The New York Giants haven’t been getting a lot of love from national media analysts even after going through a massive roster rebuild that included five new offensive linemen, a premier edge rusher in outside linebacker Brian Burns, and a top receiving prospect in Malik Nabers.
While the naysayers will point to the still unanswered questions about the team, such as the quarterback problem, the loss of running back Saquon Barkley, and others, SI.com’s Albert Breer named the Giants a dark horse to make a Super Bowl run this year.
“In the NFC, I think I’d give you the New York Giants if you want a true dark horse,” Breer wrote in his June 26 mailbag.
“They need development from 2022 first-rounder Kayvon Thibodeaux. They need to figure it out at quarterback, whether it’s Daniel Jones or, if things break wrong for him, Drew Lock.
“But their rookie class looked dynamite in the spring. I think Brian Burns might be the best acquisition of the offseason, and they were really good two years ago.”
Breer might very well be the first member of the national media to use “Giants,” “Super Bowl,” and “this year” in a sentence. Still, it’s nice to see someone who views the glass as half full regarding the job done so far by general manager Je Schoen to fix an underachieving roster from last year.
Breer is correct in saying that the Giants need to resolve their quarterback situation. The team is planning to run it back with Daniel Jones, who has vowed to be fully ready to start training camp later this month despite still rehabbing from a torn ACL.
Head coach Brian Daboll is also strongly leaning toward taking over the playcalling, as evidenced by his doing that role throughout the spring. The Giants are hoping that their defensive front, upgraded thanks to the addition of Burns, gets home more often against opposing quarterbacks.
Other questions need to be resolved, specifically the offensive line, which has been a problem for much of the last decade-plus. The hope is that Carmen Bricillo, hired during the off-season, continues his impressive streak of getting offensive lines to perform at an acceptable level.
Another big question no one has discussed but should be is whether this team can avoid the rash of injuries that seem to hit it hard every season.
