2011 New York Giants Predictions
Written by Steve Janus
The New York Giants just missed out on the playoffs in 2010, finishing the regular season with a 10-6 mark. New York was sitting in great shape at 9-4, but lost two of their final three, including that huge collapse at home against the Eagles. The Giants have been relatively quiet so far this offseason, staying away from most of the top free agents. General manager Jerry Reese believes that this team can win with the players it has. Here is a closer look at what the Giants will send to the field on both sides of the ball, plus my thoughts on where they will finish in the NFC East.
Offense:
Eli Manning really had a fine 2010 season, completing 62.9% of his passes for 4,002 yards and 31 touchdowns. The only knock on Manning was his career-high 25 interceptions, which is something he has to improve on if the Giants are going to get back to the playoffs in 2011.
While the Giants were unable to bring back wide out Steve Smith and tight end Kevin Boss, they feel like they are deep enough at the receiver position to continue to have a lot of success throwing the ball. The player they are really excited about is Hakeem Nicks, who led the team with 79 catches for 1,052 yards and 11 touchdowns. The other big threat back is Mario Manningham, who had 60 catches for 944 yards and nine scores. The hope is that wide out Ramses Barden and tight end Travis Beckum will step in and replace Smith and Boss.
The Giants will once again feature the running back duo of Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs. Bradshaw took over the lead role from Jacobs last year, and wound up rushing for 1,235 yards and eight touchdowns, while Jacobs chipped in 823 yards and nine scores. If Bradshaw can figure out how to hold onto the football, he could be on his way to a career-year in 2011.
New York decided to not bring back starting center Shaun O’Hara, but they went out and added a pretty solid replacement in David Baas, who anchored a young San Francisco line in 2010. Look for Will Beatty to take over at left tackle, while the rest of the unit returns intact.
Defense:
It is no secret, the Giants defense is one of the best the NFL has to offer when they are getting after the quarterback. There was some speculation that they would trade defensive end Osi Umenyiora, but it looks like he will be back to team up with Justin Tuck for another season. They are also hoping to get more out of second-year end Jason Pierre-Paul. They went out and added veteran tackle Gabe Watson and used their first round pick on North Carolina tackle Marvin Austin to add depth inside, which gives them a pretty solid rotation with the likes of Chris Canty, Linval Joseph, and Rocky Bernard.
New York decided to not bring back outside linebacker Keith Bulluck, but believe they are deep enough on the outside that it won’t hurt them. Jonathan Goff returns at middle linebacker, while Michael Boley, Mathias Kiwanuka, and Clint Sintim fight for the two starting outside spots.
The Giants welcome back the starting corner duo of Terrell Thomas and Corey Webster, along with the safety duo of Kenny Phillips and Antrel Role, but this unit really depends a lot on the pressure the defensive line gets up front. They added some great depth in the draft, using a first round pick on Nebraska corner Prince Amukamara and a sixth round pick on Iowa safety Tyler Sash.
Prediction: 3rd NFC East, 9-7 Overall – I had a hard time picking the Giants to finish 3rd in the East, but I have them rated slightly below both the Cowboys and Eagles. This team definitely has the talent to win this division, but I just don’t think they did enough in the offseason to put them on the same level as Dallas and Philadelphia.
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