Giants Hit Lowest Point in NFL Power Rankings Despite Strong Start to Offseason

If you asked the average New York Giants fan about the organization's offseason direction, most would likely express strong approval.

Meanwhile, NFL analysts have viewed Big Blue differently, providing more skeptical takes as a new era starts under head coach John Harbaugh.

These loyal fans have endured years of poor football since the Giants last won the Lombardi Trophy.

That includes the 2025 season, when there were very few positives to draw from another sub-4-win record for the franchise, which also saw the locker room conjure up more ways to lose football games than to flip the script in their favor.

Hiring Harbaugh as head coach was almost enough on its own to convince fans that better days are ahead.

Then came their earliest roster improvements in free agency, adding capable talent to both sides of the ball, mostly at bargain-basement prices. Still, the list of analysts who are dying to see more continues to grow as the frenzy quiets down and all eyes turn towards the draft in April.

The newest person in that line is SI.com writer Connor Orr, who published his own post-free agency power rankings and was not kind in his assessment of New York's efforts this offseason.

While other analysts have held the Giants in contempt at the bottom third of the league order, Orr went a little further and buried them at their lowest point, No. 27 overall, ahead of only the Raiders, Jets, Browns, Dolphins, and Cardinals.

"We can all agree that the addition of John Harbaugh was the largest move the Giants made this offseason, though it’s hard not to love bringing in both Isaiah Likely and Patrick Ricard, who, like Charlie Kolar and Alec Ingold in Los Angeles, will have an immediate impact on the security of the quarterback," Orr said.

"Harbaugh’s professional sheen will give the Giants a shield against the chaos for one offseason, allowing the organization to function similarly to how it did during the heyday of the Tom Coughlin era. "

What More Do the Giants Need to Do to Start Swaying Opinions?

Feb 24, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Orr's placement of the Giants alongside these teams wasn't shocking, as he often ranked them similarly during the 2025 season.

Watching his opinion not only stay the same but actually drop further than those of other analysts after some of the Giants' early successful free-agent swings is where the comparison becomes puzzling.

Beyond the hiring of Harbaugh, which has been highly touted across the league, the two main priorities for the Giants' brass were to improve their cap space and surround their new centerpiece, quarterback Jaxson Dart, with more of the right pieces he needed to take the next step in his play.

GM Joe Schoen and Harbaugh have met those goals by releasing underperforming veterans with big cap hits.

With the new funds, the duo has brought in a few bright free agents, including some of Harbaugh's former Baltimore Ravens players, who will fill critical roles for the offense or add new elements to both sides of the roster.

The only question left for Orr and others is this: What evidence do they need from the Giants to shift the narrative and believe the organization can return to playoff contention this fall?

For starters, they need to look through all remaining avenues to add depth to both their offensive and defensive lines, which had lingering weaknesses last season.

The interior is a grave concern for the former unit and might need to be addressed in the first or second rounds of the draft to find the best player available. Schoen finally made an addition to the latter with the latest signing of veteran defensive tackle Sam Roberts to help shore up the depth at nose tackle.

A lot of credence could also be given to the top prospect the Giants choose to take with their No. 5 selection. The ultimate player remains up in the air and will likely be determined by how the board falls to them and which best available prospect is left to strengthen one of their key needs.

Perhaps what folks like Orr are really waiting for is the results that come on the gridiron beginning in Week 1. There have been some influential hires of longtime head coaches at their second or third NFL stint, and their success with their prior team doesn't always carry over to a new city.

Offseason moves generate reactions, but performance on Sundays will ultimately define the Giants' standing.

Don't be surprised if the Giants outperform both analysts' expectations and the teams Orr ranked ahead of them.

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