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The New York Giants have garnered a slew of positive approval ratings this offseason. While not everyone is ready to crown Big Blue NFC East Champs (Nate Burelson excluded), it’s widely accepted that the franchise is heading in the right direction.
However, one media member is forcefully excluding himself from that party. NBC Sports’ Peter King, who has made his fair share of disapproving comments regarding the Giants, and more specifically general manager Dave Gettleman, over the past few months, has the G-Men in the cellars of his latest power rankings.
Peter King: Giants ‘Far Removed From Being Any Sort of Factor’
30. New York Giants (4-12)
Steelers, Niners, Rams, Cowboys in the first month, and Seattle, Baltimore and Dallas in the last month: Welcome to the new job, Joe Judge. The Giants are pretty far removed from being any sort of factor in the NFL. The last playoff win was the Super Bowl trimming of the Patriots nine seasons ago. The Giants appear to be in good shape at the most important position, with Daniel Jones coming off a good freshman season (despite 23 turnovers) as Eli Manning’s heir; Saquon Barkley’s obviously an impact running back. But questions abound everywhere else.
King Doesn’t Trust Giants’ Defense
As King notes, Big Blue’s days of hoisting Lombardi Trophies in the late 2000s, early 2010s are long gone. In fact, New York’s had just one winning season over the past seven years. While King sang Saquon Barkley’s praises (as everyone should) and appears to sign off on Daniel Jones as the heir apparent to Eli Manning, he clearly doesn’t see the two as enough to help the Giants get back to their winning ways. Mostly due to their defense, or lack thereof it.
The pass-rush and secondary are both lacking, with or without 2019 first-round cornerback Deandre Baker, a suspect in an armed robbery in Florida. New York allowed the 30th-most points per game last year, gave up a passer rating of 101.4, and their leading returning pass-rusher, Oshane Ximines, had 4.5 sacks. New defensive coordinator Patrick Graham has a big job, figuring out where to get pressure and how to cover up holes in the secondary. The Giants need Nate Solder to play to his late New England level; he slipped last year. It’s likely GM Dave Gettleman drafted New York’s long-term tackles this year—Andrew Thomas and Matt Peart, in the first and third rounds. But if the Giants are this low in the NFL hierarchy come the new year, Gettleman might not be around to see the futures of Thomas and Peart. I trust the Giants to score. I don’t trust them to defend.
New York’s placement, while a bit low compared to other outlets’ power rankings, shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. While the Giants are building what they hope to be a competitive team to challenge for division titles in the near future, 12 total wins over the past three seasons leaves much to be desired.
The only two teams to rank lower than Big Blue on King’s rankings were the division rival Washington Redskins (No. 31) and Jacksonville Jaguars (No. 32).
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