Are the Giants Legitimate NFC East Contenders?

The NFC East title has alternated between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles each of the past four seasons. Sports Illustrated's Gary Gramling and Cowboys Maven Mike fisher don't see that changing in 2020.

In The MMQB's recent 2020 division preview series, Gramling and Fisher project Dallas and Philadelphia to contend for first place in the NFC East, while the Giants watch from a distant third place.

On the outlook of 2020, the on-paper expectations for the four teams match Gramling and Fisher's projection.

Philadelphia and Dallas each boast rosters loaded with top-end veteran talent and young franchise quarterbacks that have already led multiple playoff pushes early in their careers.

The Giants have neither.

They have a new coaching staff led by a first-time head coach, one of the youngest rosters in the NFL, significant question marks at several key positions, and a second-year quarterback with a 3-9 career record.

On paper, the Giants appear to be in a rebuild--and that's because they are.

But the Giants' odds to win the NFC East, in August, aren't necessarily indicative of the direction they are headed in as a franchise. That will be determined when the games actually start and reveal what type of progress first-year head coach Joe Judge makes with the Giants' young group.

RELATED: ESPN's Bullish Ranking on the Giants Young Talent Revealed

Giants general manager Dave Gettleman has made drastic personnel moves since taking over at the tail end of 2017 to bring the Giants where they are at the onset of 2020.

He traded away high-priced veteran stars like wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., defensive ends Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon, and defensive tackle Damon Harrison.

He's also flushed out and replaced every previous starter on the offensive line and in the defensive secondary. And perhaps most importantly, Gettleman has made 26 draft picks in the past three years, the most the Giants have made since 1991-93.

In 2020, the Giants are looking to coin a new start and a new identity behind the leadership of Judge and arm of second-year quarterback Daniel Jones, who is entering his first season as a full-time starter.

If the new-look Giants can turn the corner from their uncharacteristic 12-win stretch over the past three seasons, it will indicate success, even if it doesn't yield a division title.

The expectations for the Cowboys and Eagles are just different. Anything shy of a playoff berth at least would be a massive underachievement for either team while the Giants are "playing with house money" in 2020.

And if Judge and Jones turn the corner, that might be all it takes in the naturally unpredictable landscape of NFC East standings to make a run at a division title.

Whether the Giants can contend for the NFC East crown could be determined between Weeks 5-10, a stretch that features five of the six divisional games the Giants will play all year.

Week 5 will mark the start of the Giants' hopes to contend for an NFC East title in 2020. And for Judge and Jones and the rest of the Giants, there aren't many better stages in the NFL to disprove expectations and forge a new organizational direction than an NFC East showdown, let alone five in six weeks.

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