The 2020 NFL regular season has come and gone, which means most rookies now have a full 16-game slate under their belt and can be better evaluated.
So how does each team’s draft class stack up? That’s precisely what Pro Football Focus recently decided to break down.
The news was not good for the New York Giants despite the overall production they received from their rookies. They ranked near the very bottom of the league.
27. New York Giants
Why they’re ranked here: Fourth overall pick Andrew Thomas’ 54.7 pass-block grade (second-worst among left tackles) didn’t help the Giants, nor did any other rookie from the 2020 class. Darnay Holmes (110th overall) failed to crack the top 100 cornerbacks in PFF grade this season, and Shane Lemieux (150th overall) was the lowest-graded guard in the NFL with a 32.2 PFF grade.
How their top pick fared: While Thomas showed some progress during his rookie campaign, there were still way too many lows. He gave up five or more total pressures in five different outings en route to 57 total pressures allowed on the year. Ten of those resulted in a sack (most allowed by a tackle).
Thomas obviously struggled to start his rookie campaign and we later learned it was partially due to an injury that required offseason surgery. However, he improved drastically down the stretch and became one of the Giants’ more consistent offensive linemen.
Also, despite his PFF grade, Holmes became an important fixture on the Giants’ over-performing defense alongside safety Xavier McKinney, who hauled in a game-sealing interception in Week 17.
Lemieux, meanwhile, eventually overtook Will Hernandez as the team’s starting left guard and there was a noticeable improvement on the ground shortly thereafter. However, as PFF alludes, there were some very real concerns with his pass protection.
Not included here were offensive tackle Matt Peart, who played well and may start in 2021, as well as linebackers Cam Brown, Carter Coughlin and Tae Crowder, all of whom flashed at one point or another.
The Cincinnati Bengals topped PFF’s list, while the Denver Broncos checked in at No. 32.
