TRAINING CAMP PREVIEWS:
The 2017 Giants could have it all: New York and the NFL in the palms of their hands. And so on Thursday, they are not just opening Ben McAdoo’s second training camp as head coach. They are officially resuming their quest for the franchise’s fifth Super Bowl. There is no use hiding from it. The Giants’ expectations for themselves are that high, as is the pressure that accompanies an 11-5 record and playoff berth in 2016, a roster headlined by stars on both offense and defense, and the New York market. But the sting of a blowout Wild Card playoff loss in Green Bay still lingers, and the Giants know there are no guarantees as players report to Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford on Thursday for physicals and conditioning tests, with camp’s first practice scheduled for Friday. So here are the Daily News’ five burning questions entering a Giants training camp that everyone is — to use a McAdoo favorite - “chomping at the bit” to get underway:
1. WILL ODELL BECKHAM JR.’S CONTRACT BECOME AN ISSUE?
Beckham, 24, the Giants’ transcendent star receiver, skipped all of the Giants’ voluntary OTA practices this offseason, reportedly over his contract. Beckham attended the mandatory minicamp in June and said a couple times that he does not believe in holdouts, but he also played a role in trumpeting reports of his discontent on Twitter and then didn’t squash the conversation when it blew up. So it’s unknown how Beckham will proceed entering his fourth NFL season, grossly underpaid at $1.8 million for 2017 with an $8.4 million 2018 fifthyear option already exercised.
All that’s certain is Beckham’s actions will impact the team greatly either way: Either he’ll decide to fight over his contract and create an enormous distraction, pitting the team’s best player against management, or he’ll choose to table the issue until next February and possibly clear the way for a truly special Giants season. For now, there is no indication Beckham intends to hold the Giants’ feet to the fire. But if he decides to, there will be no bigger story across the entire league.
2. WILL ELI MANNING OVERCOME ADVERSITY ON AND OFF THE FIELD?
Manning, 36, has three years remaining on
his contract as he seeks to win a third Super Bowl. He is looking to bounce back from a down season in 2016 (4,027 yards passing, 6.7 per attempt, 26 TD, 16 INT), while also battling allegations of a lawsuit against him and the Giants of falsely representing memorabilia as game-worn. Manning emphatically denied any wrongdoing in the case this offseason.
He has a new 6-4 target in receiver Brandon Marshall to help him in the passing game. But 2017 is shaping up as a challenge nonetheless to the veteran QB, with pressure to prove Manning’s window on his playing career isn’t closing, and a potential successor in Davis Webb drafted in April’s third round and waiting in the wings.
3. CAN BEN MCADOO TURN THE OFFENSE FROM DISAPPOINTING INTO DYNAMIC?
McAdoo’s third season calling plays for the Giants, and his first as head coach, saw an anemic offense rank 26th of 32 NFL teams in points per game (19.4), 25th in total yards per game (330.7) and 29th in rushing yards per game (88.2). The Giants also were tied for the 8th-most giveaways (27) overall in the league. The plus side? Marshall (6-4) and rookie tight end Evan Engram (6-3) add size and talent to a receiving corps that already included Beckham (1,367 yards, 10 TDs in 2016) and second-year slot man Sterling Shepard (65 catches, 683 yards, eight TDs as a rookie). Veteran tight end Rhett Ellison (6-5) also signed as a free agent and should help in the run game, where second-year back Paul Perkins enters camp as the presumed starter. The offensive line even returns all five regular starters from 2016, but that punctuates one of the biggest question marks of all: can third-year left tackle Ereck Flowers, Jerry Reese’s ninth overall pick in 2015, finally protect Manning’s blind side? And can the line block better in the run game to take pressure off both Flowers and Manning? The Giants’ depth at left tackle remains thin. One missing piece could threaten the whole.
4. CAN STEVE SPAGNUOLO’S DEFENSE MATCH, OR TOP, ITS 2016 DOMINANCE?
The Giants were a flawed team in 2016, but they won 11 games anyway thanks to a stingy defense led by a pair of firstteam AllPros, strong safety Landon Collins and defensive tackle Damon Harrison, and lockdown corner Janoris “Jackrabbit” Jenkins. Only tackle Johnathan Hankins (Indianapolis Colts) and linebacker Kelvin Sheppard (free agent) are gone from the Giants’ top 12 defenders from 2016, so expectations remain just as high.
But can Big Blue’s defense match its 17.8 points per game allowed from last season, second only to the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots’ 15.6? And can the defense carry this team to the playoffs again if the offense doesn’t do its part? Will Hankins’ absence affect their terrific run D? It’s going to take a better pass rush out of ends Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon, better linebacker play, a similarly effective season from Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to complement second-year pro Eli Apple, and new depth contributions in a defensive backfield that has turned over behind the three top starters. The Giants’ defense is confident, though, and determined to back up 2016.
5. CAN THE GIANTS REPLICATE THE HUNGER OF 2016 IN 2017 WITH HIGHER EXPECTATIONS?
This is just human nature. No one expected anything out of the 2016 Giants in McAdoo’s first season, they knew it, and they used their doubters as fuel to announce that the NFL must take Big Blue seriously once again. Their hunger was real, and they snapped a four-year franchise playoff drought because of it. Now, though, the Giants are no longer underdogs. They’ve regained respect, even without winning the NFC East or a playoff game last year, and so it will be a different challenge to replicate the tenacity and desperation of last season — especially on defense — having already accomplished something in the form of validation last year. Leaders such as Manning, Harrison and Marshall — who never has played in a playoff game — undoubtedly will set the tone that nothing can be taken for granted. But the Giants will need to find that same drive and motivation from a different starting point, with a new group, even if they still have the same goal.