In the last few weeks, there have been so many bold statements about the New York Giants that it’s gotten to the point of lunacy. Most of them have been known to be opinions than facts. Perception has become reality.
In this piece, we are going to cut the fat and bring some normalcy to some of the ridiculous talking points we have been hearing lately.
Daniel Jones is an elite quarterback
Yes, he had a good season, and he was why the Giants beat the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild-Card game, giving the Giants their first playoff win in 11 years. Not even his critics can take that away from him. He orchestrated everything under center like a maestro, passing for 301 yards and two touchdowns in that game.
But to say now he has become an elite quarterback after that playoff win is just stupid talk. It really is. He has ways to go before he can be called elite. He needs a lot of playoff wins. He needs to take the Giants to an NFC Championship Game appearance. He has to be consistently good like Eli Manning was in his career.
The reality is he is still a work in progress. He has made strides to the point he has become an NFL quarterback. The Giants can win with him. But it’s too soon to stay saying he is an elite quarterback.
After a hideous performance against the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Divisional Playoffs that resulted in a Giants’ 38-7 loss, in which he was 15-of-27 for 135 yards and no touchdown, this should stop the talk that he is elite.
Brian Daboll is a great coach
The rookie Giants' head coach did a great job this season. He maximized everything out of his roster. He got his team to believe they can win. He had them making the playoffs despite struggling in mid-season. He developed Jones as a quarterback.
But it’s too soon to proclaim him as the next Tom Coughlin.
Remember we hailed Ben McAdoo and the late Jim Fassel after leading the Giants to the playoffs in their first years. McAdoo crashed and burned in his second season which got him fired in midseason, and Fassel never turned out to be a great coach with so many underachieving seasons.
Let’s wait and see what Daboll does in the next few seasons before we can crown him as the next great head coach the Giants ever had. He could be Fassel as in good or he could be McAdoo as a coach who flamed out or he could be Coughlin.
Here’s another thing about Daboll: He is going to have to stop screaming at the refs and at the players as a sideshow every game. That act gets old so fast. He is like Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, a raving lunatic who needs to be a sideshow every game.
Brian Daboll is Coach of the Year
He likely is going to win the award because of the Giants’ success. No one saw it coming.
But it says here he shouldn’t win the Coach of the Year. Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson is more deserving than Daboll. The Jaguars were 4-8 after a 40-14 loss to the Detroit Lions. It could have been easy for the Jaguars to punt the season right there, but they did something about it by winning five in a row to win the AFC South and the division. That’s what a good coach does in changing the culture after a team that has been so used to losing for a long time. There’s something to be said about that.
Daboll’s team never suffered through adversity at all this season, so it’s hard to give him that award, Remember his team did not lose core players to injury. Coaches such as Lions head coach Dan Campbell and Pederson dealt with adversity, so they deserve more votes than Daboll.
Giants general manager Joe Schoen knows what he’s doing
There’s no one way anyone can say that after Year 1. He just got here.
We are going to find out if he is the next Ernie Accorsi or Jerry Reese in a few years when his drafts bear fruit. He got it right with Kayvon Thibodeaux in the draft as he found a pass rusher that the team can build around. Second-round pick Wan’Dale Robinson and fourth-round pick Daniel Bellinger have the makings of being productive players in the NFL. Also, give him credit for picking up Isaiah Hodgins off waivers in November. Who knows where the Giants would be without Hodgins down the stretch?
But again, it’s too early to say he knows what he’s doing.
The first-year Giants general manager has tough decisions to make. Does he pay Christian McCaffrey money to unrestricted free agent Saquon Barkley or does he let him walk? This decision could be costly in the sense the Giants have to deal with safety Xavier McKinney, left tackle Andrew Thomas and defensive tackles Leonard Williams and Dexter Lawrence as free agents after next season.
He is not going to keep everyone. The NFL’s salary cap system prevents him from doing that. He’s going to have to be smart and creative in trying to keep most of ex-Giants general manager Dave Gettleman’s core players that played a role in the Giants’ first playoff appearance in five years.
Like his draft picks, we will know about Schoen after three or four years.
38-7 playoff loss to the Eagles won’t define the Giants season
Actually, it has to be to an extent.
Only because of the history the Eagles have had against the Giants, who haven’t experienced success against them for a decade now. This really has to change. It got old a long time ago.
For the Giants to take the next step of winning the NFC East and be an eventual Super Bowl contender, beating the Eagles have to be a must. It has to be a priority. The Giants have looked down at the Eagles as if they are not their rival while the Eagles treat the Giants games like it’s their Super Bowl. The Giants need to have that approach moving forward against the Eagles.
That playoff loss should be ingrained in their heads all offseason long and throughout next season.
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