Which Giants players surprised you in 2023

[MightyGiants]

Which player or players surprised you in a good way in 2023?


Which player or players surprised you in a bad way in 2023?

[killarich]

Which player or players surprised you in a good way in 2023?


Which player or players surprised you in a bad way in 2023?

McFadden

[DaveBrown74]

Good way:

Banks: I knew he was very talented but I thought he was raw and would make tons of glaring mistakes in his rookie year. He was definitely better than I expected.

Pinnock: Was just consistently good all year and I didn't think much of him either way before the season.

McFadden: He was pretty bad as a rookie, and I wasn't sure if he'd make it long term. I thought he made some nice strides this year (albeit there is still plenty of room for improvement).


Bad way:

Jones: I never thought he was going to be materially better than average, but in 2022 he was at least reasonably effective within the basic system they set up for him. This year the wheels completely came off, and he was terrible. And the better play of the other two QBs under the same conditions completely eradicated the excuse foundation that had been built for Jones in past years. Moreover his reversion to having a propensity for serious injuries was a disappointment, as 2022 had been the outlier year where he managed to avoid that, and I was hoping it would mark the beginning of a much healthier run for him. It didn't.

Bellinger: I was hoping he'd take a step forward this year after a nice rookie season. I feel like he took a step back, if anything.

Ojulari: Not that I had high expectations for him but he was completely useless this year and probably has to go even though it won't save much.


I'm sure many will have Neal in the negatives. I'm not, because he was terrible last year, and I was careful not to just auto-assume he'd be solid this year. I needed to see it to believe it with him after being so dismayed as to how bad he was in year one. Unlike Thomas, he showed no late season improvement as a rookie, so that worried me about him.

[MightyGiants]

Good way:

Banks: I knew he was very talented but I thought he was raw and would make tons of glaring mistakes in his rookie year. He was definitely better than I expected.

Pinnock: Was just consistently good all year and I didn't think much of him either way before the season.

McFadden: He was pretty bad as a rookie, and I wasn't sure if he'd make it long term. I thought he made some nice strides this year (albeit there is still plenty of room for improvement).


Bad way:

Jones: I never thought he was going to be materially better than average, but in 2022 he was at least reasonably effective within the basic system they set up for him. This year the wheels completely came off, and he was terrible. And the better play of the other two QBs under the same conditions completely eradicated the excuse foundation that had been built for Jones in past years. Moreover his reversion to having a propensity for serious injuries was a disappointment, as 2022 had been the outlier year where he managed to avoid that, and I was hoping it would mark the beginning of a much healthier run for him. It didn't.

Bellinger: I was hoping he'd take a step forward this year after a nice rookie season. I feel like he took a step back, if anything.

Ojulari: Not that I had high expectations for him but he was completely useless this year and probably has to go even though it won't save much.


I'm sure many will have Neal in the negatives. I'm not, because he was terrible last year, and I was careful not to just auto-assume he'd be solid this year. I needed to see it to believe it with him after being so dismayed as to how bad he was in year one. Unlike Thomas, he showed no late season improvement as a rookie, so that worried me about him.

I appreciate how carefully you followed the wording of my question.  I didn't ask who disappointed, but rather who surprised in either a positive or negative manner

[Philosophers]

Good

Okereke
McFadden
Pinnock
McKinney
Robinson
Hyatt

Disappointing
O'Neal
Jones
Leo

[londonblue]

Good: Robinson, McFadden, Pinnock, Belton
Bad: Jones, Waller, Nacho

Okereke was as good as I expected as was Slayton. Holmes was as bad as I expected. The OL was hideous but a collective and coaching hideous so not much sense just listing all of them. Our DL could not stop the run unless the opponent stupidly ran straight at Dex.

I think adding Waller hampered Bellinger as coaches tried to force stuff for Waller when he was out there (in particular Bellinger and Hodgins for that matter under-used in red zone).

[Ed Vette]

Good way Surprised- McFadden, Phillips, Robinson, Belton, Pinnock, Okereke, Devito.

Bad Way surprised- Hyatt, Jones, Shep, Ojulari, Bredeson, Glowinski

No great surprises but I had different expectations.   

[umassgrad]

Ed, why do you have Hyatt in the bad category? I would have kept him off the list due to the OL and QB play but I didn't watch him closely.

[DaveBrown74]

Ed, why do you have Hyatt in the bad category? I would have kept him off the list due to the OL and QB play but I didn't watch him closely.

He was pretty sporadic. Other receivers on the team like Slayton did better. He struggled with press man coverage in a number of games. Wasn't entirely everyone else's fault.

[killarich]

Good: Robinson, McFadden, Pinnock, Belton
Bad: Jones, Waller, Nacho

Okereke was as good as I expected as was Slayton. Holmes was as bad as I expected. The OL was hideous but a collective and coaching hideous so not much sense just listing all of them. Our DL could not stop the run unless the opponent stupidly ran straight at Dex.

I think adding Waller hampered Bellinger as coaches tried to force stuff for Waller when he was out there (in particular Bellinger and Hodgins for that matter under-used in red zone).

I'm going to agree with Nacho .... 1 because he didn't do what he was signed to do and 2. His annoying celebrations when we are getting destroyed

[DaveBrown74]

Another player I'd add that I can't believe I forgot who surprised me in a bad way was Gano. And not because of his injury. He was disappointing this year before the injury.

[EDjohnst1981]

Micah McFadden surprised me. I thought he and Bobby O played well.

I guess you can say Bobby O was also surprising as the Giants FA pickups seemingly rarely work out.