NY Giants Week 3 Offensive Player Review: A Little Good, a Lot Bad 

• Russell Wilson: After a career game last week (albeit against an injury-riddled Dallas defense), the NFL league-leading yardage leader and his coaches came out this week playing tentatively (albeit against a much better KC defense).  

Wilson threw quickly early and often when he did throw, and did very little with his arm throughout a difficult first half that saw him go 7-of-13 for 39 and 2 INTs.  That’s about as bad as it gets.  

Of his first five half possessions, only one had a positive result, and that’s because he handed the ball off to running back Cam Skattebo most of the time.  Otherwise, his two first-half INTs were desperation deep balls that had no business being thrown.  

Wilson wasn’t much better in the second half.  The only two balls that Wilson threw with any kind of conviction were two darts into the teeth of the defense to Wan’Dale Robinson.  

The first one was actually a catch (incorrectly ruled an incompletion), but interference was also called on the play.  The other big play to Robinson was a 26-yard bullet up the seam that set up Wilson for as pathetic a series of plays as a veteran NFL quarterback could ever make.  

At the 5-yard line, 1st-and-goal, he proceeded to throw in a panic, resulting in an intentional grounding. He followed that up with a 4-yard quarterback draw and threw two more balls into the rafters.  

Each of these throws was a panic throw, as Wilson looked tired and old out there at the end, and thus may have opened the door a crack for the coaches to make the move to rookie Jaxson Dart before the season is completely lost.  

The game looked too big for Wilson.  He refused to take deep drops, preferring the short drop and the quick throw to lessen the chance for physical contact.  

His final numbers were 18-of-32 for 160 yards with the 2 INTs.  His offense scored nine points, with most of those coming from the rookie Skattebo.  You want your quarterback to be a difference-maker out there. This week, Wilson did not come close to being that.

• Jaxson Dart: Continuing to get inserted onto the field in select situations, Dart scrambled for 3 yards and handed the ball off once, and that was it. Will we see more from him next week? Don’t be surprised. 

Running Backs

• Tyrone Tracy, Jr.: Tracy started this week’s game on fire.  There was a nice spinning run of 10 yards, a catch for 4 yards, a wide run for 8 yards, and another tough run for 4 yards.  

This initial possession fizzled on 4th down with Tracy being the prime target of the throw that was knocked down at the line of scrimmage.  

On the offense’s next possession, Tracy suffered what was later reported as a separate shoulder, finishing his night 7 of 29 on the ground and with two receptions for seven yards in what was probably his sharpest performance of the young season.    

• Cam Skattebo: The lone fun part of this week’s offense was every time Skattebo touched the ball.  Sure, there were a handful of no gains, but the positive ones far outnumbered the negative ones.  

When this rookie wasn’t dishing out punishment by running full steam low into a defensive back, he was breaking their tackles all over the place.  Nobody wanted to face him.  

Linebackers and defensive backs were shooting gaps to avoid the face-up broken-tackle embarrassments that he was handing out; they’d much rather drag him down from the side or behind.  

When you average 6.0 yards per carry on 10 runs with a long of 13, you know you’re doing regular damage.  

He was just as effective, if not more so, through the air, going 6-of-61 for 10.2 yards per catch. It was easy yardage to just dump the ball to Skattebo while the Chiefs' secondary was dropping deep to take away Malik Nabers.  

Skattebo was getting 12 yards a pop out of the backfield and dishing out pain at the end of most of them.  These easy completions should have been a bigger part of the offensive game plan, especially as the game developed.  

Every one of Skattebo’s 121 scrimmage yards brought the fans to the edge of their seats.  And talk about punishment–he laid a help block on a Chiefs defensive end, so hard, launching his body into the larger man’s chest to knock him out of the game.  

Skattebo is this team’s lead back.  Some people have expressed a concern that his style won’t last long in this league.  We disagree.  He’s not taking much punishment at all.  He’s dishing it out.  

His compact and low body makes it hard to get a good shot at him.  We also like that he doesn’t run out of bounds.  And when he’s navigating the sideline, he’s staying in bounds and going low after tacklers’ legs, just like they do to him.  

Nobody wants to tackle him.  Wouldn’t it be nice to soon see a fellow rookie handing him the ball?

• Devin Singletary: Getting his handful of rotation snaps, Singletary finished with four carries for 11 yards and was not involved in the passing game.  

With Tracy’s injury, Singletary’s value becomes clear as a trusted back who can give the starter a blow. 

Receivers

• Malik Nabers: Whatever the strategy the coaches had for freeing up Nabers this week against the Chiefs’ secondary, it fell like a lead balloon. Curiously, the coaches decided not to put Nabers in motion until late, which is something that they did in the first two weeks.  

Whatever the reason, the Chiefs' safeties played deep, the coaches failed to allow Nabers to run very many intermediate routes, and the deep ones led to at least one INT and several more desperation balls that never had a chance.  

Nabers finished with an extremely disappointing two catches on seven targets, for a measly 13 yards.  If he was getting so much attention, then there should have been opportunities elsewhere, but they were never exploited, except by Skattebo.  

• Wan’Dale Robinson: Whatever the Chiefs’ secondary was doing, they were apparently also taking Robinson out of the game, until late when Wilson finally sent him hard and low with conviction into the teeth of the defense.  

Robinson was the target of one of those hopeless moonballs.  He was also the target on the two balls with conviction that came too late in the game, of 12 (on 4th down, also drawing interference) and 26 yards.  

The 26-yarder was Robinson’s one catch that counted, and it was a tough catch against contact up the seam.  Otherwise, the offense’s passing game was miserable throughout, including the starting receivers.

•  Darius Slayton: Getting a few more balls thrown his way thanks to NAbers and Robinson being doubled, Slayton caught all four of his targets for a measly 30 yards.  

It was a good strategy to let Slayton catch the short throw, as he has zero ability to make anything happen after the catch.  However, the Chiefs' defense did it–and it takes talent to execute it–giving Slayton all the targets possible. 

•  Beaux Collins: Getting a handful of snaps in relief, Collins did not draw any attention in the passing game.

• Jalin Hyatt: After two weeks of getting a gameday uniform but not getting on the field, Hyatt saw six snaps but no pass targets. 

Tight Ends

• Theo Johnson: Johnson started slowly with his blocking, with a poor in-line run block early on, and then a poor pass block vs. an edge blitzer that deflected a throw.  

Johnson kept at it and was much more effective in line as the game wore on, and the rookie Skattebo was making things happen.  

The highlight of Johnson’s receiving night was a 2-yard pass that he caught, and which he turned into a 10-yard gain and a first down with a power push that drew the O-line's help.  

This kid sure is physical.  His receiving game, however, needs a lot of work.

• Chris Manhertz: Getting 13 snaps or so this week, Manhertz actually caught the lone pass thrown his way, that coming on a naked bootleg for 7 yards.  

The veteran actually made a nice adjustment to the throw, but fell after securing it. 

• Daniel Bellinger: Bellinger executed several edge blocks quite well, and caught his only target for 6 yards in 16 snaps played.  

The coaches actually lined up both Bellinger and Johnson together in the backfield on a half dozen snaps, and proceeded to run several read options out of it.  This formation was one of the coaches’ more successful innovations in this week’s game plan and one we hope to see more of.

Offensive Line 

• Andrew Thomas: Finally returning to the field after missing so much of last year with that foot injury, as well as this season’s first two games, Thomas started and looked like he’d never been away.  

He was light on his feet, strong with his upper body, and he pitched a shutout until the coaches removed him (he was apparently on a pitch count) late in the first half.  

It was certainly good news to see Thomas back on the field.  The O-line looked a lot better with him shutting down the edge.  

Most but not all of his run blocks were solid. His pass-blocking was pristine.  The Chiefs even tried to line up their best D-lineman, Chris Jones, over Thomas, but Thomas won that battle.  

Overall, it was a productive return to the field for Thomas and something to build on.

• Jermaine Eluemunor: Also pitching a shutout on his side, Eluemunor did not get the chance to go up against Jones, but instead faced the talented George Karlaftis, who gave him some problems in the running game.  

On the pass block, Eluemunor dominated, only occasionally giving up space to power, but he wasn’t responsible for either of the sacks.  There was barely a sniff of pressure from his edge as the big guy was as sharp as we’ve seen him.

• Marcus Mbow: The rookie took over for Andrew Thomas on the first half’s final possession and was immediately pushed back into his quarterback’s lap.  

The power issue is the only thing holding this kid back.  In fact, even with the power disparity that he’s dealing with right now vs. NFL edge defenders, he still played a pretty sharp pass-blocking game this week.

That is, until he yielded a late sack when his quarterback took a very shallow drop, and Mbow’s man crashed down inside of him for the easy sack.  

Mbow’s run-blocking was good for the most part.  He looked especially nifty on several long pulls that he seemed capable of executing in his sleep.  He looks so natural on the move, we wonder where his best position might be.  

He looks like a natural tackle, but he lacks the strength to match.  He also looks like a natural interior blocker with the lightest feet on the team, but he hasn’t really taken many snaps at guard, at least not from what we recall.   

• Jon Runyan: Once again, Runyan spent a good part of a game chasing and lunging.  It wasn’t often that he was able to square up his man and keep him there.  He’s become so easy to shed, as he’s playing with very little power and balance.  

He gave up one sack (to Chris Jones) and struggled every time Jones lined up across from him, which was often.  

The O-line struggled to locate Jones on key passing downs. We thought he should have drawn a lot more double-teams than he did.

•  Greg Van Roten: Joining the “I Got Beat by Chris Jones” club late in the game, Van Roten otherwise played a quiet, invisible type of game, which is what you want from your blockers.  

The veteran wasn’t once asked to move in space, which is a good match-up to his skill set.  He’s much better blocking in a phone booth, which was how it went most of this week’s game.

• John Michael Schmitz: Every Giants fan’s favorite goat played one of his best games as a Giant this week.  

Other than the one fourth-quarter snap where his help was late while attempting to block Jones (welcome to the club), Schmitz was as efficient getting his man and neutralizing him as we’ve seen him.  

There was none of the clumsy footwork that darkened his game through his first two seasons.  Schmitz was sharp as a tack, quick and clean on nearly every single snap.  

There were even a couple of pancakes thrown into the batter out there.  What will always remain lacking is the lack of power in a Schmitz double-team.  

Also, identifying Chris Jones on every single snap should have been a higher priority than it was.  

Andrew Thomas was this unit’s best blocker this week, and Schmitz might have been the closest second.