The New York Giants, by most accounts, had themselves an impressive offseason.
By merely going from untenable to below average under center, the Giants should inherently find themselves in more games than they were in 2024. The defense is much improved, too.
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Drafting a blue-chip prospect like Abdul Carter is always going to generate optimism, and third-round defensive tackle Darius Alexander is a plug-and-play starter next to Dexter Lawrence. General manager Joe Schoen revamped the secondary with safety Jevon Holland and corner Paulson Adebo, adding potency to the unit.
Yet, Giants fans were shocked by the latest ESPN power rankings, which polled over 80 analysts and placed them 32nd.
“No reason to beat around the bush,” Jordan Raanan said. “The Giants added three quarterbacks this offseason: Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston and first-round pick Jaxson Dart. New York ended last season with Drew Lock, Tommy DeVito and Tim Boyle at QB. The idea is to have Wilson and Winston handle most (if not all) of the work, with DeVito as insurance. This will provide Dart with the NFL equivalent of a redshirt year. It’s not perfect for the Giants, but it’s an upgrade on how they ended last season.”
On its face, that feels fairly harsh. New York has a hole at corner and tight end, and it might cap out at average along the offensive line and across Wilson’s new arsenal. The passing game itself projects to be average. Still, the pass rush will be among the best in the league, the defense is due for better turnover luck, and Wilson’s streakiness can be a positive.
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The biggest reason why Giants fans may balk at being last is the competition for that spot.
The New Orleans Saints are another year into their intentional cap hell, without a real starting quarterback. The Carolina Panthers had the league’s worst defense with similar questions at quarterback, the Cleveland Browns are turning to Joe Flacco, and neither the Indianapolis Colts nor Tennessee Titans will enter the season with playoff expectations.
Ultimately, there’s about seven teams that could be ranked below New York. This is a bottom-quartile team and is treated as such, making their placement reasonable, despite valid complaints.
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