Giants Drop in Latest MMQB Power Rankings
And down go the New York Giants, not just in the league standings but in the latest MMQB power ranking poll, which has New York dropping two spots from last week to No. 28 this week.
At this point, there's not much more that can be said about the Giants' somewhat stunning fall from the team that last year caught the league by surprise by going 6-2 in its first eight games, the polar opposite of their 2-6 record posted in the first eight games this year. We know all about the injuries, the head-scratching decisions, the lack of depth, and the other issues that have brought those who follow the Giants back down to earth following an impressive off-season and draft.
Now? Notes MMQB's Conor Orr of the state of the Giants:
Trading Leonard Williams was a massive step forward for the Giants, who wisely “bought” the second-round pick by scooping up a big piece of Williams’ salary. This team was not going anywhere and has so many holes to fill heading into the 2024 draft if it is even slightly interested in competing for the division next year. The Giants’ loss to the Jets was magnified due to the cross-town “rivalry,” but a kicking decision feels like a strange point of gripe for a coach down to his third-string quarterback.
(We disagree with the last statement about the "kicking decision," given how Graham Gano was compromised and the Giants suddenly went away from their plan to ride with Saquon Barkley and the running game, but we digress.)
To Orr's point about the Giants "buying" an extra second-round pick, don't underestimate this move. Not only does having that extra second-round pick allow the Giants to create a package deal if they should have a top-10 draft pick and want to move up for a quarterback, but it also gives them flexibility in that if they decide not to trade up for a quarterback in April's draft, they now are likely to have at least three players in the top 50 of the draft order which should help them with restocking some areas in which they currently need depth.
As for the rest of this season, the Giants have winnable games left on the schedule, but then again, when they've had some winnable games already, they've come up short. It's important to come to grips with the fact that, despite last year's surprising success, this was always going to be a multi-year rebuild for general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll, and that while things don't look particularly promising now, brighter skies hopefully lie ahead.
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