Opinions vary on these players, but these significant and potentially career-altering injuries are really going to complicate matters moving forward.
Daniel Jones. Like him or not, we still really don't know the severity of his neck injury. Is his career at risk?
Saquon Barkley. 2021 was an important year for him and he did not dispel lingering doubts that the serious knee injuries he suffered in 2020 haver permanently impacted his lateral agility and mental toughness. He may never be the same player he was as a rookie.
Nick Gates. This one really pisses me off. Billy Price was terrible at center (that was a bad trade as I predicted). And moving Gates to guard led to him suffering a potentially career-ending injury. He was an up-and-coming player with a lot of grit.
Sterling Shepard. Never lived up to expectations and always hurt. He has two huge contract years left and tore his Achilles in mid-December, casting doubt if he will even be available to play in 2022. But if he wasn't hurt, he'd still figure prominently in the WR corps given the state of the position.
Jabrill Peppers. "Ruptured" his ACL in October. He's also a free agent.
Matt Peart. Good athlete who may lack the physicality to play in the NFL. Least likely of the group to make an impact moving forward, but not impossible that he could become a Will Beatty-type who hung around the league for a few years as a starter. His late-season ACL very much puts 2022 in doubt.
Kadarius Toney. No major injuries. It's just the unbelievable # of ailments that kept him from making an impact. Hamstring, ankle, thumb, quad, oblique, and shoulder in just one season?
Shane Lemieux. I'm much higher on him than most on BBI. I think he may have a bright future. However, he missed all of 2021 with a knee injury and therefor remains a huge question mark moving forward.
Blake Martinez. Best MLB the Giants have had since Antonio Pierce. He probably will return in good shape, but you never know with an ACL.
Rodarius Williams. Promising CB who the coaching staff was really high on. Not a great athlete, he now must recover from an ACL.
Darnay Holmes. Placed on IR in November with a neck injury. Always a little nervous when the neck is involved.
Elerson Smith. Placed on IR in January with neck injury.
Look, two things can be true at the same time 1) SB was terrific in 2018 and 2) taking a RB at #2 overall can be a mistake even if they're a terrific individual talent.
Third, he's not the same player right now and that requires sound evaluation and decision making moving forward.
3/3.
Bottom line, a smart team would plan as if both are not expected to be available in 2022. Fill those holes, they badly need the OL talent regardless.
Panicking and then adding Price just before the season started only got us bad Center play and Gates injured in a forced transition.
Maybe Schoen has more common sense than his predecessor and realizes that Center is an actual position that requires specific draft investment...