The workload is endless and the task is singular: Make the team better.
There is nothing else that matters more for Joe Schoen, entering his third season as Giants general manager.
“I like the group,’’ Schoen said Wednesday after a practice in a late summer swelter, adding he believes the roster has improved in “several areas.’’ He did not offer specifics.
“Don’t want to go position by position,’’ he said. “You put together the best group you can, and you hope things go well.’’
These were the last public comments from Schoen until the bye, which is in Week 11, mid-November, meaning this was the unofficial handoff from the front office to Brian Daboll and the coaching staff.
It came as no surprise that HBO’s first offseason “Hard Knocks’’ featured Schoen in the lead role and Daboll in a much-smaller supporting role. The offseason is the domain of a general manager, and he is tasked with a prime directive: Give the head coach the best roster possible to get the job done.
Has Schoen done it? Are the Giants now appreciably better than when they walked off the field last season at 6-11?
The offense has to be better because … it has to be. Malik Nabers is a weapon this franchise has not possessed since Odell Beckham Jr., and though Nabers is a rookie, much is expected of him. The quarterback trio is not better — would you rather have Tyrod Taylor, now with the Jets, or the new backup, Drew Lock? Daniel Jones is healthy, though, and that is encouraging.
Saquon Barkley was subtracted from the running back room, thus the group cannot be considered more talented, but should be deeper if rookie Tyrone Tracy is as solid as he looks.
Schoen traded for then heaped mucho dinero on edge rusher Brian Burns, and he figures to be an impact player — blended into the athletic gifts possessed by Dexter Lawrence in the middle and Kayvon Thibodeaux on the other edge. At this point, the secondary is of primary concern because it appears to be deficient at cornerback after Deonte Banks and unproven at safety after returning starter Jason Pinnock.
The verdict? The roster is better, but more in keeping with a continuation of a rebuild than anything close to a finished product.
Schoen shuns overarching questions, evading them the way he hopes Nabers ducks and dodges and runs past cornerbacks. He will not provide big-picture content, no matter how rapid-fire the inquiries.
“Whatever I say, none of that matters,’’ he said. “They’ve got to go out and make plays. The team is the team right now, we’ve got to come together and gel.’’
No GM gets everything right. Schoen tried to fix the offensive line in the 2022 draft by restocking with Evan Neal (first round), Josh Ezeudu (third) and Marcus McKethan (fifth), and it looks like he came up empty. Neal, taken No. 7 overall, is headed for the dreaded “bust’’ label, but he was not a reach. He was a consensus top-10 pick. Ezeudu has not found a position, and McKethan was cut. The Giants believe the young offensive linemen were not well served by their position coach, Bobby Johnson, who was fired after last season.
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Smarting from these swings and misses, Schoen had to pivot and this year paid for veterans to plug leaks up front — signing Jon Runyan, Jermaine Eluemunor and Greg Van Roten. All three will start alongside stud left tackle Andrew Thomas (inherited then re-signed by Schoen) and center John Michael Schmitz, a Schoen second-round pick in 2023 who has plenty to prove after a so-so rookie season.
The first-year overachievement (nine wins in the regular season and one more in the playoffs) raised expectations, but the progress arrow got tilted. Co-owner John Mara does not set specific requirements, as far as wins and losses, but recently he did say he expects “significant improvement’’ in Year 3 of the Schoen-Daboll regime.
What does that mean to the guy charged with ushering in that improvement?
“You guys asked him, you guys had a chance to talk to him,’’ Schoen said. “You guys talked to the most important person.’’
OK then, what do those marching orders mean to Schoen?
“Dabes and I don’t approach this job without not saying we want to go out and win,’’ Schoen said with a bit of terseness in his voice. “That’s what we’re here for. That’s why we work our tails off. That’s why we’re here all night last night doing the waiver cutdown, that’s why we’re out all spring on Pro Day, that’s why we do all the work. Not to come up here and not win games. That’s always going to be the goal. I don’t understand — I get the question but the goal is to win games, always.’’
With that, Schoen and Daboll got up from the table they were seated behind and walked off. Daboll will be heard from again, soon, and almost every day throughout the season. Schoen will recede from public comment, with his handiwork on display every week.
