How can the New York Giants get better in 2016? It's all about the trenches. Head coach Ben McAdoo made that clear during his press conference Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine.
"The quickest way to get better is up front on both sides of the ball. You have to protect your quarterback and you have to get after the other team's quarterback," McAdoo said. "It's directly related to the QB rating differential, which is important in winning and losing games. You want to do a better job of getting after the quarterback whether it's up front or it's coming from the secondary, putting pressure there or from the linebacker level. You have to make the quarterback uncomfortable, certainly."
That could be part of why McAdoo seemed to advocate during his press conference for the return of Jason Pierre-Paul. You could also glean from his remarks that the Giants will look toward the free agent pool and an apparently deep group of defensive tackles in the upcoming draft class to try and upgrade that position.
On the offensive line, the Giants cut ties with veteran linemen Geoff Schwartz and Will Beatty. Given McAdoo's comments, you have to believe they will be aggressive in trying to upgrade the right side of their offensive line. The free agent market offers several quality players, including several guards who might fit the zone blocking scheme McAdoo's offense requires.
The Giants are flush in cap space, with nearly $60 million under the anticipated salary cap. McAdoo was vague about how the Giants might spend that money.
"Again, we evaluated guys, we had a big meeting earlier in the week. We need to do what's in the best long-term interest of the New York Giants and find some right pieces to add to the mix, whether it's our own guys we bring back or going out and bringing other guys in," McAdoo said. "Free agency is free agency, it's a combination between free agency and the draft on how you add players, how you acquire players."
You can be pretty certain, though, that some of those pieces will be big, beefy guys along both lines.