FIRST TAKE | Will New York Giants exceed expectations this season? – Stephen A. & Mad Dog weigh in

FIRST TAKE | Will New York Giants exceed expectations this season? – Stephen A. & Mad Dog weigh in

As we continue our divisional takes in the NFC East, let’s look at the Giants. Their overunder win total is set at five and a half for the upcoming season, courtesy of ESPN Bet Sportsbook. Only team with a lower number is the Browns at 4 and a half. So, Mad Dog, I love reading this and I love these lofty expectations for my team. Do you think the Giants will exceed that number of five and a half wins of the season? Absolutely. The Giants have an not a good the Giants have a chance to have a great defense. They got a bunch of defensive linemen and that’s the key to NFL football. Dexter, they got Lawrence. They got the kid from Penn State. They have obviously Burns. They got Tibido. They’re going to be able to go get the quarterback. I’ve heard that Dable loves he’s drooling over Jackson Dart. Thinks he’s going to be great. Forgetting him for a second. Wilson’s at least competent. Neighbors is an excellent receiver. Keep an eye on that fullback, Scataboo, out of Arizona State. He’s got a linebacker mentality. He’s a winning player. He’s on that offense, too. Listen, they got a boodle schedule. They start with Washington, Dallas on the road. We’re going to take a peek at it right now. And then they play Kansas City and the Eagles. I mean, that I mean, they could be 0 and4 before you look, I’m sorry, Chargers. So, I mean, that’s a tough schedule and that’s a hard hard schedule. So that’s why and then they got to play the Packers and the Lions and the Vikings. They play the NFC North. So that’s why the numbers pretty low. But this team is going to Can I make a playoffs? No, I’m not I’m not going to win 12 games, but this team is going to be in that 7 8 N window and much improved in the NFC East. So this is what’s so fascinating about the Giants because as you said the sk this the record may not reflect how good the team is or what the potential of the team could be because it is brutal but when you look at the team you’re finally excited about the pieces that they have around. I think Jackson Dart the best thing he has going for him right now is that he’s the shiny new toy that everybody wants to see. With rookies we think what could their ceiling be? We have no idea. With Russell Wilson we know what the ceiling in the floor is. We essentially know what it is with with uh I want to say scatter, but that’s it. With um Jackson Dart, he is at this point. Anything has been better than what they’ve had at quarterback, unfortunately. Right. They’re not going to score a ton of points, Stevie, but they’re going to be a better team, the Giants, defensively. Stephen A. Well, let’s not expect their record to reflect that. I got them at best two- six over the first eight weeks of the season. At best. Okay. Two and six. Probably one and seven. Okay. That’s how I view them. Having said that, I believe in Brian Dable as a coach. Their GM is the problem, not him. Number one. Number two, I got my eyes in on Abdul Carter. You You had the audacity to ask Lawrence Taylor, could you wear his number? Okay. And thankfully, Lawrence Taylor declined. You got to go out there and earn it. How dare you? Th this brother better show up and look it. We better see something. You asked to wear LT’s number before playing the game. We got to see something. So, I can’t wait to see what this brother brings to the table. You’re right. I expect their def, by the way. I expect him to be elite. I’m not trying to act like he’s not going to be. I expect him to be elite. I’m just saying he better be. Okay. I expect their defense to be to to be formidable. No doubt. I ain’t sold on no Jackson Dart. Not yet. Uh Russell Wilson, he was in Pittsburgh last year. We saw what happened the last five weeks of the season. Hopefully this time will be better uh for him in a New York Giants uniform, having neighbors to throw the football to. There is Slade’s brothers. I I I mean, I’m rooting for them, but I just I think their their their talent, their record will not reflect that. They’re going to struggle very very early. No doubt about that. But we’ll see what happens as the season wings. Yeah. One and seven. I mean, I feel like that’s something to cheer for. We’ll get that. And they got the Saints and the Chargers there. They can win a cup. One thing, Stevie, to be fair about Shane, his drafts have been very good. He’s had a, you know, he drafted Neighbors. He, you know, they got Anthony Thomas back to play left tackle. He’s done a He’s defensive second. He’s done a good job with his drafts. They don’t like the way he handled Saquon Saquon Berkeley. I’ll buy that. And his son wanted Jaden Daniels, but he tried to get he tried to get the quarterback up from New England. They couldn’t get Drake May. So that’s why the way he handled Seaquan was egregious. And I disagree with you guys. Well, part of that was the hard knocks display, the dog and pony show. That was They shouldn’t have done that. That’s not unlike the Giants to do that hard knocks. I know you guys are down on the whole bark. Low class. Yes. Yes. Low class. We’ll leave it there, guys. Uh thanks for cheering me up on that. Coming up, GM Shane. We will be joined by a very special guest here on First Take. Triple H is coming through to preview SummerSlam. It’s a twight event at Metife. Also, America’s favorite segment, Mad Dog. It’s next. Instead of talking about Otani and Sodto and baseball, we’re talking about what the players look like naked. And look at this nonsense, this garbage. Really annoyed. Our our whole crew knows this talking about these holdouts cuz my belief is they always get done and we waste time. Not that we shouldn’t talk about it, but like we all speculate. Maybe this, maybe that. Is there any team or any situation that you think maybe this actually doesn’t get done? Like in the NBA, they don’t get done all the time. Like the the issues usually lead to breakups in the NBA. The issues in the NFL usually lead to a contract at the end anyway. Mhm. Is there any chance any of these actually don’t get done how we just assume they will? Um, meaning Micah, Trey Henderson, and Terry McLaren. Uh, you know, I would have said Trey, right, because of the money doled out to both Jamar and T. Um, I was not nervous about Terry McLaren last week, but Chevro put out, you know, he wants a lot more than than what they’re trying to give him. And as Terry, I wonder, he’s such a good guy in the locker room, such a great teammate. He’s been with 13 different quarterbacks in his sort of Washington career and he’s been a good, you know, quoteunquote soldier in that situation. And I just wonder if I part of me is just like, come on, guys. Honestly, just pay him what he wants. Like, let him hold you up for ransom. I don’t care that he’s going to be 30 this season. I don’t care that he’s going to be 31 at the start of the first year of the New Deal because getting Debo, while I thoroughly support that, this offense hinges on the connection that he has with Jaden Daniels. So, no Terry McLaren to me like that is so key. Um, you’re also not paying Jaden Daniels either. You know, you’re not paying the quarterback. You have to take advantage of this rookie window. You just have to. And they got so close last year. I think honestly and I think Jane Daniels I expect them to be better. I think we’re looking at him by the end of year two as hey is it time to look at Jaden and say like it’s Super Bowl or bust with this kid? Like I think he’s so talented. I know it’s it’s he’s going into year three but he ha he has the makeup of a guy who can win it all. Can the Washington Commanders do it within that rookie contract window? Kmart staying with young quarterbacks. Jimmy Hasslam, owner of the Cleveland Browns, spoke yesterday and he said that Kevin Stfansky and Andrew Barry absolutely understand how important it is for them to see the rookie quarterbacks this season. What were your big takeaways from what Jimmy Hasslam had to say with regard to his quarterback position? I feel like I’m always shaking my head when I see Jimmy and D Hasslam at the at the podium. Um, wow. Because now mind you, I have been I basically second home Cleveland since the Deshun Watson trade. So part of hearing Jimmy Hasslam even if he’s trying to prove like hey I didn’t force them to take this guy. This was an Andrew Barry pick. It wasn’t me. Even doing that any quarterback move you make you need to give the United front of it all. All of the quarterbacks on we wanted all these draft picks. But for him to say, “Well, if you would asked me like Friday, I would I wasn’t thinking about that kid.” Andrew though, yeah, that was on him. It I I tweeted something like, “Uh, here we go.” Cuz good or bad, you know what I mean? It just makes it Andrew’s pick. Andrew is not the one who decides who starts it. Like, he’s going to have like it’s Kevin Stfansky and the go back to the Deshawn Watson trade. The Cleveland Browns were out of it until Jimmy Hasslam was like, “I want that guy. Give him an unprecedented deal with unprecedented guarantees.” Did everybody in that building was he the pick for everybody in that building? Like right now it’s sort of I’m looking at this like there too many quarterbacks in the room to split reps evenly and all that. How are the rookies going to get in a position where they are ready to lead a franchise or at least start? I I just think Cleveland bears watching all season. Good info Kmart there. Okay, so I had to give my list. We do a rank them every day. Our top five this, our top five that. I had to give my bottom five teams in the NFL. I’m going to give you my picks and I want you to tell me which of these teams could actually surprise us and be better than expected. The Dolphins, the Browns, the Colts, the Saints, and the Giants. Yuck. Um, tricky. So, you know, you know what? I’m feeling I’m in New York. I’m in a favorable mood today. I’ll go Giants. I’ll go Giants. I’ll go Giants because I’m actually really hyped about their defense. Like I like I’m really excited to see their defense. Don’t know what the Jackson dart of it all will look like. Open your heart to dart. But I do think that what he’s got right now before he even takes the field in the NFL game is like we’ve never seen him before. He’s the shiny new toy. So that unfortunately for Russell Wilson, Russell doesn’t have that. We know exactly what the high and what the low can be. Jackson, New York is dying. Giants fans, throw the kid out there. They’re going to want I think we’ll see Jackson Dart sooner rather than later. Kimberly gave us a lot today. Let’s look at them agreeing. We ended with an agreement with There’s a few things though we learned. We learned that Rob Dorenzo, our social and digital guy, is going to have an insane amount to work with cuz Kimberly was dancing, hand motions, eye rolls. He’s going to have a lot to work with at Unsports ESPN. We also learned that actually you described a healthy organization with the Cleveland Browns. You said the owner is telling the general manager pick the players and the general manager is telling the coach to start the players. That sounds healthy. You actually described health, but because of who it is, I didn’t get that take away. Because of who it is, it feels unhealthy. We also learned shrimp and salmon. It’s her order, by the way, for shrimp and salmon. It’s the wrong order. Oh, Cece and I got chicken and shrimp. That’s the right order. I got steak and shrimp. I like it different. That’s so typical. So boring. So blasé. Can we spice it up a bit? So classic. It’s never boring with habachi. Okay. All right. Are you going to participate in some of the activities like the flipping of the egg, the catching the food in your mouth, the maybe the onion volcano? A number one, hate onions. Despise onions. When I’m president, onions will be gone off of the You’re going to ban onions. Your first act as president onions. We will tell the chef to keep onions away from Kmart at the EC. I’m over it with Pat Costello brought to us by Zip Recruiter next here on Unportsmanlike presented by Progressive Insurance. But first, Mommy. Great. Wow. Daddy. Thank you. Thank you. Blackboard. um you know Mama help. We didn’t like Yeah. May sound. Bye. more. Yeah. Hey, come on. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Come on.

FIRST TAKE | Will New York Giants exceed expectations this season? – Stephen A. & Mad Dog weigh in