The Giants are coming off a very solid season last year, but they were embarrassed in a 23-0 home loss to Carolina in the playoffs. They did not make too many adjustments on offense and should have the same 11 starters. The biggest offensive addition is second-round pick WR Sinorice Moss (Miami-FL). Moss will line up in the slot and gives Eli Manning another option. Those waiting for Eli to mature into his older brother are misguided. Eli Manning has the potential to develop into a one of the better starters in the NFL, but he will never be an especially accurate passer and does not have the same meticulous approach as Peyton. He struggled with his consistency in the second half last season, and it will probably be something that plagues him his entire career.
Tiki Barber is still the offensive leader of this team, and if they feed him the ball 357 times again (not to mention his 54 receptions), he is bound to get injured or at least wear down by the end of the year. The offensive line has no one special, but four of them will be entering at least their third year together. The line has improved each year due to the continuity. The one exception is Kareem McKenzie (last year was his first season), but he is one of the better right tackles in the league.
The defense gets a huge lift with LB Lavar Arrington (Washington). He was too much of a risk-taker for Gregg Williams in Washington, but he should fit in nicely as a playmaker in New York. Opposing quarterbacks cannot be looking forward to Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora getting help from Arrington in the pass-rush. The team also added DE Mathias Kiwanuka (Boston College). He will not start, but the Giants will rack up a lot of sacks if you add him to the aforementioned players as part of a third-down blitz package.
The secondary was a weakness last year, and the Giants addressed that in free agency. They swapped CB Sam Madison and CB Will Allen with the Dolphins; both have had durability and consistency issues. Madison was once a shutdown corner in this league, but the 32-year-old does not always bring his best anymore. Overall, Madison and Allen are probably equal players in skill level. However, Madison excels is his man-to-man cover skills (a weakness for Allen), which is what the Giants need from a corner. The Giants will play tight man-to-man coverage and depend on their excellent pass-rushers to put pressure on the quarterback. It would have been a huge lift if CB Will Peterson (retired) could have come back from his injury problems. FS Will Demps should help improve the secondary, but Demps is not that great in coverage and certainly benefited from playing alongside SS Ed Reed and LB Ray Lewis in Baltimore. The rest of the defensive unit is just average with the exception of MLB Antonio Pierce. Overall, the defense should be improved and will be near the top of the league in sacks.
The Giants should be a better team than they were last season, especially on defense. It might take the secondary awhile for all the new faces to get on the same page. If an offensive line can counter their blitz or a quarterback can scramble to avoid it, then they might be vulnerable to the big play. However, they were a good team last year and will be again. The backup quarterback situation is bleak with Rob Johnson (Oakland) and Tim Hasselbeck. Their biggest enemy is the schedule. The reward for finishing first in the division is a matchup with Chicago and a trip to Seattle for the second straight season. Washington gets Minnesota and St. Louis, Dallas draws Arizona and Detroit, and Philadelphia plays San Francisco and Green Bay. It will be hard for New York to win the division unless they can consistently beat the rest of the NFC East.
Key Additions: LB Lavar Arrington (WAS), CB Sam Madison (MIA), FS Will Demps (BAL), WR Sinorice Moss (R), DE Mathias Kiwanuka (R)
Key Losses: CB Will Allen (MIA), CB Will Peterson (ret)
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