How to Fix the NFC East: New York Giants

It’s back! The “How to Fix” series is making it’s return as we look at the Giants. The Giants season was dissapointing this year, with a 6-10 record and finishing 3rd in the NFC East. I’ll be taking a look on how I would fix them. So let’s jump right into this!

OFFENSE

• Invest in a Running Back– The Giants finished 19th in Rushing this season. In comparison, their passing offense this past season was terrible. The reason you need a good RB is so that your play calling doesn’t become predictable. There are, as you know, two ways to fix this. You can draft a RB or pick up one in the offseason. Let’s take a look at picking one up in the offseason. Now, while RB’s in FA aren’t usually the best, there is a diamond in the rough this year. That diamond is Doug Martin. After slacking off for a season, Martin came back on fire this year, ending as the #2 rusher in the NFL. Too bad for him, this was a contract year and with a new coach coming in it looks like Martin will be a Free Agent this offseason. As for the draft they have options. They could possibly snag Alabama RB and Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry or Ohio State RB Ezekiel Elliot.
• Wide Receiver– Help on the receiving core wouldn’t be bad, but it’s not the biggest issue on the offense. They have OBJ, but another big receiver pickup in the offseason would be an improvement. You could easily add  Alshon Jeffery to the lineup to balance out the pass attack.

DEFENSE

• Stuff the Run– The Giants finished 24th in stopping the run. Obviously, they were without Jason Pierce Paul for a majority of the season and when he was there he was not his old self, but that’s no excuse for the awful rush defense. There are actually three options to this: make your current D-Line step up, draft a D-Linemen, or pick some up in the offseason. As far as drafting a D-Linemen the options are there, with Oregon DE DeForest Buckner and Alabama DT A’Shawn Robinson being notable choices there. There is the possbility that they would have to trade up for one of these guys, but its worth it. As far as the offseason, there is the Jets DE Muhammad Wilkerson or Broncos DT Malik Jackson.
• Shut Down the Pass– The Giants ranked dead last in pass defense. They allowed 4,783 yards through the air. Their secondary is completely dead but this is an easy fix. With the secondary being a difficult position, I would rather sign a reliable player in the offseason, rather than draft a big name in the draft with their 1st round pick. Two players that could help this would be Eric Berry and Josh Norman who had a breakout season during a contract year.

Now of course it’s easier said than done, and that goes with everything that I said here. Yet, if they carry out some of these things their team, they can make a run at the playoffs.