The New York Giants have scraped along at rock bottom and are now well on their way towards another crest in their competitive life cycle. While I am dubious that they have the right head coach, general manager, and honestly, ownership group, to lead them going forward, I would not be doing my job if I did not point out how promising of a young core they appear to have. Even ESPN took notice...
Aaron Schatz effectively power ranked all 32 NFL teams' young cores heading into this season. Essentially, it is a bit of under 25 list. As soon as a player hits the Leonardo DiCaprio threshold, he is out! Schatz had the G-Men ranked fourth behind only the Houston Texans, Seattle Seahawks and Washington Commanders. The Chicago Bears rounded out the top five in this given football exercise.
Schatz tabbed wide receiver Malik Nabers, linebacker Abdul Carter, quarterback Jaxson Dart and edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux as blue-chippers. The only blue-chippers on the Giants who aged out were running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. and linebacker Micah McFadden. While I do not like much of the Giants' roster that can legally rent a car or run for office, this fearsome foursome has my intrigue.
While I could go either way on Dart and Thibodeaux, Carter and Nabers are franchise building blocks.
New York Giants could have the next up-and-coming NFL roster
When I look at the teams in the Giants' vicinity in the top five, I only have one of them as a playoff lock. That would be Washington because the Commanders have Jayden Daniels as their star quarterback. Houston could go either way, while I think 2026 could be the time to shine for Chicago and Seattle. New York is going to have to wait until 2027 at the earliest. Will Daboll or Schoen still even be around?
What I think is important is for contending teams near the top of this list such as Houston, Washington and the Detroit Lions is to take advantage of the financial flexibility at hand. Other teams such as the Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers all fell precipitously out of the top 10 in last year's rankings. This means it might be time to invest in their team's newfound maturity.
Either way, having young blue-chip talent is never a bad thing. It means that a brighter tomorrow could only just be a day away. We keep telling ourselves that, as no league does a better job of selling hope to its fans than does the NFL. For now, I could not be higher on Carter and I cannot wait to see what Nabers becomes in year two. Thibodeaux needs to step up, while Dart needs some nurturing.
Having the right ingredients is one thing, but having the right chef such as a Bill Parcells is another.