Slouching Towards Passaic: A Giants Preview (with bonus game thread that will illustrate many points!)

Before I get into the meat of the preview I would like to say that anything positive typed below should be offset by the fact that the schedule begins with Commies, Cowboys, Chiefs, Chargers, Saints, Eagles, Broncos and Eagles again.

General Outlook:

I’m just so glad that Saquon and Dimes have been sorted out and are in the rearview mirror. What transpired with both of them seemed to be a rock around the neck of the franchise that weighed heavily on all moves/trades/signings done afterwards and it was tiring. Also, I bear no ill will towards Saquon and the amount of success he’s had. Maybe I’ve just seen so many other players, good and bad, come and go. And Daniel Jones? He’s a starter again! Is the o-line above average? The reason I ask is because the poor (not in the pocketbook) kid has not played behind a competent line since high school. That is not hyperbole.

The Draft:

If Abdul Carter is half the player he seemed to be in camp there’s another wrecking ball on the line to accompany Dexter Lawrence. Some contrarians regarded him as the most gifted athletically in this draft, better even than that two-way kid. The consensus is that there will be four starters from this class along with five other guys drafted last year. I’m of the opinion that a strong d-line improves a secondary and vice-versa. The theory being that if pressure can be put on the qb quickly the lousy corners don’t have to guard their fella for as long. And it works the other way as well-a few shutdown corners can give pass rushers extra time to get to the qb or at least disrupt his processing. Dexter, Carter, Thibodeaux, Burns and Nunes-Roches are a fantastic unit-perhaps the D will finish in the top 20!

The QB Room/The Offense:

Look, Wilson is a shadow of his former self. He can’t/won’t run, he loves the short pass and refuses to throw to intermediate routes. Yes, he still has that “Moonball” of his which is the long pass outside the hashmarks so Nabors and Slayton should be happy but the happiest of all will be Wan’dale Robinson, all 186 pounds of him. Last year he had 140 targets (insane) and 93 catches for, well, he had to have a 1000 yards with that kind of volume, right? Nope, he didn’t reach 800. (799, but still) What that means is he caught the ball, got tackled, caught the ball, got tackled. There will be a lot more of the same this year until he gets injured. Wilson was named starter but there is a race to get Jaxson Dart onto the field as soon as possible. Do you think Daboll is going to sink or swim with Charmslinger after the finagling they did to get the Ole Miss alum? C’mon man! Oh right, say goodbye to that Cutlet kid, there’s not enough room in the kitchen.

Coda:

In summation, the Giants are going to be an improved team but [nods towards first paragraph] it won’t result in many more wins. The only games that look ‘easy’ are those vs the Pats, Bears and Raiders and the Giants are more than capable of dropping those. But they could steal a game here or there as well. My guess is 5-12.

Exhibition Ball:

Steelers/Panthers: 7pm EST

Pats/Giants: 8pm EST

Have at it.