Giants face important season ahead
The New York Giants took a major step in the right direction forward in 2016. Despite many beliving they weer going to be an afterthought in the standings, New York went 11-5, beating the Dallas Cowboys in both meeting before losing in the NFC Wild Card round to the Green Bay Packers.
The offseason saw general manager Jerry Reese add wide receiver Brandon Marshall to the fold, pairing him with the explosive Odell Beckham Jr. The defense, which was the league’s best over the second half of the season, went virtually unchanged.
Now, a veteran-laden Giants team has the chance to dethrone the Cowboys and claim the NFC East for its own.New York should be even better, simply by adding a future Hall of Famer in Marshall while getting more experience in the system defensively. Few teams can match the talent on that side of the ball, which includes Damon Harrison, Jason Pierre-Paul, Landon Collins, Janoris Jenkins and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.
Much of the offseason talk has centered around Beckham, who enters the fourth year of his career with a bit of scrutiny. Although he has been brilliant throughout his career, questions linger about a man who gets as much attention for his one-handed grabs as for his love affair with a kicking net. Then, Beckham decided to skip all the voluntary OTA sessions, further making fans wonder.
Still, Beckham insists there is nothing to talk about on that front. Per ESPN:
“I don’t think so,” he said at the Citi Odell Beckham Jr. Football ProCamp at Kean University, which attracted close to 600 campers. “I think this might be the most [I’ve been ready] in my lifetime. In every which way, I just feel it there. … I’ve really been training, and to have these next six weeks to get another opportunity to train, it’s going to be great.
“Just like you said — mentally, physically, spiritually, everything. I don’t think I’ve been as ready as I am now.”
The Cowboys wont be easy to topple in the division, but the Giants have proven to both have their number, and possess the requisite talent to make a run. New York also has the benefit of Dallas playing against a first-place schedule, after the Cowboys had a last-place docket in 2016.
New York and Dallas should give us one of the best races in the league come September, with both showcasing excellent rosters. Still, the best teams tend to win consistently with defense, a place where the Giants have a clear advantage over their counterparts from the south.
