OL and IF Cruz can be productive and stay healthy. RR needs to have a strong contract year and not get fined or benched. If we can protect Eli and those things happen sure. There are a lot of "What Ifs" though. So for me it is a wait and see on the other factors.
I agree 100% with you but, on the flip side, you have to factor Vereen in as well. He will help Eli get the ball out extremely quick which should help the OL and wear down the DL running sideline to sideline.
Yes, Eli has a whole season of the new system under his belt....
OBj will be ready from game one...
Donnell should be better.....
Contract year for Randle.....
Cruz does not have to be rushed back......there are other receivers to take his place until he is ready.....
Vereen adds an element missing in this offense....
The OL should be better, not only in the passing game, but in the running game.....
The only thing holding this offense back, will be the time it takes this line to be a cohesive unit, possible key injuries, Eli improving his short passing game to Vereen, and Tom Coughlin....we saw Coughlin's influence on the offense with his so-called "balance" the offense must have last season....he must let McAdoo do his thing....go for the jugular, don't play down to the level of the other team....
OBJ and the O-line stay healthy. He'll have a tremendous year if VC returns to being a threat. As a team, though, we'll do best if we can pound the ball on the ground when we need to.
Should be better as should all the offensive players if they can remain healthy. The real question is are they as a group NFL quality or miles away from being really good players. We have OBJ and some would cry Eli but is that enough to make any team afraid of the Giants.
I'd love to see the run game come back and put up 175 a game on the ground but i expect this offense to be more aerial. I think Eli balls out this year. 35+TDs.under 15 Ints. close to 5000 yds. but most importantly , SB MVP #3
I think some are sleeping on Eli this coming season
Eli to beckham has a chance to be extraordinary. Like insane extraordinary...
If things break right I think Eli shatters every NYG passing record this season. He could dwarf his 2011 campaign. That's saying something because he lit up the NFL that year.
From a FF pov Eli is gonna be a bargain this season. Top QB 5 value and you could probably draft him very late. 5000 yards 35 tds this season. Maybe more.
And I don't think Eli needs a great return from Cruz either
But it wouldn't hurt. I know a lot of fans including Eric are echoing the trendy line that Cruz is the key but I disagree I think the key is beckham. If he's healthy all year the offense will dominate. Cruz as a supporting actor here will be wonderful but he may be 8 games away and he could be a mess all year. Beckham is the key he's the best player on this team and one of the true elite players in the league. With all the other decent options like vereen and Randle and Donnell... Eli will go wild in 2015.
Can't count on Randle and Cruz is a question mark.Not sure what kind of production we will get from TE and RB. The OL has holes too when Schwartz goes down again.
Eli was very good last year once he had a real weapon on the field. Wish Giants had another burner to draw attention away from OBJ.
running game. Hopefully the OL upgrades will finally give us a running game again and if we are a big run threat then our passing game will greatly improve. Vareem is going to be a great safety valve for Eli so I'm hopeful he will have a great year.
But it wouldn't hurt. I know a lot of fans including Eric are echoing the trendy line that Cruz is the key but I disagree I think the key is beckham. If he's healthy all year the offense will dominate. Cruz as a supporting actor here will be wonderful but he may be 8 games away and he could be a mess all year. Beckham is the key he's the best player on this team and one of the true elite players in the league. With all the other decent options like vereen and Randle and Donnell... Eli will go wild in 2015.
djm, lately we're of like mind on some things. Cruz coming back healthy would be huge but more like a bonus than anything else. I look for more of an effect from the drafting of Flowers, the return of a healthy Shwartz (may the shvartz be with us!) and Richburg being a significantly better OC than Walton was. On top of that, Vereen. I'm a Cal fan, and you gotta know Vereen was getting snaps and touches - quite a few really - even when Cal had Best as their main star. Vereen wasn't Best, not close really, but he's a very very good back who put up 3,500 yards from scrimmage and 35 TDs even with 2 years of his career (IIRC) at Cal overlapping Best's. And the vast majority of those yards were running the ball, not receiving which has been his NFL forte.
I won't be the least bit surprised if Vereen runs for over 1,000 yards this year, if Flowers is the real deal right away and Pugh and Richburg live up to their draft status and Shwartz is healthy. We might see a HUGE turnaround in our rushing game, and if opponents load the box - they're fooked by OBJ.
I know there has been a lot of good debate on what to expect out of Cruz when he comes back. While that is certainly unclear, the question of how it will impact Eli comes down to this: Will his return be at the level that Parker played at? Assuming he gets the minutes and looks that Parker got, can he produce at the rate that Parker did?
Anything above that is gravy, since essentially he'll be competing for the minutes and attempts that Parker got last year. If he can improve on that then he will contribute to Eli's offensive improvement this year.
Eli will be fine. Vereen brings such a new dimension for the O and Parker/Harris as back up slot wr's are comforting and you'd expect Beckham Jr. To be great And Randle to be better.
If VC doesn't return at a level significantly better than Parker,
why would the team keep him at his current salary? I mean PR value and give him a chance, but at some point 80% VC - which is +/- Parker - isn't what they are paying for.
I won't be the least bit surprised if Vereen runs for over 1,000 yards this year, if Flowers is the real deal right away and Pugh and Richburg live up to their draft status and Shwartz is healthy.
This line hasn't been together one season and it is going to turn a part time player into a 1000 yard rusher?
This line could possibly have 4 players playing different positions in the line this year.....it will be awhile before it gels......I expect Vereen to be huge in the passing game, not the running game.....
He knows that if that knee does not respond this season, he faces being cut next year, or possible salary reduction....
Cruz should be prudent in his approach to his return....he should not take one step on the practice field until he is absolutely sure of that knee......the smart thing may be to be PUP'd for the start of the season.....
open things up for Eli as well. Return of Schwartz and addition of Flowers adds 2 supposed maulers to OL. Defenses will have fewer down/distance opportunities to load up on the pass. Obviously effectiveness of play action will also improve if we can get ypc at least over 4 this year.
Fitty too's the mike.
OL will be good enough
OBj will be ready from game one...
Donnell should be better.....
Contract year for Randle.....
Cruz does not have to be rushed back......there are other receivers to take his place until he is ready.....
Vereen adds an element missing in this offense....
The OL should be better, not only in the passing game, but in the running game.....
The only thing holding this offense back, will be the time it takes this line to be a cohesive unit, possible key injuries, Eli improving his short passing game to Vereen, and Tom Coughlin....we saw Coughlin's influence on the offense with his so-called "balance" the offense must have last season....he must let McAdoo do his thing....go for the jugular, don't play down to the level of the other team....
If things break right I think Eli shatters every NYG passing record this season. He could dwarf his 2011 campaign. That's saying something because he lit up the NFL that year.
From a FF pov Eli is gonna be a bargain this season. Top QB 5 value and you could probably draft him very late. 5000 yards 35 tds this season. Maybe more.
Eli was very good last year once he had a real weapon on the field. Wish Giants had another burner to draw attention away from OBJ.
Eli will be fine...
But that's a lot of IFs. And it doesn't automatically translate to wins.
djm, lately we're of like mind on some things. Cruz coming back healthy would be huge but more like a bonus than anything else. I look for more of an effect from the drafting of Flowers, the return of a healthy Shwartz (may the shvartz be with us!) and Richburg being a significantly better OC than Walton was. On top of that, Vereen. I'm a Cal fan, and you gotta know Vereen was getting snaps and touches - quite a few really - even when Cal had Best as their main star. Vereen wasn't Best, not close really, but he's a very very good back who put up 3,500 yards from scrimmage and 35 TDs even with 2 years of his career (IIRC) at Cal overlapping Best's. And the vast majority of those yards were running the ball, not receiving which has been his NFL forte.
I won't be the least bit surprised if Vereen runs for over 1,000 yards this year, if Flowers is the real deal right away and Pugh and Richburg live up to their draft status and Shwartz is healthy. We might see a HUGE turnaround in our rushing game, and if opponents load the box - they're fooked by OBJ.
Anything above that is gravy, since essentially he'll be competing for the minutes and attempts that Parker got last year. If he can improve on that then he will contribute to Eli's offensive improvement this year.
In terms of Cruz's ability to improve Eli if he's only as good as Parker it's a wash, albeit an expensive one for the Giants.
This line hasn't been together one season and it is going to turn a part time player into a 1000 yard rusher?
This line could possibly have 4 players playing different positions in the line this year.....it will be awhile before it gels......I expect Vereen to be huge in the passing game, not the running game.....
Cruz should be prudent in his approach to his return....he should not take one step on the practice field until he is absolutely sure of that knee......the smart thing may be to be PUP'd for the start of the season.....