5 New York Giants Players with Most to Prove in 2017

After last year's somewhat surprising 11-5 record, the pressure is on the entire New York Giants organization to prove that head coach Ben McAdoo's first year at the helm was no fluke.

For the Giants to accomplish that, they are going to need every single one of their players to stay healthy and raise their individual level of play.

While the outlook appears rosy, it would especially behoove the Giants to have the five guys listed in this slideshow deliver nothing short of their A-game each and every week if the team is to reach its goal of winning another Super Bowl championship.

LT Ereck Flowers

Jim Mone/Associated Press

Perhaps no one member of the 2016 Giants took as much heat as left tackle Ereck Flowers.

The criticism, though, was fully justified. Here was the ninth overall pick of the 2015 draft looking rawer than sushi, a guy whose technique was so inconsistent that at times it was downright painful to watch him turn into a human turnstile.

It also didn't help that Flowers, who does bring a surly attitude to the field, became the team's magnet for penalty flags. In each of his first two seasons, he has led the Giants in penalties, with the majority of his infractions being holding penalties that were usually called after he desperately grabbed on to his man after being beaten.

Add in the fact Flowers has twice allowed the most backfield disruptions (sacks, pressures and hits) in his first two seasons, per data provided by Pro Football Focus, and it's little wonder that people were vocal in their pleas for the Giants to address the position this offseason.

The Giants, however, weren't heavy players in the free-agent market, and they also decided not to devote a premium draft pick to the position, instead waiting until the sixth round where they traded up to get Adam Bisnowaty, who looks more like he'll be a right tackle for this team.

It later came out that Flowers, unlike his first offseason as a member of the team, decided to stay in East Rutherford and work out under the team's supervision.

As a result, Flowers not only looks leaner he also drew praise from offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan and head coach Ben McAdoo for being much improved in his technique, at least against air.

"Ereck did everything that we asked him to do in the offseason," McAdoo said after the team's third OTA.

"He's in tremendous condition, he looks quick on his feet. He spent a lot of time in the weight room, spent a lot of time conditioning, spent a lot of time on air, so it's good to get some bodies in front of him so he has a chance to work on his technique."

If the Giants offense is to regain a spot in the top 10 leaguewide, they're going to need for their third-year left tackle to finally put it all together and start looking like the ninth overall pick.

RT Bobby Hart

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

If Ereck Flowers was the most heavily criticized Giants player last season for his play, right tackle Bobby Hart was a close second.

Although Hart wasn't a top-10 draft pick—he was chosen No. 226th overall in the same class as Flowers—the expectations were still set high given that he inherited the starting job after incumbent Marshall Newhouse was shelved due to a calf injury.

Hart, like Flowers, struggled to keep his edge clean in pass protection, allowing 46 total backfield disruptions (sacks, hits and hurries), per Pro Football Focus.

By the end of the year, the coaches decided to go back to Newhouse for the playoff game, leaving a healthy Hart—who had missed the regular-season finale with an arm injury—to serve on special teams only in the Wild Card game against Green Bay. 

Like Flowers, Hart decided to do something about his quality of play last season which he described as lacking. 

"My play wasn't top tier the way I want it to be," Hart said, per Inside Football. "I see the film the way you guys do and you're not proud of the things you put on film."

Hart and Flowers spent the entire offseason at the Giants' facility, beginning almost immediately following the disappointing playoff loss to the Packers. Like Flowers, Hart received praise from McAdoo for his efforts.

"They really jumped in with both feet in the weight room, working hard and working together competing in the weight room," the head coach said. "That is where it starts and not just lifting weights, it is the functional mobility, those types of things where they can work on their flexibility, work on their mobility and really grow in that regard. They did everything that we asked them to do at this point."

That work, per McAdoo, is beginning to show up in the players' technique.

"They are growing technique-wise," the coach said. "It will be exciting to see them with pads on. Again, we don't want to evaluate guys right now running around in their underwear with their helmets on.

"So, we want to see them with pads on and playing with their pad level low and playing with the fundamentals and physicality that we are looking for, but they are off to a good start."

As is the case with Flowers, the Giants will need Hart's arrow to continue pointing upward if the offense stands a chance at rebounding from last year's inconsistent showing.

TE Evan Engram

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

Tight end Evan Engram has yet to take a regular-season snap for the Giants, but already expectations are running high for the NFL's 23rd overall pick in this year's draft.

That's because Engram, who was clocked at the combine as the fastest tight end in this year's class, is being counted on to help break open last year's 17th-ranked passing offense, a unit whose kryptonite was Cover-2.

If anyone can deliver the goods in freeing up the rest of the receivers from double coverage, it's Engram, who was lethal in the middle of the field the deeper the pass attempt, per Pro Football Focus.

Per their breakdown of Engram's 2016 receptions made in the middle of the field, his NFL ratings were 106.4 on passes 10-19 yards and 141.4 on passes of 20 or more yards.

Besides being a threat to exploit the middle of the field, the 6'3" Engram against a small safety or linebacker would create a mismatch that favors the Giants. 

It's not easy being the team's first-round draft pick, regardless of the position one plays, as expectations are usually sky high. If Engram can come in and deliver the goods as a rookie, the sky is the limit for this year's offense.

LB B.J. Goodson

David Richard/Associated Press

Although jobs aren't necessarily won or lost in the spring, it looks like the starting middle linebacker position is second-year man B.J. Goodson's to lose.

Goodson, who last year was the only healthy rookie draft pick to barely play snaps at his position—per Pro Football Focus, he logged just 13 defensive snaps—is getting more than enough opportunity this spring in his competition with veteran Keenan Robinson to impress the coaching staff.

So far, so good.

"I think B.J. definitely has confidence out there for sure and that's one of the biggest things you want to see in your middle linebacker," cornerback Eli Apple said. "He definitely has that confidence and that voice. I think he's going to be really good for us."

Goodson told reporters following last week's sixth OTA that he's been trying to pick the brain of former Giants Pro Bowl middle linebacker Antonio Pierce, who has been serving as a coaching intern this spring.

"He's always dropping advice and knowledge on me," Goodson said of Pierce, who not coincidentally was the last Giants inside linebacker to hold the starting role for multiple seasons.

"It isn't one particular thing that I could tell you that he does, but he's always telling me whether it's formation recognition or any little thing. The details—he's always on me about the details, but he does a great job of helping me and really appreciate it."

If Goodson can become a fraction of the linebacker Pierce was, the Giants defense is going to be that much better in 2017.

WR Odell Beckham Jr.

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

When it comes to his play on the field, there's little question that receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has proved in each of his three seasons that he has the makings to become the GOAT of this generation of players.

Still, that didn't stop general manager Jerry Reese from having a year-end sit down with Beckham or sharing his rather blunt opinions of the young man whom he referred to as a lightning rod:

"I see a guy who needs to think about some of the things that he does. Everybody knows that he is a gifted player, but there are some things that he has done that he needs to look at himself in the mirror and be honest with himself about, and I think he will do that.

"We will help him with that, but he has to help himself, and we believe he will do that. He is a smart guy, but sometimes he doesn't do smart things.

"We all have had to grow up at different times in our lives, and I think it is time for him to do that. He has been here for three years now and is a little bit of a lightning rod because of what he does on the football field, but the things he does off the football field, he has to be responsible for those things and we will talk through it."

Beckham is an athlete who wears his heart on his sleeve. He's also probably one of the most expressive players on the roster, a guy who devotes the same amount of effort into his celebrations as he does his expressions of frustration. 

While no one on the team seems to be bothered, at least publicly, that Beckham has chosen to spend the OTAs training on his own in California, where he needs to be careful and show maturity is on the field where his actions can hurt his team.

We all saw what happened in that 2015 game against Carolina when he lost his cool in the face of Josh Norman's taunting, leading to actions that led to a one-game suspension (and a leaguewide rule change that now mandates players drawing multiple personal fouls can be ejected from the game).

We also heard the accounts of how he banged his head against the wall in frustration and how he was alleged to have punched a hole in the wall after the loss to Green Bay. Beckham is fortunate that such spur-of-the-moment emotional reactions didn't lead to an injury as befell former Washington quarterback Gus Frerotte or a broken hand.

There's nothing wrong with playing the game with emotion so long as it's channeled properly. Once Beckham figures that part of the pro game out, then there will really be no stopping him from becoming the greatest of all time.

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.