By Peter Valentino
In the span of a week, the Giants have gone from laughingstock to complete comedy act with the benching of Eli Manning. The final act was the firing of head coach Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese on Monday, generating a lot of positive buzz. That being said, this team is still 2-10, and is currently on pace to getting the second overall pick, if the team doesn’t win another game. Owner John Mara understands that the whole team and front office needs an overhaul, and it is also known that the head coaching and general manager are two prized professions in football. The general manager is going to have his work cut out for him, but there will certainly be a lot of needs that must be addressed.
The first point of focus must be on the offensive line. This has been a problem since 2013 when the Giants started the season 0-6 with an offense that was also in shambles. Fast forward to 2017, and the line is still terrible. Ereck Flowers is improving slower than the rate of a melting iceberg and John Jerry is not an option for the future. Even though the team was 11-5 last year, the line was awful in 2016, and was barely addressed in the offseason. With Justin Pugh being the most consistent lineman since 2013, he must be re-signed, and Weston Richburg should also be considered. The team is hampered by a tight cap from their signings in 2016, but there must be one form of continuity on that line. I would personally move Flowers inside or to right tackle. While he is improving, the team needs to have a competent left tackle to protect the quarterback’s blindside.
This brings me to my second point: the successor to Eli. Eli’s future is now muddled with the Giants due to his benching, and while he probably will start another game this year, he may not be in a blue uniform next year. I believe, as many do, in the Giants organization, that the team will go quarterback in the first round, but the question comes from whether or not Eli will be able to mentor the incoming rookie. Unless he can learn from Geno Smith, Eli will hopefully be there. If not, the team should trade him to a team like Jacksonville or Denver, however, the team should be prepared to draft a quarterback who is ready to start right out the gate. This is why the line should be the team’s paramount priority in free agency. The team should also go after a real starting running back, and this draft will be stacked enough at running back to get one in the later rounds.
The defense’s problem centers around the linebacker position. The team hasn’t drafted a linebacker in the first round since 1984, and that streak probably won’t end this year with the team’s multitude of other needs. However, in a division with Jason Witten, Zach Ertz and Jordan Reed, you need to have linebackers that can defend against these great tight ends, which the Giants haven’t had since Antonio Pierce. BJ Goodson deserves a fair shot, but there is an immense drop off afterwards. The defense as a whole has a plethora of players that have huge contracts, although these contracts were frontloaded in 2016. Jason Pierre-Paul’s contract is up there with some of the worst contracts in the NFL, and the Giants aren’t getting out of that until 2021. Damon Harrison and Janoris Jenkins frontloaded their contracts, so a bit more space will be cleared if the team becomes competitive at some point during the rebuild. The team should focus on making its offense competent and its defense dominant. Landon Collins is a stud and should get an extension tomorrow, so the team does have the pieces to have an incredible defense, if they find a great linebacker.
The Giants fix their franchise starting with their line starting this free agency, drafting Eli’s successor this year and bolstering their linebacking core. The team is still a ways away from ever being competitive, but the future began with the firing of McAdoo and Reese. The next era in Giants football has begun.
