Giants

Giants Overview

The Giants enter the year looking to improve on a dismal 3-13 mark from the 2010 NML season. With some key departures from the division and a QB who has come into his own, the Giants look to compete for a wild-card (if not Division Title) birth. The road ahead will be difficult as they face division the 1st round playoff exiting Eagles and the NML Superbowl Champion Cowboys a collective 4 times during the season.

In addition to their difficult inter-division schedule the Giants also face off against the UFC East and others including the 49ers, Packers and Saints. One thing is for sure, the Giants will need to lean heavily on their newly acquired players to move up in the FFC East this season.

New Faces:

Few teams made higher impact moves than the Giants in the off-season. A complete overhaul of their receiving corps along with some help in the linebacking crew looks to close the gap between the haves and have nots in the FFC East. With NINE new faces, the team looks to recoup after a sub-par season in 2010.

Position Grades:

QB: The time has arrived for Josh Freeman to produce. The much hyped young Kansas State alum, enters the year as a clear number 1 ahead of Matt Leinart and multipurpose rookie QB Tyrod Taylor. Freeman should have plenty of options this season as he looks to fulfill the visions of success the Giants front office hoped for when they procured his services prior to the 2010 NML season. While not proven, Freeman has much room for growth this season; the Giants QB corp gets a B+ heading into the season.

WR: The most exciting additions of the off-season occurred to the Giants Receiving game. The additions include veterans Andre Johnson, Brandon Marshall and speedster Jeremy Maclin. Holding the group together as a "Coach on the Field", the Giants Brass also welcome elder statesman Derrick Mason. While Mason may only have a year or two remaining in his career, he is sure to be an influence on the younger receivers. Any receiving corp with Andre Johnson would receive high marks on first glance, but throw in Brandon Marshall as the #2 and its difficult to give this group anything less than an A.

RB: With the addition of rookie phenom LeGarrette Blount the Giants will look to keep defenses honest by respecting the run. This running back should do just that. With 1 season under his belt, Blount looks to prove to the Giants he can shoulder the load and be the face of the running game. With a high upside, but not many results to back it up; we rank the Giants running game at a B.

OL: The Giants O-line have two good tackles holding down the fort. If your plans include throwing the ball, this is a must. Throw in a solid interior group and the Giants offense is set up to do good things behind the most over-looked group of players in football. As long as they can contain the pressure sure to be brought by their opponents the Giants should do well this season. Grade: B.

D-Line: While all emphasis was put on the WR's during the off-season, the same cannot be said for the D-line. The Giants move forward with their group from last season anchored by defensive end Osi Umenyiora. The Giants front 4 must be able to hold the point of attack and get some pressure on opposing QB's this season. With Tony Romo and Big Ben in their division, pressure is key. We're not totally sold on this group, only time will tell. Grade: C.

Linebackers: Gone are the days of Linebackers leading the NML in receiving TD's. But the 2009 leader, Shawne Merriman, looks to revive his career by joining the G-men's Linebacking Group. Throw in the addition of Demeco Ryans and the Giants look to have a better than average group. Questions surround the coverage ability of Merriman and the overall health of Ryans. Should the group remain healthy, the heart and soul of the defense should be able to keep other teams in check. Grade: B.

Secondary: While strong at safety with all-pro Troy Polamalu leading the way, the Giants are quite thin at the Corner position. The Giants need 2 players to step up this season and be the proven #1 and #2. Whether its either of the Jennings boys, or young speed corner Sam Shields; the Giants must have consistent play. The group is thrown into the fire in week 1 as they face a division foe, Redskins. The saying, "how the Corners go, so go the G-men" will be true this season. We'll grade the group as a B- thanks to Polamalu, but the Corners must show up to play.

Final Thoughts:

With the high profile upgrades at the receiver position, the Giants have the opportunity to be the most improved team from a year ago. With only a 3-13 record, the Giants look to push towards a playoff birth in 2011. Many future early round picks were traded to get the team to a point of competition now. While we're sure the Giants will score a lot of points, we're not sold they won't give up a lot of points either. With that said, we see the Giants going 9-7 this season in a tie for second in the FFC East. Unfortunately, with the depth of teams in the FFC, the Giants will miss out on the playoffs, but not for a lack of effort.