‘Kudos and Wet Willies’, plus bye week thoughts on every Giants offensive player

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‘Kudos and Wet Willies’, plus bye week thoughts on every Giants offensive player

Ed Valentine · SB Nation

Fri, October 30, 2026 at 11:14 AM UTC ·

10 min read

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Despite losing quarterback Jaxson Dart for the season in Week 2, the New York Giants have scored at least 27 points in four straight games and gained more than 400 yards in three straight games. The Giants are 16th in the NFL, averaging 23.3 points per game and 12th in yards at 346.0 per game.

Let's go player-by-player through the offensive roster with some Kudos, Wet Willies, and thoughts on every player.

Quarterback

The Giants are a fascinating, if unexpected and unfortunate, story at quarterback this season. They are already on their third starting quarterback after seven games, usually a disastrous situation for NFL teams. The Giants have gone from Jaxson Dart to Jameis Winston to J.J. McCarthy as they try to survive Dart's season-ending injury and still win the NFC East.

Jaxson Dart— I look at Dart's injury as the most disappointing thing that has happened, or will happen, to the Giants this season. Dart loses a second straight year of working with star wide receiver Malik Nabers. He misses another year of teaming with Cam Skattebo. He loses a year of working with John Harbaugh and Matt Nagy, and playing time that will help him develop into the quarterback the Giants think he can be.

Grade: Incomplete

Jameis Winston— Winston went 2-1-1 in four starts after Dart was injured. GM Joe Schoen said recently that the goal with a backup quarterback is "can the guy go 2-2? Can he keep you afloat until you get your starter back?"

Winston did that. He is not a guy a team would want starting 15 games. The reality is, though, that no team wants their backup quarterback to start 15 games. Winston is a tremendous teammate, a locker room leader, and a great help to both Dart and J.J. McCarthy. Plus, for three or four games he is a fine backup.

Grade: Kwillie … because, what else would you give Winston?

J.J. McCarthy— I am not wading into the "should there be a Dart vs. McCarthy competition next season?" debate. The view here is simple:

McCarthy has played five quarters. Dart is the franchise guy, and McCarthy hasn't done nearly enough to make that a discussion worth having at 1925 Giants Drive. Could it become a discussion? Sure. But not yet.
It is going to take A LOT for me to be convinced the Giants will do anything this offseason other than try to flip McCarthy for more draft assets than the fifth-round pick they used to acquire him.

All of that said, McCarthy has played well. He has shown tremendous arm talent. He has displayed maturity and likability. He gives the Giants a chance to run the offense the way they designed it. Getting a good season of play from McCarthy, then dealing him for more draft capital than they used to acquire McCarthy would be an outstanding outcome.

Grade: Kudos

Jake Haener— He took a job away from Brandon Allen during his brief time with the Giants in training camp. Other than that, there is nothing to see.

Grade: Incomplete

Running back

Cam Skattebo— The emotional, hard-charging second-year back deserves a ton of credit for how he handled his Week 6 demotion. He didn't complain. He did what John Harbaugh hoped he would do — respond with a vengeance, having the best game of his career on Sunday vs. the Texans. He is now on pace for 1,015 rushing yards.

Grade: Kwillie … Skattebo has those four fumbles, and he really has had just one big game out of seven. I can't go higher than this.

Tyrone Tracy— Tracy's stats (19 carries, 55 yards, 2.9 yards per attempt along with 5 receptions for 54 yards) aren't great. Tracy, though, has three touchdowns (two running, one receiving) and clearly fought his way out of John Harbaugh's doghouse and back into a key role before landing on IR this week with a hamstring injury. He has also done well as a kickoff returner, leading the Giants with a 28.9 yards per return average.

Grade: Kwillie … I'm tempted to make this a 'Kudos', but I am not sure I can support that.

Devin Singletary— The veteran running back was inactive for three games as the Giants tried to figure out the proper running back rotation. He never complained to the media about being shoved aside. The release of Najee Harris, the one-game "benching" of Skattebo, and the injury to Tyrone Tracy thrust him back into the rotation. He delivered vs. the Texans with a terrific 30-yard run for the game-winning score.

Grade: Kudos

Fullback

Patrick Ricard— The 300-pound fullback is an integral cog in the Giants' offense. It can't be a coincidence that his best two games were Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys and last week against the Houston Texans, the two games this season during which the Giants were able to run their offense the way they designed it. In between, the Giants seemed to struggle to find the right way to deploy Ricard and to run their offense.

Grade: Kwillie … I suspect this grade will be a 'Kudos' by season's end.

Wide receiver

Malik Nabers— After last season's torn ACL, Nabers has quickly returned to being one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. Nabers has four straight games of 111 or more receiving yards, and has 36 catches in that stretch.

Nabers is on pace for 117 receptions and 1,469 receiving yards. That'll work.

Grade: Kudos

Malachi Fields— The rookie third-round pick has 16 receptions for 248 yards, a team-leading 15.5 yards per catch, and a touchdown. He has also been a willing, capable blocker on the edge. Fields hasn't played fewer than 44 snaps in a game this season, and with 13 targets (although just six receptions) in the past two weeks, it is clear his role is growing.

Grade: Kudos

Darnell Mooney— There haven't been a lot of opportunities for Mooney, since the passing attack runs through Nabers and Isaiah Likely. Still, the veteran wide receiver needs to do a better job of taking advantage of the chances he does get. Mooney has only nine catches in 22 targets, a catch rate of 40.9%. He does have 32 yards on three rushing attempts, but he is on pace to catch just 22 passes for 274 yards, both of which would be career worsts. His current 57.6 passer rating when targeted is a career low.

Grade: Wet Willie

Charlie Jones— Jones told me a few weeks ago that one reason he chose to come to the Giants was that he thought there would be more opportunity for him as a receiver than there had ever been in three seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals. He has two catches for 66 yards on three targets while playing just 21 offensive snaps.

Grade: Incomplete

Tight end

Isaiah Likely— Likely has been everything the Giants hoped he would be when they signed him to a three-year, $40 million contract despite him never catching more than 42 passes in a season for the Baltimore Ravens.

The Giants needed Likely to emerge as a 1B receiver behind Nabers, and he has done that. Likely has 41 receptions already for 395 yards. If he stays healthy, he will blow away his career bests. He is on pace for a 100-catch, 959-yard season.

Harbaugh was right when he said he thought Likely was capable of doing a lot more than he had been asked to do in Baltimore.

Grade: Kudos

Theo Johnson— Likely's presence has meant a limited role for the third-year tight end. He has four catches in nine targets while playing 124 offensive snaps and missing the last two games with a neck injury. Of Johnson's four catches, three went for first downs and one for a touchdown.

Grade: Kwillie

Chris Manhertz— The 12-year veteran just keeps on doing what he does, which is the dirty work of a career blocking tight end. After playing college basketball and not playing football until he tried out for the Buffalo Bills, Manhertz has fashioned a tremendous career out of being almost unnoticed.

Grade: Kudos

Thomas Fidone— The 2025 seventh-round pick saw his first extensive action of the season vs. Houston. He caught a 29-yard pass, the first catch of his career, and nearly scored. He has only played 36 offensive snaps, though, so there isn't really enough to go on.

Grade: Incomplete

Offensive line

Andrew Thomas— The veteran left tackle has not played up to his capabilities this season after suffering a groin injury in Week 2, but he has played capably in every game. That has helped the Giants to function offensively. His Pro Football and Sports Network Impact Score of 80.7 is 12th among tackles, and his 74.8 Pro Football Focus grade (down from an elite 90.3) in 2025 is 18th. Thomas has allowed just two sacks while being on an island 70.3% of the time, per PFF.

Grade: Kudos

Jon Runyan Jr.— Runyan is a good pass blocker and poor run blocker. His PFF grades, 41.6, 72nd of 74 qualifiers as a run blocker, and 75.2, 11th of those 74 qualifiers as a pass blocker, follow suit. Runyan is ranked 60th among 74 qualifying guards by PFF, last among 53 qualifiers by PFSN. Both PFF and PFSN judge this to be Runyan's worst season to date of his seven-year career.

Grade: Kwillie … Runyan's pass blocking counts for something.

Bryan Hudson— The 25-year-old former undrafted free agent took the starting center job away from 2023 second-round pick John Michael Schmitz. He deserves to keep it.

Player	Position Rank	Overall Grade	Pass Blocking	Run Blocking
Bryan Hudson	11 of 35	67.1	75.1	66.7
John Michael Schmitz	33 of 35	45.7	42.3	49.7

Look at Hudson's work Sunday on Singletary's game-winning touchdown run:

Grade: Kudos

Sisi Mauigoa— The 10th overall pick in the draft has not been the difference-maker the Giants hoped he would be. His run-blocking, 21st percentile among guards per PFSN, has been particularly disappointing. His play, though, has been trending up and Sunday's performance against the Houston Texans was the best of his season to date. Let's see if he can build on it.

Grade: Kwillie

Jermaine Eluemunor— I wish Eluemunor would stop telling people he thinks he is the best right tackle in the game. I am glad he believes it, and he certainly isn't wrong that he is among the best, but he doesn't have to keep saying it.

Reality is, Eluemunor's play speaks for itself. He has allowed one sack and seven pressures in six games, and his run-blocking has been better this season than in either of his previous two seasons with the Giants. He is among the best in the league at what he does.

Grade: Kudos

John Michael Schmitz— Lost his job to Hudson, and is likely headed out of town at the end of the season.

Grade: Wet Willie

Marcus Mbow— Mbow filled in for Eluemunor for part of the Week 5 game against the Washington Commanders and all of the Week 6 game against the New Orleans Saints. His play wasn't great, particularly as a run blocker.

Grade: Kwillie

J.C. Davis— The rookie sixth-round pick played well in a 25-snap relief stint at left tackle against the Saints, but that isn't enough to go on to give him a real grade.

Grade: Incomplete

Aaron Stinnie— The veteran backup guard has played only seven offensive snaps this season.

Grade: Incomplete

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