Perpetual Rebuilders or Potential Contenders? Where Do Giants Fall?

Could the days of inept New York Giants football finally be coming to an end?

That’s the belief held by Thomas Valentine of Pro Football Focus, who, in a new analysis, puts the Giants in the category of contender, thanks in part to the hire of new head coach John Harbaugh, a proven winner from his time in Baltimore.

Harbaugh has put together what is largely viewed as a strong assistant coaching staff, which is headlined by former Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, former Titans defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson, and former Ravens special teams coordinator Chris Horton, all guys who crossed paths professionally with Harbaugh at one point or another during his time in Baltimore.

In addition to the strong staff, the Giants have a solid young nucleus around whom they can build on both sides of the ball. Defensively, the Giants’ strength is their front seven, led by defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence and outside linebackers Brian Burns and Abdul Carter.

Offensively, the Giants are likely to build around quarterback Jaxson Dart, who, despite finishing 27th among quarterbacks according to PFF’s grading metrics, is a player who is on the rise.

Despite there being some slight trepidation on the part of PFF about Dart, the signal caller accomplished what he was able to do last year.

That included working his name into consideration for Offensive Rookie of the Year honors despite not having top receiver Malik Nabers and without running back Cam Skattebo.

Dart’s accomplishments–he led all rookie quarterbacks in scoring–have fueled visions of what the Giants offense under Dart might look like with the return of both those players and another game-changing receiver who could be coming to East Rutherford via the draft.

On the rise

The Giants are still going to need to make believers out of their critics, largely because there have been too many times when the team has looked good on paper or began the offseason trending in the right direction only to have things fall apart at the seams and leave their fan base disappointed.

The Giants, Valentine correctly concludes, aren’t a “full-fledged” contender just yet. There are still personnel decisions to be made, such as what to do with their top pending unrestricted free agents like receiver Wan’Dale Robinson, right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, and cornerback Cor’Dale Flott.

They also need some reinforcement in areas of the team where they are thin, like linebacker, defensive line depth, guard, and tight end.

And of course, the Giants could use a bit of a break from the injury bug, which has seemingly put the Giants in the top 10 league-wide of most-injured teams consistently.

But the good news is that with Harbaugh at the helm, the Giants have an experienced and successful head coach who knows what winning looks like and how to get to that point, unlike the team’s prior string of head coaches, many of whom were novices who had the vision but lacked the know-how in how to bring that vision to life.

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On the rise

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