We tasked Nick Falato with trying — here’s what he came up with

2020 New York football is about as dismal as it gets. Both the Giants and the Jets are 0-3, and hope seems to be lost for both franchises. It’s a true shame; Jet fans are chanting Tank for Trevor Lawrence, and fire Adam Gase. Giants’ fans are calling for the head of Dave Gettleman, and hope to see some fire from this Joe Judge squad.

Bleak is one way to describe the two lost teams, embarrassing is another. Nevertheless, we want to do something a bit fun here at Big Blue View. We are going to assemble an NFL roster using both the Giants and the Jets. Maybe combined, the team would compete and earn some wins on Sunday...or maybe not, you be the judge. The teams will be constructed with only players that are active or on the practice squad. There will be no I.R. players on the list. This list will also be assembled under the assumption that it’s being coached by the current New York Giants staff.

Offense

Quarterback: Daniel Jones
Backup: Sam Darnold

Neither player has lived up to their draft expectations quite yet. With 15 starts under his belt, Jones has turned the ball over far too frequently, but has flashed. Same goes for Darnold, and neither quarterback has much around them to boast about. Jones is my choice, not just because he’s the Giants’ quarterback, but because I like his athletic upside. Yes, Darnold is a Solid athlete as well, but I’m rolling with Jones.

Running Back: Devonta Freeman
Backups: Frank Gore, Lamical Perine

It’s sad to see the starting running back on these Gets, or Jiants...I don’t know, you come up with the name, is a guy that was on the street a week ago...but here we are. Gore is a consummate professional and his experience definitely deserves a roster spot. As for Perine, the Giants would need some juice at this position, and Perine can add some depth as a pass catcher with some explosiveness, which is something that both Gore and Freeman may not possess anymore.

Wide Receivers: Darius Slayton, Golden Tate, Breshod Perriman,Jamison Crowder, and C.J. Board

It’s not the most inspiring receiving corps, but Slayton would be the de facto one, with Tate and Crowder as slot receivers. Perriman would add field stretching speed, and Board beat out Braxton Berrios due to his ability to play the boundary. Again, not great, but this is New York football at the moment.

Tight End: Chris Herndon
Backups: Evan Engram, Kaden Smith, Ryan Griffin, Levine Toilolo.

I wanted to go with Engram here, but he has not shown enough whatsoever, so Herndon gets the starting nod on a team that’s not coached by Adam Gase, so maybe he’d be used correctly - hard to say. All five of these tight ends would see the field at times in Jason Garrett’s offense, and hopefully Engram would be utilized mostly as a receiver with the presence of the Jets’ guys on the roster.

Offensive Tackles

LT: Mekhi Becton
RT: Andrew Thomas
Backups: Chuma Edoga, George Fant, Matt Peart, Cameron Fleming

Becton has looked good early in the season so far, and Thomas has been shaky, specifically in the week two against the Bears. This duo would form a very young, solid, tandem with good veteran backups, and a promising development piece in Peart.

Interior Offensive Line

LG: Alex Lewis
OC: Connor McGovern
RG: Kevin Zeitler
Backups: Will Hernandez, Shane Lemiuex, Nick Gates, Greg Van Roten

Alex Lewis gets the start over Hernandez by a hair. The presence of McGovern would hopefully help stabilize the rushing attack led by Freeman and Frank Gore. McGovern is a solid starter, who has experience at center - which can’t be said with every NFL team. The offensive line as a whole is young, but there are solid players on the unit.

Defense

Defensive Tackles: Leonard Williams, Dalvin Tomlinson, Quinnen Williams, Dexter Lawrence, Steve McLendon

Both teams are pretty solid up front, but the Giants put three out of five players on the team. This team has a ton of beef up front, and they can really defend the A-Gap. But if Patrick Graham keeps rolling out tight fronts, they’re going to be susceptible to the outside run, so they’ll need strong edge setters to combat that.

EDGE: Lorenzo Carter, Markus Golden, Jordan Jenkins, John Franklin-Meyers, Oshane Ximines, Terrell Basham

This would be a solid rotation, but Carter would play the majority of snaps. John Franklin-Meyers is a bit of a tweener, but since these teams are somewhat depleted for depth on the edge, I put him with this group instead of with the stout defensive tackles. Kyler Fackrell just lost the last spot to Basham, but he’s definitely on the practice squad!

Inside Linebackers: Blake Martinez, Avery Williamson
Backups: Neville Hewitt, Harvey Langi, Cam Brown

David Mayo would certainly make this list, but he hasn’t played yet after returning from his injury. Devante Downs hasn’t done enough to crack the squad, and I’m banking on the upside and potential of Brown. Martinez would help anchor this defense, and will have to be an excellent scrape & pursuit linebacker, especially on outside runs.

Cornerbacks: James Bradberry and Logan Ryan
Nickel: Brian Poole
Backups: Pierre Desir, Darnay Holmes, Corey Ballentine, Austin Blessuan

Logan Ryan is being moved to play outside corner, since the Jets and Giants can assemble enough big nickel or big dime type of safeties, even though the Giants are down Xaiver McKinney, and the Jets no longer have Jamal Adams. Bradberry and Ryan would be a solid duo if they both practiced and played outside, and Poole is solid in the nickel position. The depth is still suspect, but hopefully they wouldn’t have to play as many snaps as they actually have to on Sunday, due to this roster actually being two NFL teams.

Safeties: Julian Love, Marcus Maye, Jabrill Peppers
Backups: Ashtyn Davis, Nate Ebner, Sean Chandler

The safeties would be a solid unit as a whole. Maye is an underrated defender on a bad squad, Davis is a promising rookie with range, and the Giants starters are solid. Peppers can play in the box well, but leaves me wanting a bit more consistency in coverage, and I’m a Love fan in both phases of playing defense. Ebner and Chandler are both special teams guys for this split New York team.

Special teams

Kicker: Graham Gano
Punter: Riley Dixon
Long Snapper: Casey Kreiter

Here’s the final starting depth chart of this Giants/Jets team:

Offense

QB - Daniel Jones NYG
RB 1 - Devonta Freeman NYG
RB 2 - Frank Gore NYJ
WR 1 - Darius Slayton NYG
WR 2 - Breshod Perriman NYJ
WR 3 - Golden Tate NYG
WR 4 - Jamison Crowder NYJ
TE 1 - Chris Herndon NYJ
TE 2 - Evan Engram NYG
LT - Mekhi Bekton NYJ
LG - Alex Lewis NYJ
OC - Connor McGovern NYJ
RG - Kevin Zeitler NYG
RT - Andrew Thomas NYG

14 players (different personnel packages) 7 Giants, 7 Jets on Offense

Defense

LDE - Leonard Williams NYG
NT - Dalvin Tomlinson NYG
DT - Dexter Lawrence NYG
RDE - Quinnen Williams NYJ
EDGE 1 - Lorenzo Carter NYG
EDGE 2 - Markus Golden NYG
WLB - Avery Williamson NYJ
MIKE - Blake Martinez NYG
LCB - James Bradberry NYG
RCB - Logan Ryan NYG
Slot - Brain Poole NYJ
SS - Marcus Maye NYJ
FS - Julian Love NYG
SAF - Jabrill Peppers NYG

14 players (different personnel packages) 10 Giants, 4 Jets on Defense

The “starters” total at 17 Giants and 11 Jets. The team as a whole, out of 60 players:

Giants: 34
Jets: 26