Four years into Joe Schoen’s tenure as GM, the Giants‘ special teams are a wasteland.
The often underrated third phase of an NFL roster is supposed to be the solid foundation of a roster, a reliable unit that buttresses the team’s chances of winning on gameday and a reserve of talent that provides depth contributors on offense and defense.
But after four years of Schoen picking the players, the Giants’ kicking and coverage and field goal units are worse than ever.
They look like they belong to an expansion team, not to a landmark franchise with a fourth-year GM.
And it’s not just the players Schoen has signed, either. His gameday roster decisions also are consistent problems that cost this team games.
His loyalty to Graham Gano consistently backfired, including mismanagement of Gano’s gameday status with injuries. Schoen’s recent loyalty to Jamie Gillan, signing of Younghoe Koo and addition of punter Cameron Johnston have caused the special teams to spiral.
Their coverage teams are filled with players who would not make a lot of active rosters around the NFL. And Schoen’s and Mike Kafka’s decision not to activate returner Ihmir Smith-Marsette from the practice squad for Sunday’s game — with Gunner Olszewski failing to clear the concussion protocol — forced starting safety Jevon Holland into an ill-advised punt returning role.
The Giants’ poor special teams, under the direction of coordinator Michael Ghobrial, are contributing in a major way to the franchise’s constant losing. They have now allowed a punt return touchdown in two straight games. That’s on top of Koo’s failures, which were highlighted by his decision to decline a field goal attempt in New England.
But this is more than a problem that needs to be fixed. This is an indictment of Schoen’s ability to build a roster.
It is evidence that, after four years, Schoen has left the depth of his roster in a pitiful state. It is proof that he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
The concern, then, is not about how this will affect the Giants’ next game on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. It is about how Schoen’s presence will affect the Giants’ ability to attract their next head coach.
Because even if a prospective head coach can get excited about Jaxson Dart, Malik Nabers, Cam Skattebo and a top three pick in April’s NFL Draft, it is impossible to look at this roster’s shortcomings and feel comfortable being paired with the protected incumbent Schoen.
The GM simply has not demonstrated that he knows how to correct obvious problems that lead to losses.
Schoen’s shortcomings are not limited to special teams. How bad do the free agent signings of corner Paulson Adebo and Holland look?
Adebo (three years, $54 million) put an unacceptable tackling effort on film on Terry McLaurin’s 51-yard touchdown catch on Sunday, the latest disappointment in a forgettable season. Holland (three years, $45.3 million) got roasted by backup tight end Ben Sinnott for a 36-yard catch in the fourth quarter.
Not to mention the lack of leadership and production of Dexter Lawrence — who has looked detached and uninvested all season — which is a perfect encapsulation of how Schoen’s mismanagement and inability to nurture a constructive culture has seeped all the way through the team.
This is one of the worst Giants defenses in recent memory. It is one of the worst defenses in the entire NFL this year. And it is loaded with players that Schoen has either signed to major contracts or drafted.
Even on offense, Schoen can’t get it right. He forked over three years and $36 million to retain wide receiver Darius Slayton, and the veteran’s drop issues continued in big spots on Sunday, including a third down incompletion and a dropped touchdown.
Schoen now has a 3-23 record (.115) in the Giants’ last 26 games, a 5-26 record (.161) in the last 31 games, a 5-18-1 record (.208) against NFC East opponents, a 2-14-0 record (.125) against the Eagles and Cowboys and a 20-44-1 overall record (.307) in four regular seasons.
The Giants have lost eight games in a row. They haven’t won a game since Oct. 9 at home over the Eagles.
Sunday’s loss to the Commanders — an injury-riddled team in complete freefall — meant that Washington has swept the Giants in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1982-83.
That’s on top of the Giants’ 0-8 record on the road this season and a franchise record 13-game road losing streak dating back to Oct. 6, 2024 in Seattle.
And don’t forget last season’s franchise record 10 straight losses overall when Brian Daboll was still overseeing the dysfunction.
The truth is Schoen deserved to be fired on Monday, just as he deserved to be fired the Tuesday after the Patriots game and on the same day that Daboll was canned after that November disaster in Chicago.
Granted, with co-owner John Mara sadly battling cancer, this is not a normal evaluation. There could be some internal arguments to retain Schoen for stability’s sake with so many challenges and changes occurring within the organization.
Especially with such a critical coaching search on deck that Schoen is currently helping to lead.
The truth is, though, there is no good argument for retaining him as GM. And stability is worth nothing if it means continuing to employ someone who can’t even accomplish the most basic task of roster building, and that is to create reasonable roster depth over a long period of time.
