Predicting New York Giants' 2017 Starters After 1st Wave of Free Agency
After seeing their offense struggle and their defense soar to new heights last season, the New York Giants' free-agency strategy placed a premium on adding to the offense.
The Giants added five new faces to the league's 25th-ranked offense (330.7 average yards per game): quarterback Geno Smith, running back Shaun Draughn, tight end/fullback Rhett Ellison, offensive lineman D.J. Fluker and receiver Brandon Marshall.
They also re-signed running back Orleans Darkwa and offensive lineman John Jerry.
Defensively, the Giants added just one new face, cornerback Valentino Blake. They instead focused their efforts on re-signing key free agents, including defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul and linebacker Keenan Robinson. They also have an offer on the table for the still-unsigned Johnathan Hankins, one of their starting defensive tackles last year.
There is still a lot more work to be done as far as adding more pieces via the draft goes. Once that's done, the real fun begins, as the coaching staff tries to figure out how to use the mix of new and returning faces in its quest to put a fifth Lombardi Trophy in the team's trophy case.
Until then, let's look at how the starting lineup is coming together.
Quarterback
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Starter: Eli Manning
So long as Eli Manning is breathing and able to walk, he's going to be the team's starting quarterback, even if, as Newsday's Bob Glauber said in an interview with ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio, the team has begun to notice a decline in Manning's skills.
The 36-year-old Manning can still be a solid quarterback and capable of leading the team to at least one more Super Bowl championship before he calls it a career.
If he is to do that, the front office needs to continue adding quality pieces around Manning who will not only ensure the quarterback has time to throw the ball but that projected offensive play-caller Ben McAdoo has more options regarding personnel than he did in 2016.
Running Back
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Starter: Paul Perkins
In February, the Giants said goodbye to Rashad Jennings, their starter since 2014 who is these days strutting his stuff on Dancing with the Stars.
Since joining New York as an unrestricted free agent in 2014, Jennings' best season was in 2015, coincidentally the first 16-game season of his career. That year, he rushed for 863 yards on 195 carries, both personal bests.
That success was, unfortunately, short-lived. Last year, Jennings was back to his injury-prone ways, playing in just 13 games, with 12 starts. By the end of the year, he gave way to rookie Paul Perkins, who rushed for 456 yards in 112 carries, a healthy looking 4.1 yards per carry.
As a receiver out of the backfield, Perkins also averaged nearly twice as many yards per catch (10.8) than Jennings' 5.7, according to Pro Football Focus
Perkins is by no means a finished product as an NFL running back, but the promise he showed as a rookie should make him the projected starter for 2017, with a still-to-be-determined rookie coming from this year's draft class likely destined to share the workload.
Tight End
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Starter: Will Tye
In a move that should surprise no one, the Giants made no known attempt to re-sign last year's opening-day starter, Larry Donnell.
Instead, they re-signed Will Tye, who is the de facto starter for 2017, and added free agent Rhett Ellison, whom head coach McAdoo, at the recent NFL owners meeting, said would line up as a tight end.
The Giants, who also have second-year man Jerell Adams and Matt LaCosse at the position, are all but certain to be adding a tight end from what's widely regarded by multiple draft analysts as a deep class.
The player the Giants draft at the position could push Tye for the lion's share of the pass-catching snaps.
Two draft prospects linked to the Giants include Alabama's O.J. Howard and Miami's David Njoku, ranked first and second on CBSSports.com's tight end position listing, and both project as first-round prospects.
The problem is that if the Giants want either of those players, they might have to trade up to get them.
Would they give up draft picks to move up to grab one of these young tight ends? Doing so would be the first time in GM Jerry Reese's tenure that the Giants have traded up in the first round.
Given the needs at running back, linebacker, defensive tackle and offensive line, are the Giants instead going to play it safe and wait their turn?
We won't know the answer until the draft rolls around on April 27, but what we can probably anticipate is that if the new tight end is picked in the first three rounds, he'll likely challenge Tye, the incumbent, for the starting job in 2017.
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Receiver
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Starters: Odell Beckham Jr., Brandon Marshall and Sterling Shepard (slot receiver)
The Giants swapped out Victor Cruz for Brandon Marshall, who at 6'4", gives the Giants the legitimate tall and physical receiving threat that has been missing from the offense for a couple of seasons.
Marshall is expected to be on the field with Odell Beckham Jr., forming a tandem whose whole projects to be greater than the sum of the parts.
The hope is that Marshall's presence can help draw some of the double and triple coverage that Beckham has seen since bursting on to the scene, thereby creating some one-on-one matchups for him to exploit.
Marshall, being the physical receiver he is, can also be instrumental as a downfield blocker in the running game.
Sterling Shepard, who last year finished second in receiving yards among rookie receivers—Michael Thomas (1,137 yards) of the New Orleans Saints topped Shepard's 683 receiving yards—made most of his contributions in the slot, the position for which he was drafted to play.
The addition of Marshall will likely allow McAdoo to leave Shepard in the slot, where he can work the intermediate routes once again.
Offensive Line
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Starters: LT Ereck Flowers, LG Justin Pugh, C Weston Richburg, RG John Jerry and RT D.J. Fluker
For those who are hoping to have seen the last of Ereck Flowers at left tackle, it doesn't look as though you're going to get your wish.
Giants co-owner John Mara, speaking to reporters at the NFL league meetings, revealed that Flowers has been hard at work in the Giants weight room ahead of the start of the team's offseason program on April 18:
"I'm not giving up on Ereck Flowers yet. I know that seems to be the popular sentiment around, but this is a young kid who's been in our weight room every day in the offseason—he wants to be good. There's a spot for him on our team. Hopefully it will continue to be at left tackle, but I'm not giving up on him yet, and I don't think anyone on our staff is.
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McAdoo echoed his boss' sentiments, per Ralph Vacchiano of SNY: "[Flowers] is working hard on his technique. I'm pretty confident that he's working pretty hard right now at being a better player, putting a lot of time and energy in to it. You get to see his face a lot. He's in and out of the building a lot. I know he loves the game and I have confidence in Ereck."
That could all be lip service given that the Giants weren't able to dip their toe into the premium free-agent O-line market this year.
Per Paul Schwartz of the New York Post, they also don't appear to be very enthusiastic about this year's draft class at offensive tackle.
Where does this leave the offensive line? They added D.J. Fluker to the mix, who revealed to the press that he was spoken to about playing right guard after signing with the Giants, though McAdoo told reporters that they're looking at Fluker as someone who can play both guard spots and right tackle.
They also resigned veteran John Jerry, who didn't play that badly last year, to compete for a spot somewhere on the right side, joining incumbent Bobby Hart, who started last year at right tackle when Marshall Newhouse was dealing with a calf injury.
The Giants will probably add to their offensive line, but absent a first-round pick at either guard or tackle, it would be surprising if they start a rookie anywhere on that line on Day 1 of the season—not if they are determined to win another championship in what little time Manning has left.
Defensive Line
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Starters: LDE Jason Pierre-Paul, LDT Damon Harrison, RDT Johnathan Hankins and RDE Olivier Vernon
Although defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins remains unsigned as he continues waiting for a payday that apparently isn't going to come this year, there is growing optimism that he'll reunite with linemates Jason Pierre-Paul, Olivier Vernon and Damon Harrison.
"No one is panicking right now," said co-owner Steve Tisch, per James Kratch of NJ Advance Media, who also reported that the Giants' offer to Hankins remains on the table. "There's time. By nature, I'm optimistic. I would very much like for this to work out."
The return of Hankins would give the Giants a defensive front that tied for third (with the New England Patriots) against the run and 10th against the pass in 2016.
Linebacker
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Starters: SLB Devon Kennard, MLB B.J. Goodson and WLB Jonathan Casillas
Devon Kennard and Jonathan Casillas return in 2017 to reprise their respective roles as the starting strong-side and weak-side linebackers. Both, by the way, are linebackers who rarely came off the field last year.
The same can't be said for the middle linebacker, who will either be B.J. Goodson or veteran Keenan Robinson, per McAdoo, reported by Dan Duggan of NJ Advance Media.
The Giants, remember, did not attempt to resign Kelvin Sheppard, last year's starting middle linebacker.
What was interesting about the position, though, is that Sheppard only saw the field on 38.8 percent of the snaps, per Pro Football Focus. That percentage would suggest the Giants were in nickel far more often than in their base defense.
If that will continue to be the case, then Robinson, who was the team's best cover linebacker, could end up seeing the field far more than Goodson, the second-year player, thus making the identity of the starter at that position the least of the team's concerns.
Safety
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Starters: SS Landon Collins and FS Darian Thompson
Landon Collins was by far the Giants' most improved player last year, earning his first career Pro Bowl berth while solidifying his hold on the starting strong safety job.
At free safety, the Giants had an unexpected change in plans. Darian Thompson, their third-round draft pick last year, grabbed hold of the starting job before the team even rolled into training camp.
However, a season-long foot injury cut short Thompson's season, with his starting job going to undrafted rookie free agent Andrew Adams.
Although Adams mostly played well, it would be a major upset if the starting job doesn't go back to Thompson if he has recovered from his foot injury.
The Giants also have Nat Berhe and Mykkele Thompson on the roster at safety, but both of those players have been plagued by injuries.
Thompson is coming off consecutive season-ending injuries to his leg, while Berhe missed the 2015 season because of a blood clot in his calf before dealing with two concussions last season.
Both of those players were initially in the mix at free safety. Again, if Thompson is healthy, he figures to be the starter.
Cornerback
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Starters: LCB Eli Apple, RCB Janoris Jenkins and Slot CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
The Giants appear to have found their super trio at cornerback in outside guys Eli Apple and Janoris Jenkins and slot cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.
Per Pro Football Focus, none of those three had a NFL rating higher than 100. Nor did the trio allow more than 61 percent of the pass targets thrown against them to be completed.
Want another reason to feel good about them? They allowed just eight touchdowns and accounted for 10 of the team's 17 interceptions (58.8 percent) and 23 of the team's 101 passes defensed (22.7 percent).
With Apple, a rookie last year, having a year under his belt, there's no reason to think this trio won't be even more lethal against opposing quarterbacks in 2017.
Specialists
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P Brad Wing, K Aldrick Rosas, LS Zak DeOssie and KR/PR Dwayne Harris
The Giants lost kicker Robbie Gould to the San Francisco 49ers, but long before that transaction took place, they signed Aldrick Rosas, who has yet to latch on with an NFL team, to a reserve/futures contract in January.
That doesn't mean Rosas, who has yet to kick in a regular-season NFL game, is being handed the job. McAdoo said there was a possibility they would add a veteran to the mix, Dan Duggan of NJ Advance Media recently reported.
While the Giants would probably like to do that before they go to training camp, it wouldn't be surprising if they present Rosas a chance to nail down the job uncontested early in the preseason. If he can't, then New York will no doubt be on the lookout for a veteran to shake free from another team.
At returner, Dwayne Harris, who had a disappointing showing last year because of injuries that appeared to have affected his decision-making, managed to survive being a salary-cap casualty by agreeing to a restructuring of his 2017 cap figure.
Per Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com, the Giants shaved $500,000 off Harris' base salary, an amount the 2016 Pro Bowler can make back with an additional $100,000 if he averages 10-plus yards per punt return in 2017, which he managed to do in 2015, his first season with the Giants.
Patricia Traina covers the New York Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information were obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced.
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