The New York Giants are decidedly middle of the pack in preseason NFL Power Rankings released after the first week of preseason games. That, from this vantage point, is pretty much on target.
SI.com (No. 15)
How dangerous can this team be if it can run the football on a consistent basis? The Giants ranked 24th on the ground last season, paced by Rashad Jennings’s 863 yards. Jennings has his work cut out for him just to hold the starting job, with rookie Paul Perkins (seven carries, 36 yards) and Andre Williams (nine carries, 41 yards) both off to hot starts.
ESPN (No. 17)
If every game last season ended with exactly 75 seconds left, the Giants would have finished 10-5-1. This offseason, the Giants replaced coach Tom Coughlin with Ben McAdoo and gave away money (see Olivier Vernon) like they gave away leads. Can the Giants play a full 60 minutes every week this season?
USA Today (No. 16)
Change is afoot for Big Blue after a free-agent spending spree and Ben McAdoo's installation as head coach. Finishing games strong has to be the top priority this year.
NFL.com (No. 16)
What will it take for the Giants to overtake the Redskins in the NFC East? On paper, New York might be the best team in the division. Then again, as we've seen too often with this group of teams, building through free agency is rarely the answer. Think of the 2000 Redskins, who free-agency-binged on Deion Sanders, Bruce Smith, Andre Reed, Mark Carrier and Jeff George. Or how about the 2011 Eagles, whom Vince Young -- soothsayer of all soothsayers -- dubbed the "Dream Team." Big Blue is stronger at quarterback than either of those ballclubs. Does that put the Giants over the top?