I think a lot of speculation of whether they are a playoff team originates with the media but I know everyone has their own opinion so here is mine. They have quality depth at CB and safty positions. Jon Beason manning MLB is what the giants need and I think Paysinger and Williams are solid starters particularly Williams if he stays healthy can guard those big athletic Tightends. McCLain was a great pickup, so their linebacking squad is solid. The DL does need work, but to say the DE position is not above average is beyond me. Mathias is getting up there but with JPP healthy and Ayers being in the rotation the Gmens DEs have solid rotation, if Moore progresses from last year and becomes apart of this rotation the Giants will have a really good pass rush. On the Ol there are questions but I do think the depth helps them and will be better this coming year compared to last year. Eli will clearly have a better year as statistically shown and I think the Rb squad is average enough. that being said I do believe the giants can go 9-7 with their current roster. I think getting Ebron or Evans could make their offense more lethal. But an LT would give them stability on the OL for the future.
Also in general too soon to tell.
Schwartz is an upgrade over Boothe and it's safe to assume Pugh will improve. The rest of the line is question marks.
Can Randle step up as the #1 receiver. We've seen the offense sputter in the past when Cruz was double teamed.
Unproven tight end core, both in receiving and run blocking.
Right now:
The OL upgrades are questionable.
There is no TE
No WR2
DL is worse than last year
LB is mediocre to bad
Does not seem like a playoff team - at least not one I'm willing to bet on.
In regards to the original question, yes, I think on paper this team is a playoff contender. In the NFL so many things change week to week that it doesn't really matter at this point who looks good on paper, but I think the Giants are absolutely playoff contenders as things stand on April 14th.
Right now:
The OL upgrades are questionable.
There is no TE
No WR2
DL is worse than last year
LB is mediocre to bad
Does not seem like a playoff team - at least not one I'm willing to bet on.
1. The OL upgrades are questionable? I disagree. Are they enough? Unknown at this point, but the upgrades are legit so far.
2. I'd guess that we will have a TE soon, but at this point no, we don't have a TE.
3. We drafted a guy fairly high who's going into his 3rd year. He's shown flashes of talent and big play ability. It's time for Randle to step up.
4. Dline is better than last year. We didn't have JPP last year, he's healthy now. We made a lateral move on the other side and we have a high draft pick to replace LJ.
5. I already mentioned the LB's, but I think you are exagerrating a TON.
No, probably not. They'll likely be better than they were in 2013, but there's a good chance it won't show up in their record, which was obviously inflated.
The roster just isn't very good unless you get caught up in the quantity of moves made this offseason.
Quote:
on it today I'd say no. Need to see the final product.
Right now:
The OL upgrades are questionable.
There is no TE
No WR2
DL is worse than last year
LB is mediocre to bad
Does not seem like a playoff team - at least not one I'm willing to bet on.
1. The OL upgrades are questionable? I disagree. Are they enough? Unknown at this point, but the upgrades are legit so far.
2. I'd guess that we will have a TE soon, but at this point no, we don't have a TE.
3. We drafted a guy fairly high who's going into his 3rd year. He's shown flashes of talent and big play ability. It's time for Randle to step up.
4. Dline is better than last year. We didn't have JPP last year, he's healthy now. We made a lateral move on the other side and we have a high draft pick to replace LJ.
5. I already mentioned the LB's, but I think you are exagerrating a TON.
The only OL upgrade I think you can count on today is Schwartz over Boothe. Boothe wasn't great, but he wasn't the major problem. Beatty is a question, Walton is a question, Snee is a question.
Reese himself said he didn't know if Randle could be a #2 WR. Maybe that was motivation, but normally a vote of confidence would have been given.
DL is questionable. I said I was evaluating the roster today, so you have Joseph being replaced by Hankins. And Tuck by Ayers/Moore. Who knows if JPP is back. You never bought Tuck's talk, why buy into JPP before seeing it? Until I see it, the line is worse than last year.
And you think the Giants LB's are better than mediocre?
NO X
No WR depth in fact. MM is coming off injury, JJ is promoted from useless to let's see more. Cruz is proven but coming off injury too.
TE corps is all useless.
3/5 OL spots are questionable.
New system. Will we do well or will it take more than 1 year which we may not have?
3rd year WR's usually take their game to the next level. Randle is primed for a bigger role. The emergence of Jernigan should be noted as well.
JPP is a beast. He's a year removed from back surgery and apparently his shoulder is fine. What talk am I buying? We've seen what the dude can do when healthy and now he's in a contract year. We drafted Hankins high, probably expecting him to take over for LJ. The other end position is a lateral move, IMO.
Beason for a full season and offseason, an incredible secondary, a healthy JPP and a new attitude. This defense has the potential to be nasty(contingent on JPP).
So even in the context of blindly guessing at things we couldn't possibly know, this thread stands out as especially improbable to actually offer any real insight.
Neither will any other team ad currently constituated in the NFL. Every team will add 6, 8, 10 or 12 players to their rosters betwenn now and REGULAR season. Rosters will continue to change after that.
All 32 teams in the NFL share the same talent pool. The difference between the very best team in the league and the very worst is mostly about coaching, chemistry and luck.
Take the top 5 guys from the Seahawks, put 'em on the Texans and the Texans arguably have the better talent. Going into last year Texans and Seahawks were about even bets to win Super Bowl.
The Giants may or may not be a playoff team in 2014, but IMHO anyone who says they won't be talented enough to make the playoffs is just plain wrong.
they haven't even started OTAs yet, for heaven's sake.
The defense should be good. If you add an elite JPP, it will be very good (barring injury catastrophe of course).
The offense could be anything really. 2013 was one of the worst offenses in the league. We had among the worst OL and QB performances in the league. If the OL doesn't improve and Eli is again among the 5 worst QBs in the league, we'll have a terrible offense and probably end up with double digit losses. If Eli can get up to the Tannehill/Dalton tier, we could challenge for the NFC East. And if he gets back to actually being good, the team might actually be good.
If I were to bet even odds on the post-season, I'd bet that we'd miss it though.
1. How will the new system effect him and our slot guys?
2. With Cruz healthy, how much PT is he going to get?
JPP and Moore will both miss having Tuck around as a mentor. Both still have a lot of growing to do.
He could but he could also be a flash in the pan like a bazillion others. Of course I'm hoping he won't be but for now, he's not someone I would be counting on.
Get a top T or G in the draft and yes we are a playoff team.
Its all on the offense and especially the offensive line. It all fell apart because of the line last year. We signed four lineman with starting experience so far. I thought Snee was done but after reading that article about a month ago my opinion has changed. He's already back working out and at full strength. He feels terrific so I have moderate hopes he'll hold up. I think Jerry, Mosley is nice backup depth. Obviously Schwartz is a huge upgrade. I count they sign Walden if he didn't show he was healthy. We do need a backup center in the draft and maybe another tackle although I like the Brown move for depth. Fix the line and everything will fall into place. Yeah we can draft a WR and TE but Eli will make my 93 year old grandma look good if he's got time in the pocket. Fix the line.
And even with all that we still finished 7-9. Should we be expected to be a game or two difference better already? Uuuuhh. Yes. Especially with Eli's and Coughlin's track record.
And i never LOL, it's beneath me, but you said Walton is A BIG upgrade??? BIG upgrade? A guy who hasn't played in two years, was cut by the shitty Redskins is a big upgrade over a center who controlled Vince Wilfork in a Super Bowl and was able to step in at guard and slide over to center without missing a beat? Walton is undersized, and so so and coming off of a huge layoff due to a devastating lower leg injury and he's a big upgrade? JFC you're stupid.
I don't know whether this is a playoff team, but I have a much better feeling about them than I did at the beginning of the offseason.
I'd like to add another OL caution; these guys will not only need to perform at their individual positions, but also as a unit.
If they don't gel within the first quarter of the season, it could get very ugly, indeed. If they do gel, however, I can see this as being at least a competent group.
And i never LOL, it's beneath me, but you said Walton is A BIG upgrade??? BIG upgrade? A guy who hasn't played in two years, was cut by the shitty Redskins is a big upgrade over a center who controlled Vince Wilfork in a Super Bowl and was able to step in at guard and slide over to center without missing a beat? Walton is undersized, and so so and coming off of a huge layoff due to a devastating lower leg injury and he's a big upgrade? JFC you're stupid.
Hold on a second there hothead. You might need to take a nap, you seem to be a little on edge. Slow your role, your original thought on me was spot on. As far as the rest of your post, I disagree with a lot of it.
I love Tuck and LJ but their value is now overrated after being underrated while they wore blue. Funny how BBI works
IMO the success of this team comes down to improving the interior OL and generating more pass rush from the DE position. They need to draft a G and bring in one more vet OL for me to sleep easy.
1. The Giants think Hankins can replace LJ
2. The Giants plan on drafting a DT
3. The Giants think Hankins can at least fill a role at DT and someone else can fill LJ's role.
4. A combination of the above.
As far as Tuck, I have a completely different opinion of him as a player than the angry dude above. I don't believe it will be hard to replace what he brings to the team at this point in his career. He hasn't been a threat for most of the past 3 seasons except for a few strethes(albeing one of those stretches helped lead us to a SB).