The Diary of an Illinois Boston Fan

NFL Previews

To round out the NFC, I tackle the biggest market to look at the New York Football Giants.

Letting go of a long time head coach can’t possibly be easy. Letting go of a long time head coach that won two rings for you, the last as recently as 2011, must be one of the hardest decisions an owner has had to make. That’s what happened with the firing of Tom Coughlin in New York. Coughlin ended up with the Giants in the early 2000s, working hand in hand with star QB Eli Manning from day one. He was the oldest coach in the league and was nearing retirement as one of the winningest coaches in the league, but seeing a football great leave the game (at least in a team organizational level) is still not easy to take. As a Patriots fan, I respect the heck out of Coughlin and hope he does well in his new gig. As for his replacement, Bob McAdoo, Coughlin left a great team in place for the next season.

Projected Offensive Depth Chart:

QB: Eli Manning

RB: Rashad Jennings

FB: Nikita Whitlock

OL: Weston Richburg, Ereck Flowers, Justin Pugh, John Jerry, Marshall Newhouse

WR: Odell Beckham Jr, Sterling Shephard

I’m going to go on record and state that I think Eli Manning is the most underrated Hall of Fame QB of all time. I have never understood the immense criticism and skepticism of his Hall of Fame credentials.

Manning has two championships, both against the New England Patriots (one being the legendary undefeated 2007 squad) and both won with him leading amazing 4th quarter drives. While the 2007 Giants squad was predicated on defense, the 2011 team was all Manning and the offense. That season he neared just to the edge of a 5,000 yard season with the best group of receivers he had in his career…all of which have found little to no success away from Manning. He turned Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham into star players along with the comet in the sky that was Victor Cruz. His run game had faltered and become a lesser version of their dangerous 08 and 09 group. 2011 was where Eli stepped fully out of Peyton’s shadow winning his second ring before Peyton did. He’s got phenomenal pocket awareness, a much improved accuracy thanks to the shortened passing game that suits him better, and is a tremendous leader. As he grows older, he’s had to use his high IQ to be effective with his athleticism dwindling but that hasn’t stopped him from finishing in the top 10 in counting stats amongst QBs the last 3 years. I love watching Eli orchestrate an offense as profoundly as the best in the league history.

Now, Manning has potentially the best receiving corps of his career, which can spell trouble for everyone else. Odell Beckham Jr. has already elevated himself into elite status with his particular brand of catching. Amazing one handed catches are great for highlights but OBJ is more than a couple highlight plays a year. He’s quickly mastering every skill that an all time great needs to. His hands are already tops in the league and he uses them for more than catching. A much ignored aspect of a talented receiver’s is his ability to block and OBJ is one of the best current non-linemen at it. Taking hints from players like Hines Ward, Beckham uses his minute size (5’11" which is crazy to think about when you see all of his scores) to create a center of gravity that let’s him stay stationary even when blocking bigger defenders. His quickness then let’s him keep up with them as he continues the block downfield. He uses all of these traits to then rise up tall for those great catches we’ve become accustomed to.

If Victor Cruz can make it back healthy, then the Giants will have a great outside to in game with rookie stud Sterling Shephard taking the WR2 role, creating a more athletic version of the Patriots’ short receiver system. What the Giants need is a big year from their biggest body pass catcher in Larry Donnell. After making an enormous impact over a three week stretch two years ago, Donnell has been fairly quiet. Only securing 2 touchdowns last year and not being known to block, Donnell will need to become a force over the middle if he plans on sticking around in New York. He’s got all the opportunity without any real threat behind him on the depth chart but if the Giants find that they can be amazing sans tight end, then Donnell could find the door. He will find job security if he can start learning how to block as well as catch. His problem there, as well as with routes, is his footwork. He loses leverage by staying on his back foot too much and doesn’t create impact or lift with his legs. It’s a fundamental that can be re-taught if the player is willing…but today’s players care more about flashy plays than matter plays and Donnell has been a frequent case in that matter with his bouts of inconsistency if the ball isn’t always going his way.

Projected Defensive Depth Chart:

DL: Jason Pierre-Paul, Olivier Vernon, Damon Harrison, Johnathan Hankins

LB: Devon Kennard, Jasper Brinkley, Johnathan Casillas

CB: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Janoris Jenkins

S: Landon Collins, Darion Thompson

After being stuck in shootouts for the good part of 6 seasons now, the Giants finally addressed their defense in free agency and the draft.

The quick observation is the gigantic contact given to Olivier Vernon for a 7.5 sack season. Yes, the majority of those came in the closing month which shows promise for this coming season, but it should give pause to the Giants who thought it wise to give 52 mil guaranteed to Vernon. What I like best about Vernon is his closing speed. While his impact at the line leaves much to be desired, if he can work past tackles, he really turns on his jets to pressure the QB. Not having much of a move set, he has to rely more on his teammates to get him into open territory to wreak havoc. In Miami, it’s no wonder that Suh’s sudden resurgence happened around the same time of Vernon’s…Vernon leeches off other great players and puts up booming plays that catch the attention of others.

While he isn’t Suh, Pierre-Paul is a great bookend for Vernon. Pierre-Paul clearly isn’t the brightest player given his missing appendages because of a fireworks incident two 4th of July’s ago…but sometimes stupid people make great football players. Especially football players that can flat out overpower men bigger than themselves like JPP does. When he’s really got it going, JPP is as fearsome a pass rusher as J.J. Watt or Justin Houston. It’s motivation that’s weighing him down. After a crazy 16.5 sack 2011 (same year New York won the super bowl), JPP wasn’t the same until he came up in a contract year in 2014 where he then “reclaimed” his sacking ability with 12.5 sacks. He also had 21 tackles for a loss, rare for a pure defensive end to accrue. Now he’s fighting for a bigger payday again and it’s likely the Giants luck into another big season from him in a make or break it year with all the other talent surrounding him.

No question the worst part of this defense, the secondary saw a major face lift this offseason. They went from 1 or 2 mediocre to slightly above average defensive backs to the deepest secondary in the league. They’re starting who I considered the better half of the Rams tandem the past couple years, Janoris Jenkins, alongside the best Giants DB for the last 3 years in Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Jenkins picked off the ball 3 times last year — which is absolutely amazing since he’s credited with only 32 pure targets against him and earning another 12 passes defensed — meaning just under half of the balls thrown his way, he shut down. Why the Rams let him go is still a mystery to me but he’s looking to make his legacy in a city that will put him on a pedastal.

The Giants loaded up on corners in a way most teams wouldn’t be able to. In addition to the Jenkins signing, they drafted impressive rookie Eli Apple out of Ohio State and signed still very able veteran Leon Hall from the Bengals. Apple has struggled a bit in the preseason, reasonable for a rookie corner, but he’s going to be expected to produce sooner rather than later. His jittery press coverage is very worrisome to me and his size makes him vulnerable to more physical players embarrassing him. It could be rookie yips and I’m making something out of nothing, I’d just hate to see another guy with a world of talent turn into another Kyle Wilson or Morris Claiborne.

New York were the clear free agency winners which has a historical connotation of meaning they’re going to burnout by the end of the year. I like the moves they made though, mostly. With the one big dumb move, they made three really good medium moves. They’ve got playoff pedigree from top to bottom of the starting 22, they just gotta put the pieces together to finish their championship puzzle.