New York Giants Seek to Prove Preseason Ranking Wrong

According to a new report, the Giants are ranked among the bottom feeders of the NFC.

Jul 24, 2024; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants head coach Brian Dabol, left, and general manager Joe Schoen talks with media at Quest Diagnostics Training Facility. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Until proven otherwise, the New York Giants have a long way to go to quell the preseason doubts that rightfully exist about how good of a team they really are.

The latest doubts were expressed in an article ranking the NFC teams. Author Mike Sando of The Athletic ranked the Giants 15th in the conference, one spot ahead of the Carolina Panthers and one spot behind the Washington Commanders, a team the Giants have enjoyed success against in recent years.

It’s not hard to see why those Sando consulted feel the way they do. With the Giants offense gravitating toward becoming more of a passing attack, it will only go as far as the right arm of Daniel Jones will take it.

They also have Devin Singletary, who while a capable running back, is no Saquon Barkley. Singletary had 1,091 all-purpose yards last season for the Texans and could end up being an under-the-radar addition that can benefit the Giants’ offense.

The gem in the Giants' offense is rookie receiver Malik Nabers, of whom much is expected. Nabers has shown that he can be explosive and make defenders look silly, but that has been during training camp and preseason when defensive coordinators haven’t game-planned against him. Still, there is great optimism that Nabers will have a solid rookie campaign.

But it all comes down to Jones, of whom an unnamed NFL executive told Sando that the Giants need to get back to what worked with him from 2022.

“Their best chance with Daniel Jones is to do what they did a couple of years ago: Go heavy play-action, simple boots with simple reads, and scheme those guys to be open,” the executive said. “There is definitely a ceiling there. Unless they know something we all don’t, they are kind of existing.”

The Giants' defense appears to be the lesser of the two evils for the Giants. New York has a tremendous front seven, with the acquisition of outside linebacker Brian Burns in the offseason being one that may have put the unit over the hump.

The question for the Giants' defense will be whether it can stop the run. Last season the Giants ranked 29th against the run (132.4 yards/game), a slight decline from 2022, the first year of the Brian Daboll era when the Giants' run defense finished 27th (144.2 yards/game).