Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Dustin James Preview's The 2014-15 NFL Season: New York Giants

New York Giants

Head Coach: Tom Coughlin (90-70 overall in New York, 158-130 all-time)

Last Year's Results: 7-9, no playoffs

Projected Starters:

(My Player Rankings Guide:
E - Elite Starter: Franchise changing player at his position
HQ - High Quality Starter: One of the best in the game at his position
GS - Good Starter: If this guy's on your team, he's likely starting and you should be perfectly fine with it
AS - Average Starter: This guy is OK, but if possible, I'd be looking for an upgrade
BAS - Below Average Starer: This guy should not be starting, but he will because he's the best option
??? - Not enough information regarding this guy and the jury is still out on him
R - Rookie: Pretty self-explanatory
PS - Poor Starter: This guy shouldn't be starting for your football team. NO EXCUSES!)

OFFENSE:
QB: Eli Manning (GS)
RB: Rashad Jennings (GS)
FB: John Conner (HQ)
WR: Victor Cruz (GS)
WR: Rueben Randle (AS)
TE: Adrien Robinson (??)
C: J.D. Walton (BAS)
RG: John Jerry (PS)
LG: Geoff Schwartz (HQ)
RT: Justin Pugh (AS)
LT: Will Beatty (AS)

DEFENSE:
DE: Robert Ayers (AS)
DE: Jason Pierre-Paul (GS)
DT: Johnathan Hankins (??)
DT: Cullen Jenkins (GS)
WLB: Spencer Paysinger (AS)
MLB: Jon Beason (BAS)
SLB: Jameel McClain (PS)
CB: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (HQ)
CB: Walter Thurmond (GS)
SS: Antrel Rolle (GS)
FS: Quintin Demps (PS)

SPECIAL TEAMS:
K: Josh Brown
P: Steve Weatherford

Schedule:
vs. @ Detroit
vs. Arizona
vs. Houston
vs. @ Washington
vs. Atlanta
vs. @ Philadelphia
vs. @ Dallas
BYE WEEK
vs. Indianapolis
vs. @ Seattle
vs. San Francisco
vs. Dallas
vs. @ Jacksonville
vs. @ Tennessee
vs. Washington
vs. @ St. Louis
vs. Philadelphia

Predicted Results: 8-8 (3-3 in division), miss playoffs

Team Analysis: Something happened to the New York Giants last year. The usually consistent Giants looked lost at the beginning of the season. New York opened the season losing their first six games and looking completely disgusting in the process. QB Eli Manning was easily playing the worst football of his career and it looked as though the team had given up on Tom Coughlin and were easy spiraling towards getting the #1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. Then a flip got switched. After losing the first six games of the season, New York went on to finish the season 7-3 and actually looked like a completely different team than the one that was playing at the beginning of the year (minus the shut out against the Seahawks of course...). Well, which Giants team are we going to get this year? The one that started 0-6 or the one that finished 7-3?

On offense, the Giants should be improved. I don't know what's going on with Eli Manning, but the Super Bowl winning quarterback played like crap last season. He had the worst year of his career since his rookie season. The Giant's will not return to championship form as long as Manning is throwing nearly 30 interceptions a year. Eli has some nice targets to throw to this year, so he won't have many excuses (outside of an ugly offensive line) as to why he's not playing like he did in 2011. The team lost running back David Wilson to retirement a few weeks ago, but they have Rashad Jennings and Andre Williams in the backfield that will create a nice little tandem. Where I'm really expecting the Giants to shine on offense is with the wide receivers. Victor Cruz is consistently one of the best WR's in the NFL year-in and year-out. He's joined by Reuben Randle and rookie Odell Beckham, who's coming in with a lot of hype. The Giants should be fun to watch on offense as long as Eli can protect the football. That may be asking a lot, but if he can return to his 2011 form, the Giants will be fun to watch offensively.

On defense though, the Giants are pretty much about average. They don't really have an elite player anywhere on the defense. They are lacking depth and talent at the linebacker position, but the defensive line is pretty good (like usual....). The most talented unit on the defense is easily the secondary, but even still, that unit could use an upgrade or two. I like most of the talent that they have, but Quintin Demps wasn't that good in Kansas City and I don't think he's going to be any better in New York. The Giants aren't going to be one of those teams that's going to win games by shutting the other team's offense down. They are going to need the offense to put up points if this team is going to win any games. Can Eli Manning return to his Super Bowl winning form or will he continue to regress? That will ultimately be what sinks or floats this ship known as the New York Giants.

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