Tag: Eric Gray

Giants don’t fare well in 2023 NFL draft re-grade

In a 2023 NFL draft re-grade courtesy of The Athletic, the New York Giants did not fare particularly well but hope remains.

The jury is still out on the 2023 NFL draft class but Diante Lee of The Athletic recently decided to grade the class after just one season.

The New York Giants had seven picks in the draft leading off with Maryland cornerback Deonte Banks at No. 24 overall. He started 15 games and was solid most of the season. He is now considered a No. 1 outside corner, so they appear to have made a good choice in him.

Banks was not likely the Giants’ first choice on their board, however. They were said to be in the market for a wide receiver and it just so happens that four studs were chosen right before they were on the clock in Jaxson Smith-Njigba, Quentin Johnson, May Flowers, and Jordan Addison.

The rest of the draft is still very much a mystery as injuries and underuse left much to be desired.

New York Giants: C-minus

Deonte Banks (No. 24) was a fun watch coming out of college and as a rookie showed the speed, physicality and competitive edge that made him a late riser in the draft process. Jalin Hyatt (No. 73) flashed some downfield ball-tracking skills, but he didn’t separate enough last season to be considered a long-term piece of this offense.

This year, the Giants hope to see some growth in center John Michael Schmitz, cornerback Tre Hawkins III, safety Gervarrius Owens, and defensive lineman Jordon Riley.

Eric Gray is expected to help fill the void left by Saquon Barkley and Hyatt still has to earn the trust of the coaches and quarterbacks.

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DeMarco Murray to stay at Oklahoma and sign an extension per report

DeMarco Murray staying in Norman despite overtures from Ohio State.

The Oklahoma Sooners have dodged what could have been a big blow to their coaching staff. This comes after reports started circling earlier this week that running backs coach DeMarco Murray was being pursued by a number of college and NFL teams, including the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The Buckeyes are widely thought of as having the best running back room in the country this upcoming season with TreVeyon Henderson and Ole Miss transfer Quinshon Judkins. But the Sooners got some good news on Wednesday as On3’s Pete Nakos reported Murray would be staying at Oklahoma.

Murray and the Sooners agreed on a three-year contract extension.

Murray has family ties to Ohio, which made that job a real possibility. He’s currently the lowest-paid assistant on staff, making $575,000 annually. He’s expected to receive a pay bump with this new contract but those details have not been announced.

Murray is also one of the most tenured assistants on staff. He arrived back in Norman in 2020 and has been huge on the recruiting trail.

He most recently helped Oklahoma sign [autotag]Taylor Tatum[/autotag] as part of the 2024 recruiting class. The Longview, Texas, native was ranked as the No. 1 overall running back in the [autotag]2024 recruiting cycle[/autotag].

He’s also helped guys like [autotag]Eric Gray[/autotag], [autotag]Kennedy Brooks[/autotag], and Rhamondre Stevenson have career years under his tutelage. His room this year is loaded with talent, but it is also very young. If they can avoid the injury bug, Oklahoma’s running backs will play a pivotal role in the Sooners success in 2024.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

CBS Sports ranks Giants’ 2023 rookie class in bottom half of NFL

The New York Giants’ 2023 NFL draft class was ranked in the bottom half of the league by CBS Sports, but they were credited with two hits.

The New York Giants made seven picks in the 2023 NFL draft and most felt confident that general manager Joe Schoen had made the right calls.

In need of talent at multiple positions, the Giants fared well with their limited stock, adding cornerback Deonte Banks, center John Michael Schmitz, and wide receiver Jalin Hyatt with their first three selections.

They rounded things out with running back Eric Gray, cornerback Tre Hawkins III, defensive lineman Jordon Riley, and safety Gervarrius Owens.

All seven of those players saw time on the field this past season but the results weren’t quite what the Giants had hoped. Injuries derailed the development of several rookies while others were stunted due to misuse (see: Gray as a punt returner).

Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports recently ranked all 32 draft classes from 2023 and the Giants landed in the bottom half of the league. However, he did credit them with two hits: Banks and Hyatt.

Hyatt didn’t exactly rekindle all of the magic he had at Tennessee winning down the field on a regular basis. But averaging over 16 yards per snag as a rookie demonstrated there’s a bright future for him if the development as a route runner continues. Sixth-round pick Tre Hawkins was respectable as a rotational cornerback. Second-round pick John Michael Schmitz really struggled with power before his injury. Banks had some hiccups in coverage but mostly dealt with No. 1 receivers in man coverage and snagged two picks while knocking away 11 passes.

Banks has the makings of a solid, long-term CB1 and although he struggled at times, Schmitz still has plenty of upside. Hyatt also performed better than his stats would indicate. He suffered due to poor offensive line and quarterback play.

The Giants remain hopeful that Hawkins can develop into a starter and that Riley eventually becomes a dominant interior defender.

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5 players who could have bigger roles for Giants in 2024

These five players could have bigger and more noteworthy roles for the New York Giants during the 2024 regular season.

The New York Giants finished a disappointing 6-11 in 2023, failing to follow up their encouraging 2022 when they went 9-8, won a Wild Card playoff game, and advanced to the NFC Divisional round.

They hope to turn things around in 2024. If they are to do so, they’ll need to get contributions from some of the younger players on their roster who have not yet established themselves.

Here are five players who should have bigger roles in 2024 for the Giants.

Grading every rookie from Giants’ 2023 draft class

How did the New York Giants’ draft class fare in 2023? Giants Wire hands out grades for all seven rookies.

Now that the 2023 NFL regular season is in the books, it’s time to review how the New York Giants draft class performed.

The Giants had seven selections in last spring’s NFL draft, four on defense and three on offense.

Here’s how they fared in their debut seasons.

What we learned from Giants’ 27-10 win over Eagles

The New York Giants defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10, in Week 18 and here’s some of what we learned from that game.

The New York Giants defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10, at MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon to close out the 2023 regular season.

It was a positive finish to an otherwise dismal season that saw the Giants finish 6-11 and out of the postseason one year after they made their first trip to the playoffs in six years.

Here are three things we learned from Sunday’s Week 18 game.

Giants-Saints Week 15: Offense, defense and special teams snap counts

The New York Giants lost their Week 15 game against the New Orleans Saints. Here are the snap counts on offense, defense and special teams.

The New York Giants fell back to earth on Sunday afternoon in Louisiana as rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito lost his magic.

DeVito was sacked seven times in a 24-6 loss to the New Orleans Saints and was briefly forced to exit the game and enter concussion protocol. Although he did return, he ended the game on a very gimpy ankle, becoming the third Giants quarterback to be injured behind this offensive line this season.

With the loss, the Giants fall to 5-9 and are essentially out of the NFC Playoff hunt barring the miracle of all miracles.

Here are the snap counts that contributed to the Giants’ most recent defeat.

Offensive snaps: 62
Defensive snaps: 62
Special teams snaps: 23

Running back Saquon Barkley played just 50 percent of the offensive snaps and was often on the sideline in critical moments. That begs the question: Why?

Barkley’s unusual usage paved the way for his backups, Matt Breida and rookie Eric Gray, to see more time. And for Gray, it was the most action he’s seen since Week 5.

Meanwhile, safety Xavier McKinney and linebacker Bobby Okereke took 100 percent of the defensive snaps and have not missed a single play all season. They are two of four NFL defenders to take every single snap in 2023.

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Giants’ Joe Schoen explains why he cut Jamison Crowder

New York Giants GM Joe Schoen explains why he cut return specialist Jamison Crowder prior to the season: “That’s on me.”

The New York Giants are underperforming in all passes of the game this season. Their offense is last in scoring and yards and their defense is ranked 28th overall.

Their special teams, a unit the Giants have prided themselves in the past few seasons, has also had its challenges. They are averaging just 6.5 yards per punt return (30th) and the reason is fairly clear – they have failed to find a reliable returner.

“That’s on me,” general manager Joe Schoen told reporters on Monday.

“To be honest with you, that’s another — we tried to address the punt returner. We knew it was an issue. In the draft, some of the guys we liked went probably higher than where we deemed you would take a guy.”

The Giants ended up settling on rookie running back Eric Gray, a fifth-round pick out of Oklahoma who averaged just 4.0 yards per return on 28 attempts and had serious ball security issues to boot.

Gray was injured in Week 8 and has been out with an ankle injury ever since. He returned in Week 12 but the Giants have moved on, adding free agent Gunner Olszewski, who has stabilized to the role, averaging 9.3 yards per attempt.

Schoen spoke about Gray and his background, which led to the Giants believing he could handle the responsibility of returning punts over several veterans, including Jameson Crowder, who the Giants cut.

“Eric had done it at Tennessee, and he had done it at Oklahoma and the coaches were comfortable, we were comfortable going into the regular season based off what we were seeing,” Schoen explained.

“I know Crowder is having success in Washington, you bring him up — we kept seven receivers; we couldn’t keep eight. Do the math, who do you move on from, from the group if you kept Crowder? So, there was some moving parts in there and that’s me being candid with you and that’s on me, the returner. I’m glad we got (wide receiver) Gunner (Olszewski) here, though. He’s done a really good job for us.”

Schoen didn’t quite close the door on Gray. The Giants still need him for depth in the backfield and could still try him as a returner in the future.

“Eric’s got a bright future and we probably put him in a spot that wasn’t most comfortable for him either, but he went out there, didn’t flinch an eye, didn’t bat an eye, and did what he could, but again that’s on me, early on. We couldn’t do everything overnight and as much as we wanted to and that was a position we continued to look for and Pittsburgh let Gunner go and we were able to get him,” Schoen said.

Meanwhile, out in Washington, Crowder is seventh in the league with 207 yards on punt returns.

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Giants-Patriots Week 12: Offense, defense and special teams snap counts

The New York Giants won their Week 12 game against the New England Patriots. Here are the snap counts on offense, defense and special teams.

The New York Giants avoided overtime and won ugly on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, taking down the New England Patriots, 10-7, for their fourth win of the year.

Remarkably, after winning two consecutive games, the Giants are still alive in the NFC playoff hunt and are now just 2.5 games back of the final spot with six weeks and five games remaining.

That still seems highly unlikely but the team does have some good vibes headed into their bye week.

Here are the snap counts that contributed to the Giants’ most recent win.

Offensive snaps: 52
Defensive snaps: 68
Special teams snaps: 23

The rotation at wide receiver continued again on Sunday with rookie Jalin Hyatt, who recorded his first career 100-yard game, and Wan’Dale Robinson seeing a bulk of the action. Rookie running back Eric Gray also saw just four total snaps in his return from injured reserve.

Defensively, seven players saw 75 percent or more of the total snaps, with five of those players receiving all 68 snaps. That’s an overwhelming workload and something the Giants have to manage over the final five games of the season.

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Giants activate Eric Gray from IR, sign Randy Bullock to 53-man roster

The New York Giants have activated rookie RB Eric Gray from injured reserve and signed kicker Randy Bullock from the practice squad.

The New York Giants completed their most recent kicker swap ahead of a Week 12 game against the New England Patriots, signing Randy Bullock from their practice squad to the active roster.

Bullock, who was maxed out on gameday elevations, fills the roster spot vacated by fellow kicker Cade York, who was waived earlier this week.

After clearing waivers, York was signed back to the practice squad.

Despite the presence of York, who was signed off of the Tennessee Titans’ practice squad at the same time Graham Gano was placed on injured reserve (IR), Bullock was elevated and started each of the previous three games.

Bullock has connected on both of his field goal opportunities with a long of 40 yards, and he’s also converted all six of his point-after attempts.

The Giants have also activated rookie running back Eric Gray from injured reserve (IR).

Gray, a fifth-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft, has been on IR with a calf injury since October 24. He had served as the team’s primary return man, a job that now belongs to Gunner Olszewski, but fumbled three times.

As a running back, Gray gained just 27 yards on 13 carries, adding one reception for two yards.

The Giants did not announce any practice squad elevations for Week 12.

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