As the NFL offseason
is in full swing, it’s a perfect opportunity to evaluate where each team was in
2017, and where they plan to go in the New Year. Let’s begin the review of
the New York Giants.
2017 Season Recap:
Coming off a successful season in 2016, the Giants looked to continue the
winning trend in providing support to the offense in signing and drafting
pieces to help Eli Manning and Odell Beckham continue to move forward. Most
notably was the scooping of Brandon Marshall quickly after he was released by
the Jets and drafting super athletic tight end Evan Engram to help bolster a
unit that did need the applicable support. With those moves made, the Giants
still were unable to add viable running back and offensive line depth to which
could be argued was a glaring need from the previous season. Expecting the
Giants defense to carry on where they left off, on paper New York seemed to be
making the right moves in areas of need.
As the 2017 season kicked off, the Giants began the year without
superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham as he continued his rehab from a
preseason injury to his ankle. Opening the year the Giants traveled to Dallas
to face off against long time division rival – the Cowboys, New York was unable
to muster anything on both ends of the ball dropping that game and possibly
providing a clear foreshadow of how the 2017 campaign would play out. Coming
off an 11-5 year (2016), it was the strength of the defense that allowed them
to be successful, 2017 wouldn’t bring them that same amount of luck. After
losing the opener, New York found a way to lose the next four games dropping
their overall record to 0-5 to start the year. What made matters worse, their
star - Odell Beckham crossed over the middle and while being taken down, had
his leg contort under the Chargers defender ultimately breaking his leg. Continuing
down the wrong trend, newly acquired receiver Brandon Marshall was also roughed
up that same week, which sent him to the medical room eventually joining
Beckham on season ending injured reserve. Despite the losses to key talent, the
Giants managed to surprise the Broncos, defeating them for their first win of
the year.
While facing a 1-5 record and a fan base calling for the removal of head
coach Ben McAdoo in the middle of October, things were about to get worse for
the Big-Blue. As the Giants locker room began to revolt against the system, it
was clear the team had already given up and had lost respect for their bench
boss. Winning one more contest in the next five, New York possessed a record of
2-9 heading into the month of December with literally nothing to play for. As
if losing wasn’t enough for Coach McAdoo, he made one last push to get his face
in front of the media with a mysterious choice to bench long time starter, and
two time Super Bowl winning quarterback – Eli Manning, ending his fabulous
ironman streak in the process to go with Geno Smith. McAdoo reinforced his
decision to go with Smith in their week 13 matchup against the Raiders as a
pure evaluation tactic to see what Geno could produce. Like most, the move
made no sense to ADF as it was clear Ben McAdoo was on his way out and Geno
Smith wasn’t a viable option to take over the reins as the Giants starting
quarterback now, or later in the future. The situation was handled with utter
buffoonery much like the Giants season was coached and executed. With all that
said, the final result for the New York football Giants was a complete disaster
of a season and a fan base actually looking forward to seeing it end.
2018 Offseason
Workbook:
Offseason Review:
It wasn’t long after
the final whistle blew, that Giants ownership relieved Coach McAdoo of his
responsibilities to the club. Moving swiftly, New York commenced the search to
find the next man to take over the reins of a busted ship, fix the broken
pieces, and prepare this team for sailing the seas again. Hiring the top choice
once the Vikings were eliminated from the postseason, Pat Shurmur was
officially announced. Completing his staff just as quick, Shurmur brought on
former Panther offensive coordinator Mike Shula, and former Arizona Cardinals
defensive coordinator - James Bettcher to round out the top end of the coaching
staff to bring pride back to the organization. With that, Giants ownership had
seen enough in the front office as well, shaking up the entire system and
bringing recent Panthers cast-away Dave Gettleman to take over as the team’s
new general manager. Two high profile hires could be the elixir the Giants need
to get back on track.
For any team that has
come off a 3-13 season, it’s inevitable the statistics would hang closer to the
bottom of the barrel in the league. New York simply wasn’t built for success
offensively as much as most had envisioned in the previous offseason. While
injuries played a massive role in the 2017 demise, we would be kidding
ourselves to suggest this was a playoff caliber team in an extremely difficult
NFC. This offense was built for failure right from the get-go when they chose
to again avoid adding viable talent to the offensive line and running back
positions. Eli Manning has endured consistent pressure from opposing defenses
throughout these last two seasons, with plainly no help from the running back
position. Realistically, when was the last time Eli had a capable runner who
could pull 8 man boxes to assist in the passing game? While Evan Engram was a
delight to watch on the field, he was thrust into taking on a larger role with
the multitude of injuries which forced New York to dig deep into their practice
squad for reinforcements. The Giants offensive line gave up a massive 44 sacks
on the season which fell to another bottom feeder stat capture in the league.
However, as bad as the line is, I will go to their defence to adequately spread
the blame to the lack of a run attack as opposing defenses found it easy to game
plan against a team that possessed no threat of a ground game. All-in-all, many
things need to change on this offense and the complete review of how much Eli
Manning has left in the tank shouldn’t go overlooked as well.
Feeling the need to
make a monster splash in 2016 the former general manager loaded up on defensive
talent to help improve a struggling unit from the season prior. While each move
was looking more like a success with each play, it was obvious that in 2017 the
defense as a whole decided against playing football as the looker room began to
divide internally. Rumblings that youngster Eli Apple was causing controversy
against up and comer Landon Collins, they took to social media to air out their
grievances and dirty laundry. Aside from the petty differences between the two
players, more than one player found themselves suspended under coach McAdoo for
conduct detrimental to the team. A complete disaster took over and there was no
way to recover. Reviewing the film and statistics from last season, there wasn’t
much to boast about after the unit packed it in. Allowing teams to walk all
over them, the Big-Blue finished with a 27th rank or lower in ever
category to measure their performance. Taking a deeper look onto the depth
chart of this squad, they still house a very impressive set of players that if
coached up to regain form, they could once again dominate as they did from two
seasons ago. With line backer a definite need on this team, general manager
Dave Gettleman made waves of news recently in acquiring now former LA Rams
stand out, Alec Ogletree for draft selections returning. Trying to build the
strength of this team even stronger, a nice tandem could exist between Ogletree
and BJ Goodson manning the middle of the field. While the team continues to
evaluate, news also broke that the Giants will entertain moving solid
cover-corner Dominique Rodger-Cromartie to man the safety position beside all
star Landon Collins. Adding depth to the defensive line and defensive back
positions could make them once again a powerhouse shutting teams down, but time
will tell.
Rostered Free Agents:
With an extravagant
amount of issues on the offensive side of the ball, the Giants have committed
themselves on the defensive side shelling out big dollars and long-term deals
leaving them with roughly 13.5 million dollars to date under the cap. Having a
heavy list of players without a contract, New York might be in a bind with 20
players looking for a new deal. While the offensive line play was sub-par (speaking
politely), two starters from that line reside on this list currently. Both
starting guards DJ Fluker and Justin Pugh will be coming off the books unless
Gettleman can work his magic. Pugh is one of their better linemen and would be
a shame for the progression of this offense to see him walk out with no
compensation. Running back Orleans Darkwa also finds himself without a contract
and might not be back with the Giants as well. Shane Vereen cashed in on a
contract from his great season with the Patriots to see nothing of the same
transpire in New York. Essentially earning free money over the life of his
deal, we can easily brand Vereen a massive free agent bust as New York will
gladly see him walk. Outside of those players, that list of 20 appears to
provide more depth then potential down the road starting caliber players.
With the Alec Ogletree
trade technically a handshake deal until the league year opens, not only does
he bring more speed and talent to the unit, but he also brings a very large
salary to contend with. Having a cap hit of 10 million this season on his
lucrative 45-million-dollar deal from the Rams, New York does have a potential
out next offseason where they could cut of trade Ogletree without incurring any
dead cap after this season. With Alec now on the books for at least one season,
Gettleman will have to get extremely creative if he wants to turn around this
Giants team. Brandon Marshall screams cut bait with his 5-million-dollar cap
savings he would create for the club, its all but a formality, expect him as
good as gone. Guard John Jerry if designated a post June 1st
release, he would create another 3 million on the books, a likely scenario.
Perhaps a very unpopular move to suggest, reviewing Janoris (Jack-Rabbit)
Jenkins given a post June 1st cut designation would create a
whopping 11 million dollars in free space with a slim 2-million-dollar dead
money hit. This will undoubtedly be something the Giants brain trust will
consider. Another potential situation which seems unlikely based on the players
current demand, is re-signing star receiver Odell Beckham to a long-term deal
removing his 8-million-dollar cap hit to something more favorable to help this
team in the short term. While having been on record saying there’s no rush to
extend Odell as of yet, their hands might be forced as they try and fill this
roster. This offseason could be a monstrous struggle to add capable talent in
places they remain extremely desperate, perhaps the draft is where they make
things happen.
NFL Draft:
As mentioned above,
the glaring needs for this Giants team exist on the offensive line and running
back positions. Perhaps the angels are smiling down on New York this season as
this draft board is stacked in both those positions. The depth at running back
is extremely vast that even if they don’t get an opportunity at potential top
selection Saquon Barkley, they could find a very reliable runner in the later
rounds. For offensive line help, this draft possesses a horde of fantastically
talented offensive guards that New York could potentially plug in and play from
day one. With needs at the receiver position to find an electric big body type
of player to complement the skill of Beckham, they could also find their man as
the draft is deep in that department as well.
Entering the draft
with only six picks on the board missing their 6th round selection,
its not inconceivable that general manager Dave Gettleman entertains the notion
to trade down with a quarterback hungry team pilfering extra picks in the
process. Their might be only one way the Giants stay in their current spot in
the first round, his name is Saquon Barkley. Drafting Barkley would instantly
add immense credibility to an offense allowing Eli Manning to finally sit back
in the pocket with an advantage he hasn’t had in many years. Should be very
exciting on draft day for Giants fans.
Overall for 2018:
Mulling over the entire issue which is the roster and their cap
troubles, the Giants brass will have to make sound and educated moves to allow this
team to get out from contracts left to burry them from the previous regime. Its
reasonable and viable to question Eli Manning and how much he might have left
in his tank. He’s expressed his desire to continue playing, but the clock is
ticking on the man that has brought New York mountains of joy in his time. The
biggest question is - will the Big-Blue finally get their generational running
back from this year’s draft class? New York is in a precarious position where
they want to place band aids in places to ride out the final days of Eli
Manning while building for the future, in ADF’s opinion, it can’t be done with
the way its currently set up – a choice will have to be made. Either way,
expect a better season in 2018 regardless! 
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