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    2015 New York Giants Almanac
    2015 New York Giants Almanac
    2015 New York Giants Almanac
    Ebook114 pages1 hour

    2015 New York Giants Almanac

    By Ed Valentine

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    About this ebook

    The definitive guide to the 2015 season for New York Giants. Features, analysis, the 2015 schedule, a breakdown of the opposition, a look at the 2015 draft class and more. How will Steve Spagnuolo rebuild the defense? How will Ben McAdoo's offense do in his second year? Is Owamagbe Odighizuwa the team's next great defensive end? All this and much more.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEd Valentine
    Release dateJun 28, 2015
    ISBN9781311922625
    2015 New York Giants Almanac
    Author

    Ed Valentine

    Ed has been editor of Big Blue View since early in 2007. He has also managed SB Nation New York and Pinstripe Alley, and has written for Bugs and Cranks and Hot Stove New York. Ed previously had 20 years of newspaper experience.

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      Book preview

      2015 New York Giants Almanac - Ed Valentine

      New York Giants 2015 Almanac

      Published by Ed Valentine at Smashwords

      Copyright 2015 (Edward T. Valentine)

      Table of Contents

      -- Season Overview

      -- 2015 Schedule

      -- About the Giants’ 2015 Opponents

      -- NFC East Overview (Team-by-Team Previews)

      -- What will it take for Giants’ offense to be elite?

      -- Draft Overview

      -- Expectations for the Giants 2015 Rookie Class

      -- Rookie Profile: Owamagbe Odighizuwa the Giants next great defensive end?

      -- Steve Spagnuolo, Take 2: What will his defense look like?

      -- Meet the new Giants (Free-agent capsules)

      -- 90-man training camp roster

      Can Eli Manning and the Giants get pointed in the right direction? [Michael Thomas/Getty Images]

      Searching to Regain Winning Formula, Giants Enter ‘Win or Else’ Season

      By Ed Valentine

      Win or else.

      During a 2014 post-mortem press conference following the end of yet another disappointing, playoff-less season New York Giants co-owner John Mara did not come right out and say the 2015 season was a win or else season for the Giants, but he might as well have.

      Mara was, in fact, asked if the upcoming season was a win or else one for the organization. His response tells you everything you need to know.

      "I do not think that is an unfair statement," is what Mara said.

      The Giants have not made the playoffs since the 2011 season, when they won a mediocre NFC East with a 9-7 record. They got hot at the right time, winning their final two regular-season games, carried that through the playoffs and defeated the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl for the second time in four seasons.

      That was the pinnacle for the Giants. They have fallen a long way since then.

      There have been three straight playoff-less seasons, each one worse than the one before. In 2012, the same 9-7 record that was good enough to give them a chance to win the Super Bowl the year before left them on the sidelines without a chance to defend their crown. In 2013, an 0-6 start led to a 7-9 finish, the first losing season since 2004, the first year of Tom Coughlin’s coaching tenure. In 2014, a free-agent spending spree and the drafting of Odell Beckham Jr. didn’t translate into wins on the field as the Giants went a pitiful 6-10, a season punctuated by an embarrassing seven-game losing streak.

      In reality, the stretch of less-than-acceptable play has gone on longer than three years for the Giants. They have missed the playoffs five of the past six seasons, interrupted only by that Super Bowl run. The most wins they have had in a single season during that time is 10, and their overall record in that six-year stretch is a mediocre 49-47.

      Tom Coughlin is arguably the best coach in franchise history. Eli Manning is unquestionably the best, most prolific quarterback in Giants history. With that duo in place it is almost unfathomable to see how the Giants have managed make missing the playoffs the norm over the past half-dozen seasons. It is, truthfully, a stunning under-achievement.

      Patience has long been a hallmark of the Giants organization, and Mara has displayed about as much as any owner could or would in watching what has unfolded over the past three seasons. He said at the end of last season that he was sick over how the season turned out, calling it an embarrassment.

      Yet, loyalty and stability still matter to Mara’s Giants.

      The head coach remains despite the declining results and the fact that he is by far the league’s oldest coach. The general manager remains despite some poor drafts and questionable personnel decisions that have allowed the talent on the roster to erode. The organization professes to still believe in the franchise quarterback.

      "As I have said before, we still believe in this coach, this staff and in our organization, Mara said at the end of 2014. I think Tom gives us the best chance to win going forward. How long that is going to last for, I don’t know."

      You have to think it likely that the patience of Mara and the Giants organization will finally run out if the Giants fail once again to at least get into the post-season tournament.

      Coughlin received his annual one-year extension, but that is virtually meaningless and Coughlin knows it.

      "There are 32 guys who coach one year at a time and that's the way it is, Coughlin said at the NFL Combine. I don't care how many years you have on your contract."

      The Giants changed the offensive coordinator before the 2014 season, with Ben McAdoo replacing Kevin Gilbride. They brought Steve Spagnuolo back in place of Perry Fewell in hopes of rejuvenating the defense this year. The Giants don’t fire general managers – they’ve had only three since George Young was hired in 1979. So, Reese isn’t going anywhere. That leaves only Coughlin if the Giants fail to meet expectations once again.

      You can see the Giants hedging their bets on the future in other ways. They have yet to get serious about negotiating a contract extension with the 34-year-old Manning, in the final year of his six-year deal. They placed the franchise tag on defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul rather than hand him a lucrative long-term deal. In both cases are the Giants perhaps leaving themselves some wiggle room in the event that they feel like they need to start over a year from now? In light of the Fourth of July fireworks accident that resulted in a right index finger amputation, it is difficult to see Pierre-Paul having a future with the Giants beyond the upcoming season.

      All of that sort of speculation will, be moot, however, if the Giants can break their playoff drought in 2015. So, let’s look more specifically at their prospects for the upcoming season.

      The Giants would appear to be underdogs in the NFC East to both the 2014 division champion Dallas Cowboys and 2013 division champion Philadelphia Eagles. [See complete NFC East team-by-team previews] The Cowboys have a talent-laden roster that appears to have only two question marks. Who will run the ball, and will they implode from within after adding some players of questionable character? The biggest question for the Eagles is whether Sam Bradford will be the right quarterback to lead Chip Kelly’s offense.

      Let’s look quickly as the Giants’ offense, defense and special teams.

      Offense

      Year 2 in their new offense under McAdoo’s direction could see the Giants become one of the league’s most prolific groups. If the Giants have good health, and good offensive line play, the pieces are certainly in place.

      Electrifying second-year man Odell Beckham Jr. leads what could be one of the league’s best receiving corps long with Victor Cruz and Rueben Randle. Beckham had 91 catches and 1,305

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