3. New York Giants
No one really knows what to expect from Joe Judge in his first go-round as an NFL head coach. He’s got some quality pieces to work with in New York, but this team is still at least one quality offseason away from being ready to compete for an NFC East crown.
The simple truth is that the Giants were mediocre on offense and porous on defense in 2019. The team would like to improve on their scoring average of 21.3 points per game. They have to improve on giving up 28.2 points per contest.
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Any hope for offensive improvement largely hinges on both Jones and Barkley improving as they gain more experience. Jones has to limit his turnovers if he wants to make this offense more efficient. The Giants hope that adding Andrew Thomas at tackle will give him better protection than he’s experienced in his career to date.
Defensively, it’s hard to see where things are really going to get better. The change in coaching staff might help things, but it’s hard to really predict that type of impact. Otherwise, the franchise paid James Bradberry a lot of money to improve their secondary. He’s a nice upgrade, but he’s not quite the shutdown corner that his paycheck might suggest.
The Giants shouldn’t finish 4-12 again, but they aren’t really ready to fight for a division title yet either. Their goal should be to stay in the playoff hunt as long as possible.