There are reasons to be optimistic when it comes to the New York Giants and where they are headed as a franchise. After nearly a decade of struggling, the team has been reshaped from top to bottom and has an exciting young core of players.
While they still need to do some work on the defensive side of the ball, there’s a lot to be excited about when it comes to the offense.
Quarterback Daniel Jones looked stellar at times as a rookie, Saquon Barkley is arguably the best running back in football, tight end Evan Engram is game-changing and although they don’t have a true No. 1 outside receiver, they have a pretty deep group of more than capable wideouts.
Their offensive line has been retooled with the additions of Andrew Thomas, Kevin Zeitler and Will Hernandez over the past two years, and even when it comes to depth, there are players like Kaden Smith and Dion Lewis who can do some serious damage.
It’s for all of those reasons and more that ESPN’s Bill Barnwell has the Giants’ offensive potential ranked near the very top of the league.
7. New York Giants
2019 rank: 8 | 2018 rank: 2
If everyone could just get on the field at one time, the Giants would be something to stress out about for opposing defenses. Daniel Jones wasn’t able to get his five key weapons — Saquon Barkley, Evan Engram, Golden Tate, Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton — on the gridiron together for a single snap in 2019. Jones dropped back 77 times with only Shepard missing from that bunch and posted a passer rating of 100.7, 13 points higher than his season-long total.
Slayton was the revelation of the bunch, leading the team with 740 receiving yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie fifth-round pick. The Giants don’t have anybody as valuable as DeAndre Hopkins, but they are deeper one through five than the vast majority of teams and still have position-leading upside at running back and tight end with Barkley and Engram. If they just could stay healthy …
“If they could just stay healthy.”
Unfortunately for these Giants, health has been hard to come by. Barkley missed time with a high ankle sprain in 2019, Jones missed time due to an ankle sprain of his own, Engram has long dealt with injury issues and Sterling Shepard has suffered a scary number of concussions.
But what if? That’s the common question when it comes to these Giants and their potential in 2020. What if they do stay healthy? It’s fun to think about.
