In order to be a part of this series you needed to meet a few criteria. First, you could not be a playoff team from 2016. This series focuses on teams that are in a position to make the leap to the playoffs in 2017. Does that mean they will? Who knows, all of you are way to volatile as owners for me to sit here on July 2nd and say with definitive “yes” that you will. That being said, the last time I did this all three teams did make the playoffs.
The second criteria is that you needed to be a team that would make at least one owner spit out their morning coffee and go “WTF!” For this reason, I’m opening with DJordan’s New York Giants, Brian, commence with the spitting.
Dark Horse Series Vol II: 2017 New York Giants
The 2016 Giants started off about as well as well as any team could with 3 division wins, and a 5-1 record with only a loss to the lowly Jaguars. From there, it went about as poorly as it could as the Giants dropped 5 in a row, and 7 of 8 before finishing week 12 with a pair of wins over the rudderless Niners and Redskins. Those wins did allow DJordan to finish 8-8 overall and fly mostly under the radar going into the off-season. With the focus mostly on his division rival the 13-3 paper tiger Dallas Cowboys, DJordan was afforded a quiet off-season to tinker with his team. As with many GM’s, DJordan and the Giants franchise enter the 2017 season with something to prove, and for the G men thankfully there is some hope.
The first factor is that with the scheduling rules, his main rival opens with an absolute brutal stretch of games that sees him play 5 playoff teams in as many weeks. The opportunity for the Giants to jump out on the division will be present. Unfortunately for DJordan he jumped out last year and couldn’t navigate the bye weeks to stay in control, eventually being run down and run over by the division champion Cowboy’s. If the Giants are to win the East, they are going to have to grab hold of the division early and strangle it to a slow death like a boa constrictor.
DJ is set at QB with 2016 Offensive Rookie of the year Dak Prescott and the “You like that!” Kirk cousins. His big addition on offense during the off-season was comeback player of the year candidate TE Jimmy Graham. It’s my belief that Jimmy Graham will break the 300 point barrier in 2017 and return to prominence in the elite TE ranks. When I say elite, I mean that last years #1 TE Travis Kelce could be knocked from his perch to make way for Jimmy G.
It’s nice that DJ has Kelce as well. The AFC’s version of Kelce has been a well documented shit show by the disenfranchised Cleveland Browns. In the NFC though, DJ’s 6.3 million dollar contract is an absolute steal. Kelce is never going to be a TD machine, but he has at least one more season with safety first QB Alex Smith. It also probably doesn’t matter that he only has one arm, because catching 5 yard passes should be easy.
Though his backfield is shallow, having Todd Gurley in it makes up for its lack of depth. Gurley had a down year in 2016, only posting 303 points. I want you to repeat that in your head. Most teams would take a 300 point player and be happy, but at 23.5 million, that’s considered an under performance. Well take some Viagra baby, cause the time is right for a rebound! Gurley has 400 point potential and anyone who says otherwise is just chittay.
Add in breakout candidate Jamison Crowder and the oft injured but uber talented Alshon Jeffery and DJ has a formidable starting five lead by two top ten quarterbacks. When I review DJ’s 2016 campaign I see a team that lacked depth, and had some serious bye week issues. There were a few weeks during that bad stretch that nearly half his starters were on bye. A good GM finds a way to work around these issues, whether it be through trades, waiver wire pick ups, or planning head.
A cursory look at the Giants bye weeks show that due to his indulgence of players for a few teams, this will be a challenge for him again in 2017. With over two months to go before kickoff, this is a matter that D Jordan should address now. Hitting the ground running and never looking back will be his only option on the path to a playoff birth.
Where the true backbone of his team lies is on the defensive side of the ball. If Solomon Thomas can have the rookie year a few IFL GM’s believe he can, then he will be set at one of the hardest positions to fill with elite talent at DT. The combination of Griffin and Oliver gives him a solid one-two punch at DE. I’m not in love with the rest of the guys, but the back ups should be decent bye week plugs if his two starters can stay healthy.
I’ll be frank, I kind of love his LB core. He’s shown first round commitment two years running in the draft to the most coveted position on the defensive side of the ball. Where I think his offense needs to carry him in the early portion of the season, I think Jones, Kendricks, Reddick, and Cushing will be absolutely critical to his playoff run. He has some role players in his core too like Robertson (though I don’t expect him to hold the job), and Anthony Walker who could emerge in Indianapolis either through hard work or injury.
His secondary is questionable. But this is an area easily fixed before and during the season. DJordan should do everything in his power to upgrade this unit going into the season. I can’t state it enough, a strong start and squeezing the life out of his division mates as the season grinds on is his key to success. Battling to be a game or two above .500 going into the final weeks of the season will most likely see him lose out to the more offensively talented Dallas Cowboys.
I’ve talked about teams that are due. I’ve talked about the fact that its time for some teams to show us. The Giants time is now. DJordan’s NY Giants are a playoff birth contender, but its time that he shows everyone in the IFL that he can do it.
And in the end we are the winners, smile IFL. We have a true Giants and Cowboys rivalry, and its going to be fun to watch it unfold in 2017.
