chart 2024 for more details on how they are put together.
SuperSim Calculated Line: Vikings -8, 74% win rate
Point Spread: Vikings -1.5, 81% of money on the Vikings
Injury Report - none for both teams
* My Thoughts *
Yikes, this roster is not good. SuperSim has the Giants winning on average 4 games per season simulation, the worst team in football and while that is a bit worse than what the eye test reveals, I can understand the logic. Starting at QB, Daniel Jones got the ridiculous contract and played his worst football of his career in 6 games in 2023, culminating in a torn ACL. Even when he was healthy, they went 1-5 in those games and they were legitimately better off with Tyrod Taylor at QB. They even tried to move up for Drake Maye in the draft, and it's apparent this team does not believe in him. Adding onto his woes as a passer, his ability to run will likely be compromised given he has only been cleared for contact for just over a month. Jones' best skill is his ability to run, so this could really cripple their offense.
Not only that, but they let Saquon Barkley go in free agency for a paltry $12M per year salary when he was by far the best player on offense. They replaced him with Devin Singletary, a perfectly fine low-end starter who should not be a bellcow, but may have to be with Eric Gray and Tyrone Tracy being inexperienced Day 3 picks. Thankfully, they finally added a true WR1 since losing OBJ in Malik Nabers. I expect him to emerge as a top 10 WR in the NFL before too long, but it is difficult to know when he will break out. I'd rather face him at this point in the season. Their other WRs are fine, with Slayton being a fairly effective field-stretcher and Robinson being a short-range chains mover with reliable hands. They did lose TE Darren Waller to retirement and are going with Bellinger as his replacement. The 2022 4th rounder had a brutal 2023 campaign and doesn't profile as a plus receiver.
Their OL was quite possibly the worst in the league last year, and they opted to slap a few band-aids on their gaping wounds. Runyan Jr. is a passable, if not pedestrian starting guard that the Packers were perfectly happy to let go. Eluemenor has been an overachiever at RT with the Raiders but the demand for him was low and he's only the 36th highest paid tackle. Van Roten is the definition of a bandage as the 34 year old signed during training camp for $3M. These three are capable players, but for those who believe in the importance of continuity, they may not play as well in New York. Andrew Thomas is a stud and proved that in 2023. The only other incumbent, Schmitz, was by far the worst starting center in the game last year. He needs to have a much, much better sophomore year or they are in trouble.
Defensively, this unit is made up of 4 quality players and a bunch of patchwork behind them. All are in their front seven - starting with the incredible Dexter Lawrence who is a game-wrecker in the run and passing games, he is most responsible for taking over that 2022 playoff game against the Vikings on the final two drives. Brian Burns is the Giants' biggest acquisition, costing a 2nd rounder and $30M per year. PFF really doesn't like him but he piles up the pressures and puts Kayvon Thibodeaux into a better spot as the #2 edge rusher. Kayvon had 11.5 sacks in his sophomore year but it was fluky as he isn't good at creating pressure. The final quality player is Bobby Okereke, one of the more underrated LBs in the game who has become a beast in the run game and can hold up in coverage. He's totaled almost 300 combined tackles the past two years!
The rest of the unit is very questionable. The DL has nothing else next to Lawrence, with Nunez-Roches being a two down run stuffer whose best years are behind him. Like Flores' Vikings defense they will come out with 2 DL and 3 EDs on many plays, making Basham a heavy rotational guy but despite my love for him as a prospect he's been a flop. Ojulari is the next man up at edge but hasn't come close to living up to his hype as a prospect and rookie season. McFadden is the other starting ILB and took a big step up in 2023, but still missed a whopping 25 tackles and gave up 83% of passes thrown his way.
Finally, the Giants secondary is the worst in football. They don't have a single quality starter to tout, and they had to get Adoree' Jackson back because they know this unit won't hold up. He's only been with the team for a week so my guess is he won't be a full-time starter for a bit. This leaves 2023 1st rounder Deonte Banks to be their top man, and he had a very rough rookie year. That's not uncommon for an athletic marvel with questionable college tape, it may not be until Year 3 or 4 until he breaks out. Flott was a 3rd round reach who shouldn't be starting, and Phillips is slot-only CB who has impressively won a starting job this early on, but it's hard to know what to expect from him Week 1. At safety, Pinnock is a solid starter who is the one guy with good enough coverage grades, but his partner Belton has been an unmitigated disaster. They likely want rookie Tyler Nubin to start sooner than later.
Prediction: Vikings 20, Giants 13
The Giants are flat-out a bad team and I expect them to finish with a top 5 draft pick in 2025. It doesn't help that there are several factors working against them - Jones could be rusty and is unlikely to be full-go as a runner, their best CB just signed on 6 days ago, a new defensive coordinator and Daboll is calling plays for the first time here, several young and/or rookie players are still finding their footing - so much is in flux with a team that already has massive talent gaps at multiple positions. Meanwhile, the Vikings' defense patched some holes and Flores is a known quantity. The offense could come out looking rusty and they have their own highly questionable QB to doubt, but one thing will be true: against this secondary, Jefferson and Addison are gonna be able to get open often. That plus the strong matchups the Vikings defense has against this NYG offense should result in at least a 7 point win.
Any thoughts?
These grades come from PFF, see the Vikings Depth Chart 2024 for more details on how they are put together.
SuperSim Calculated Line: Vikings -8, 74% win rate
Point Spread: Vikings -1.5, 81% of money on the Vikings
Injury Report - none for both teams
* My Thoughts *
Yikes, this roster is not good. SuperSim has the Giants winning on average 4 games per season simulation, the worst team in football and while that is a bit worse than what the eye test reveals, I can understand the logic. Starting at QB, Daniel Jones got the ridiculous contract and played his worst football of his career in 6 games in 2023, culminating in a torn ACL. Even when he was healthy, they went 1-5 in those games and they were legitimately better off with Tyrod Taylor at QB. They even tried to move up for Drake Maye in the draft, and it's apparent this team does not believe in him. Adding onto his woes as a passer, his ability to run will likely be compromised given he has only been cleared for contact for just over a month. Jones' best skill is his ability to run, so this could really cripple their offense.
Not only that, but they let Saquon Barkley go in free agency for a paltry $12M per year salary when he was by far the best player on offense. They replaced him with Devin Singletary, a perfectly fine low-end starter who should not be a bellcow, but may have to be with Eric Gray and Tyrone Tracy being inexperienced Day 3 picks. Thankfully, they finally added a true WR1 since losing OBJ in Malik Nabers. I expect him to emerge as a top 10 WR in the NFL before too long, but it is difficult to know when he will break out. I'd rather face him at this point in the season. Their other WRs are fine, with Slayton being a fairly effective field-stretcher and Robinson being a short-range chains mover with reliable hands. They did lose TE Darren Waller to retirement and are going with Bellinger as his replacement. The 2022 4th rounder had a brutal 2023 campaign and doesn't profile as a plus receiver.
Their OL was quite possibly the worst in the league last year, and they opted to slap a few band-aids on their gaping wounds. Runyan Jr. is a passable, if not pedestrian starting guard that the Packers were perfectly happy to let go. Eluemenor has been an overachiever at RT with the Raiders but the demand for him was low and he's only the 36th highest paid tackle. Van Roten is the definition of a bandage as the 34 year old signed during training camp for $3M. These three are capable players, but for those who believe in the importance of continuity, they may not play as well in New York. Andrew Thomas is a stud and proved that in 2023. The only other incumbent, Schmitz, was by far the worst starting center in the game last year. He needs to have a much, much better sophomore year or they are in trouble.
Defensively, this unit is made up of 4 quality players and a bunch of patchwork behind them. All are in their front seven - starting with the incredible Dexter Lawrence who is a game-wrecker in the run and passing games, he is most responsible for taking over that 2022 playoff game against the Vikings on the final two drives. Brian Burns is the Giants' biggest acquisition, costing a 2nd rounder and $30M per year. PFF really doesn't like him but he piles up the pressures and puts Kayvon Thibodeaux into a better spot as the #2 edge rusher. Kayvon had 11.5 sacks in his sophomore year but it was fluky as he isn't good at creating pressure. The final quality player is Bobby Okereke, one of the more underrated LBs in the game who has become a beast in the run game and can hold up in coverage. He's totaled almost 300 combined tackles the past two years!
The rest of the unit is very questionable. The DL has nothing else next to Lawrence, with Nunez-Roches being a two down run stuffer whose best years are behind him. Like Flores' Vikings defense they will come out with 2 DL and 3 EDs on many plays, making Basham a heavy rotational guy but despite my love for him as a prospect he's been a flop. Ojulari is the next man up at edge but hasn't come close to living up to his hype as a prospect and rookie season. McFadden is the other starting ILB and took a big step up in 2023, but still missed a whopping 25 tackles and gave up 83% of passes thrown his way.
Finally, the Giants secondary is the worst in football. They don't have a single quality starter to tout, and they had to get Adoree' Jackson back because they know this unit won't hold up. He's only been with the team for a week so my guess is he won't be a full-time starter for a bit. This leaves 2023 1st rounder Deonte Banks to be their top man, and he had a very rough rookie year. That's not uncommon for an athletic marvel with questionable college tape, it may not be until Year 3 or 4 until he breaks out. Flott was a 3rd round reach who shouldn't be starting, and Phillips is slot-only CB who has impressively won a starting job this early on, but it's hard to know what to expect from him Week 1. At safety, Pinnock is a solid starter who is the one guy with good enough coverage grades, but his partner Belton has been an unmitigated disaster. They likely want rookie Tyler Nubin to start sooner than later.
Prediction: Vikings 20, Giants 13
The Giants are flat-out a bad team and I expect them to finish with a top 5 draft pick in 2025. It doesn't help that there are several factors working against them - Jones could be rusty and is unlikely to be full-go as a runner, their best CB just signed on 6 days ago, a new defensive coordinator and Daboll is calling plays for the first time here, several young and/or rookie players are still finding their footing - so much is in flux with a team that already has massive talent gaps at multiple positions. Meanwhile, the Vikings' defense patched some holes and Flores is a known quantity. The offense could come out looking rusty and they have their own highly questionable QB to doubt, but one thing will be true: against this secondary, Jefferson and Addison are gonna be able to get open often. That plus the strong matchups the Vikings defense has against this NYG offense should result in at least a 7 point win.
Any thoughts?
... and neither is this Chris guy.