Too early to compare, but comparisons will be made...

Vernon and company.

you can draw to the ‘05 season

This is the most exciting off season in a decade.

We could, potentially, be seeing the opening of the championship window for this franchise.

.

A FA class that not only had big name signings but additions to every unit. I thought maybe one name and a couple of others. We killed it. Loved the draft as well. Amazing job by the FO.

Kyle Rudolph is an odd one to include. He’s at the end of his career. The other free agents from both years were/are going into their prime.

It appears as if the Giants fit two offseasons into one.

Let's hope we get the same results...

but it will start and end with whether we have our QB. This season he gets a real shot.

In comment 15285429 christian said:

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Kyle Rudolph is an odd one to include. He’s at the end of his career. The other free agents from both years were/are going into their prime.

I think Rudolph is going to be a much bigger asset than many of us realize.

like the off-season, but I'm not sure any of those players acquired this year has the impact of a McKenzie.

plug n play 7 year starter - at a high level. An underrated cog in 2 rings.

I'd love to be wrong, but if there was a McKenzie this year I'd feel better.

In comment 15285499 Eric from BBI said:

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In comment 15285429 christian said: Quote: Kyle Rudolph is an odd one to include. He’s at the end of his career. The other free agents from both years were/are going into their prime. I think Rudolph is going to be a much bigger asset than many of us realize.

I agree, it's been a long time since the Giants have had a complete TE. Rudolph might not be what he used to be but he is still going to be a solid contributor for the Giants. Many of the doubters will quickly change their minds after they see what Rudolph does for the Giants in the red zone.

Which sounds insane, I know

But Jones has never had a “safety blanket” to throw too. Now he does.

That is so underrated with young QBs

I love this off season and I’m excited for the future. But this is a quarterbacks league and until Jones convinces me otherwise, I’ll be cautiously optimistic.

Can't forget how some were tryna run Eli out of town after some early struggles... just like some are tryna do with Daniel now.

Rudolph if healthy projects to be a really solid addition — but he’s not going to be a multi-year cornerstone player. I love the signing, the comparison to Burgess, Pierces, and McKenzie is off.

The Coughlin championship teams had a number of nice vets who chipped for one or two years. My favorite were Deon Grant, Rocky Bernard, Sam Madison.

In comment 15285499 Eric from BBI said:

Quote:

In comment 15285429 christian said: Quote: Kyle Rudolph is an odd one to include. He’s at the end of his career. The other free agents from both years were/are going into their prime. I think Rudolph is going to be a much bigger asset than many of us realize.

If he stays healthy, he'll be a huge bump up with that position group. His ability to block at the POA, help with a young T group and offer a look offensively bc he's got some gas left in the tank is massive.

Again, if he can somehow stay healthy.

The shine off of it immediately. If healthy, I think he’s a key element to making the offense not just good, but difficult. Locking down the middle of the field with a proven, sure-handed, basketball forward would be such a benefit to this team on all levels. And he’s another one who got caught in the roster shuffle, not necessarily just a cast off. I hope he’s great.

In comment 15285499 Eric from BBI said:

Quote:

In comment 15285429 christian said: Quote: Kyle Rudolph is an odd one to include. He’s at the end of his career. The other free agents from both years were/are going into their prime. I think Rudolph is going to be a much bigger asset than many of us realize.

I am going to agree with both of you in the sense that I think Rudolph will give us stability in the run game as a blccker and will be a redzone threat and short yardage threat in the pass game. He is not going to probowl for us at his age but he will be a big upgrade.

I love this post because the "potential" is there for sure. Health is the key along with getting the system down quickly. I truly believe in this coaching staff and the last two drafts I think will produce very positive results.

Key player: rookie #2 Ojulari because he has the potentiial to be the edge rusher guy that surprises in the NFL and we so need that to get a great defense. I think our secondary will be Top 3 in the league by season's end if it stays healthy. I honestly believe that due to depth and youth developing, especially McKinney.

If we stay healthy and get healthy (Barkley, Thomas, Rudolph) the sky is the limit for how much this off-season upgraded us. Toney has that special "jukiness" to create headaches for any defense when used properly. Lets hope Toney learns quickly!

In comment 15285499 Eric from BBI said:

Quote:

In comment 15285429 christian said: Quote: Kyle Rudolph is an odd one to include. He’s at the end of his career. The other free agents from both years were/are going into their prime. I think Rudolph is going to be a much bigger asset than many of us realize.

me too. a real pro.

I think going into 2005 the Giants had more places in place already. Two big differences I see were TC who had already lead two teams to success quickly and Eli who while having a rough first year showed more promise compared to Jones.

The 2005 team would go on to be in the top 6 running the ball and top 10 stopping it. I think the defense will perform well this year and the big question is what this OL does and what I mentioned above.

with the emergence of the 17 year locusts (cicadas).

But getting Barkley back at hopefully very close to his prior skill set is another huge change compared to the bulk of the 2020 season without him.

If the OL is even barely average, I can’t see many defensive coordinators taking the risk very often of stacking 8 in the box against Barkley with Golladay, Toney, Slayton and Rudolph / Engram on the field.

In comment 15285503 pjcas18 said:

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like the off-season, but I'm not sure any of those players acquired this year has the impact of a McKenzie. plug n play 7 year starter - at a high level. An underrated cog in 2 rings. I'd love to be wrong, but if there was a McKenzie this year I'd feel better.

Agree, and the comment above

Quote:

A FA class that not only had big name signings but additions to every unit...

is plainly wrong. There was a lot of hand wringing and criticism surrounding the McKenzie signing (never mind he was a Jets' FA iirc) because of the $$ used to corral him. A quiet force on that era's OL. As has been oft said, OL is the make or break unit for this season.

In comment 15285588 Lines of Scrimmage said:

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I think going into 2005 the Giants had more places in place already. Two big differences I see were TC who had already lead two teams to success quickly and Eli who while having a rough first year showed more promise compared to Jones. The 2005 team would go on to be in the top 6 running the ball and top 10 stopping it. I think the defense will perform well this year and the big question is what this OL does and what I mentioned above.

Somewhat revisionist. Daniel Jones' first season was much superior to Eli's. Eli's second year was much superior to Jones'.

Martinez, Ryan,and Bradberry highlighting FA, and Thomas and McKinney highlighting the draft

stay healthy, no team ever does.
Avoiding things like your best player lost for the season in game 2 can't happen.

Tuck was decent depth. Jacobs averaged 2.6 YPC as Tiki’s short-yardage caddy. He scored seven TDs, but also had a costly fumble against Dallas. Webster stunk until well into his third season.

Here’s a funny similarity though: the Giants traded away the 12th pick in 2005 and the 11th pick in 2021. The reason their 2005 draft class is so impressive is that they didn’t even have a first-round pick. By contrast, the 2021 trade didn’t cost much, and it brought significant future opportunities.

In comment 15285508 Jay on the Island said:

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In comment 15285499 Eric from BBI said: Quote: In comment 15285429 christian said: Quote: Kyle Rudolph is an odd one to include. He’s at the end of his career. The other free agents from both years were/are going into their prime. I think Rudolph is going to be a much bigger asset than many of us realize. I agree, it's been a long time since the Giants have had a complete TE. Rudolph might not be what he used to be but he is still going to be a solid contributor for the Giants. Many of the doubters will quickly change their minds after they see what Rudolph does for the Giants in the red zone.

A different generation and a different position, but Ottis Anderson comes to mind as an "end of career" foundational piece. We can only hope.

This was definitely an exciting off-season, but I actually find this thread a little bit of a downer: the drafts we've had haven't matched 2004/2005 yet. We had some elite drafts prior to our SB run: 2004, 2005, and 2007 - even 2003 yielded Osi and Diehl and Tyree.

DG's drafts need to step up.

In comment 15286152 BrettNYG10 said:

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This was definitely an exciting off-season, but I actually find this thread a little bit of a downer: the drafts we've had haven't matched 2004/2005 yet. We had some elite drafts prior to our SB run: 2004, 2005, and 2007 - even 2003 yielded Osi and Diehl and Tyree. DG's drafts need to step up.

DG's first draft may go bust (unless Barkley and Hernandez really come on along with Carter); and, the Baker 1st round pick hurts; however, I do believe these last two drafts will show well. Just a hunch as its way early to tell but I have a good feeling.

This team was 2-8 outside of the wretched NFC East last year. I need to see a helluva lot more to believe they're anywhere near being a contender.

The ‘05 FA class were all ascending players coming off rookie deals. The Giants did an excellent job projecting what they could be not what they were at the time.

This FA class features one guy on the downside of his career with the other two being injury prone for most of their rookie deals. Hell all 3 come to the Giants coming off injuries.

This is more along the lines of a textbook what to do (05) vs what not to do (21). We’ll see.

In terms of the draft I guess maybe Ojulari v Tuck. Both seemed to have slipped over leg injuries.

In comment 15285499 Eric from BBI said:

Quote:

In comment 15285429 christian said: Quote: Kyle Rudolph is an odd one to include. He’s at the end of his career. The other free agents from both years were/are going into their prime. I think Rudolph is going to be a much bigger asset than many of us realize.

+1