Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The New York Giants have hired Aaron Wellman and here are four things to know about the executive director of player performance.
The New York Giants hired Aaron Wellman as their new executive director of player performance on Tuesday.
Wellman replaces Craig Fitzgerald, who was the Giants’ director of strength and performance the past two seasons under head coach Brian Daboll. Fitzgerald recently accepted the same position at the University of Florida.
Here are four quick things to know about Wellman
The New York Giants’ 2023 season wasn’t all bad. Despite the drama issues, there are six players who surprised us with their performance.
The 2023 NFL season has come to an end for the New York Giants, who finished with an ugly 6-11 record.
There’s already been a ton of upheaval across the league, and the Giants are no exception. Still, as hard as this season was to watch, it wasn’t all bad. There were some high points, including a handful of wins under a third-string quarterback.
That’s not the only highlight of the season. Despite the turmoil in the front office, there are players on both sides of the ball who surprised us with their performance on the field.
Giants Wire votes on and hands out 2023 season awards, including MVP and Rookie of the Year, for the New York Giants.
The New York Giants finished the 2023 regular season with a record of 6-11 which was a far cry from their playoff appearance (and single playoff win) a year ago.
Despite the regression, there were quite a few bright spots that deserved recognition.
While the NFL announces its official awards at a later date, we’ll be discussing who deserves the MVP, Rookie of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, and Defensive Player of the Year awards for the Giants in 2023.
New York Giants LB Micah McFadden didn’t expect to be 5-9 through 15 weeks but remains committed to the process and focused on the next game.
New York Giants second-year inside linebacker Micah McFadden, a 2022 fifth-round draft pick, has become part of the team’s core and has played his way into the Giants’ future leadership group.
McFadden has started 13 of the team’s 14 games this season and has become a staple on both defense and special teams. He has formed a special bond with linebacker mate Bobbly Okereke, who the Giants added via free agency this year, and has given the team a solid presence at the second level on defense.
McFadden spoke to the media on Monday, a day after the Giants were smothered by the Saints down in New Orleans, 24-6, but were down just 7-6 at the half.
“I think (Sunday) we could’ve done a lot of things better, kind of talked about it on the plane afterwards. But I think we’re kind of finding our role in this defense. Like I said, still a lot of things to improve upon,” he said.
This week, the Giants will head down to Philadelphia to face the teetering Eagles, the team that unceremoniously bounced them from the NFC Playoffs last season by a score of 38-7.
“Whenever you get knocked out of the playoffs like that — obviously, we don’t think about the past too much, kind of focus on what’s ahead of us, but that definitely stung a little bit to get knocked out by a team in your division,” McFadden said.
“Whenever it’s a division opponent, you want to beat them and obviously we play those teams twice. I think it’s going to be a good challenge this week and obviously, they’re a good football team. But like I said earlier, it just comes down to our process, preparing the right way, and practicing well and figuring it all out throughout the week to put it all out on gameday and perform well to get the results we want.”
The Giants are 5-9 and their postseason hopes are all but dashed for this season. McFadden and the entire Giants organization were not expecting this massive step backward after such as successful season in 2022.
“I don’t think anybody in this building thought we’d be where we are at this point,” he said. “But as far as motivation, we’re process-driven here. We stick to what we do each week and that’s just focusing on winning one game at a time.”
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It’s better to win ugly than lose pretty, and that’s exactly what the New York Giants did on Sunday, defeating the Patriots, 10-7.
The New York Giants played host to the New England Patriots on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in a matchup between two teams whose seasons have not gone as expected thus far.
On a typical late November weather day in Northern New Jersey, the NFL’s two lowest-scoring teams played as anticipated. The over/under at game time was 33.5. This game went well under that number.
Giants rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito made his first home start while reliable defensive line stalwart Dexter Lawrence (hamstring) missed the first game in his five seasons with Big Blue.
Tommy DeVito's family is hyped 😂🤌
📺: #NEvsNYG on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/1dOevJjoZZ pic.twitter.com/GOH862AQ67— NFL (@NFL) November 26, 2023
Pro Football Focus has named LB Micah McFadden as the New York Giants’ biggest surprise at the midway point of the season.
Pro Football Focus released their 2023 midseason report on Thursday, naming each team’s highest-graded player and their biggest surprise.
There haven’t been many bright spots for the New York Giants this season, as it’s mostly been a season of injury and failure. The defense has a few players who have stepped up, but the Giants’ biggest surprise lands with linebacker Micah McFadden.
McFadden is in his second year in the NFL and with the Giants. Through eight games this season, he already has the same number of tackles as he did all of last season. He’s also added an interception and two fumble recoveries to his resume.
On top of that, here’s what PFF had to say:
There haven’t been many surprises (good ones, at least) for the Giants, but McFadden has been a bright spot at linebacker. He has the third-most pressures on the team (11), the third-most tackles (36) and a solid 76.1 run-defense grade.
A bright spot for this season, McFadden could be a bright spot on the Giants’ defense for years to come.
Also of note, Dexter Lawrence is the Giants’ highest-graded player, per PFF. That doesn’t surprise anyone inside or outside the locker room, but it’s still worth noting.
This season, he leads all interior defenders in overall grade, pressures (44), quarterback hits (10) and pass-rush grade (92.2). He is also second in run-defense grade (85.5).
Also not coming as a surprise is that no one on the offensive side of the ball warranted commentary.
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Whose stock is up and whose is down following the New York Giants’ Sunday afternoon loss to the Las Vegas Raiders?
The New York Giants were backhanded repeatedly by the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. They lost quarterback Daniel Jones, right tackle Evan Neal and the game itself, 30-6.
It was a new low point for this Giants franchise, which continues to find new and inventive ways to underperform. Just when you think it can’t get worse, it does.
Whose stock is up and whose is down after the Week 9 loss? Let’s take a look.
The New York Giants fell to the Las Vegas Raiders, 30-6, in Week 9 and the Giants Wire team grades reflect that performance.
The New York Giants suffered another big loss, 30-6, against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 9.
The hopes were high for Big Blue coming into this one as the Raiders were starting a rookie fourth-round quarterback. However, any dreams of success were quickly squandered as Daniel Jones suffered a non-contact knee injury early in the game and the wheels completely fell off the bus.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what we saw during the game and how we graded the Giants in this loss.
Whose stock is up and whose is down following the New York Giants’ Sunday afternoon overtime loss to the New York Jets?
The New York Giants had a 99 percent win probability with mere seconds remaining in the fourth quarter on Sunday night but couldn’t get the job done. Instead, they collapsed in historic fashion, falling to the New York Jets, 13-10, in overtime.
After the game, the Jets proudly boasted that “JetLife Stadium” belongs to them and they are now the unquestioned Kings of New York.
Whose stock is up and whose is down after the Week 8 loss? Let’s take a look.
The New York Giants finally appear to have a pair of quality inside linebackers with Bobby Okereke and Micah McFadden.
It’s been a while since the New York Giants could hang their hats on their linebacking unit. Those days may be returning.
The combination of inside linebackers Bobby Okereke and Micah McFadden and outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux is making some noise these days and people are taking notice.
Micah McFadden: 89.8 PFF grade vs. the Commanders
1st among all LB's in Week 7 😤 pic.twitter.com/nzGRuGavMu
— PFF NY Giants (@PFF_Giants) October 23, 2023
McFadden was the highest-graded linebacker in Week 7 by Pro Football Focus with a 89.8 grade against the Commanders. He logged in five total tackles with two QB hits and a half-sack.
Okereke had another strong game, leading the Giants with 11 total tackles and a pass defensed. Thibodeaux had a sack and a half and almost had a sure pick-six in the game.
Don't look now but not only has Bobby Okereke led the team in tackles the past four games, he's also logged double-digits in each of them.
Okereke also climbed the NFL leaderboard this Weekend, as he's recorded the eighth-most tackles in the league with 64.#NYGiants pic.twitter.com/jdGahTW0Dd
— Tommy (@TommyG105) October 23, 2023
Thibodeaux has 5.5 sacks on the season now and is on pace for 13.5 this year.
Head coach Brian Daboll is encouraged by what he has seen in the defense the past two weeks.
“There’s certainly been things that we’ve improved on in every area as a team and today ball security was a problem for us,” Daboll said. “But we got the ball again. I think we’re making small strides in different areas and the guys are working with a great attitude and great intention, but we’ve still got a ton to clean up from this game, but I appreciate the approach and the mindset and how they go about their business on a daily basis here.”
The 2-5 Giants face the 3-3 Jets this Sunday and the game — which at one point just a few weeks ago had little juice — suddenly has some significance. You can thank the defense for a lot of that.
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