New York Giants: Can Ben McAdoo End Team’s Playoff Drought?
The New York Giants may be one of the most improved teams in the NFL. They had a great offseason that started with a talented draft class and ended with a free agency spending spree. With all of this improved talent on the roster, could rookie head coach Ben McAdoo lead the team to their first playoff game since 2011?
The first logical thing to do is to learn from another coaches’ past because history tends to repeat itself. According to Bleacher Report, There have been a multitude of rookie head coaches that have gotten a team back on track and to the playoffs, Jim Harbaugh and the San Francisco 49ers is the perfect example. Harbaugh whipped the team into shape in a very short period of time. His brother, John Harbaugh, had a similar experience with the Baltimore Ravens.
That means it is more than possible for Ben McAdoo to lead the New York Giants to the playoffs this season. McAdoo has already been with the team for a number of years and has an experienced signal caller running the offense. Those are two big factors that go into a rookie head coaches’ success.
Giants’ general manager Jerry Reese definitely feels as if his team is done rebuilding and is playoff ready. Of course, he may never openly claim that, but the way he spent money in the free agency period says otherwise. Rebuilding teams look to gain major talent through the draft, not through the free agency. If the free agency made teams instantly better, then the teams with the most salary cap space would be winning every year. A championship can’t be bought for a crippled team. There has to be a strong foundation in place before the spending spree occurs.
The New York Giants may have just enough spunk to get the job done this year. Reese made sure that he over compensated for his teams’ poor defense by adding some major talent to the unit. The Giants’ once flimsy defensive line is now stacked with some heavy artillery. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has Olivier Vernon, Damon Harrison, Johnathan Hankins, and Jason Pierre-Paul to work with.
This new lineup of defensive players is pretty scary compared to last seasons’. The Giants struggled to generate any sort of pressure on opposing quarterbacks. This one gaping hole that lead to more than a handful of the Giants’ losses in 2015. If the Giants had pressured quarterbacks more, they may have been able to close out a few more games than they did.
In the very unpredictable NFC East, every game counts and a couple more wins could have easily contributed to the New York Giants winning the division. This year, Ben McAdoo has to deal with the resurgent Washington Redskins and the return of Tony Romo to the Dallas Cowboys. The addition of running back Ezekiel Elliot also should raise some concern.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Giants are pretty set. They ranked eighth in total offense last year and that was with Odell Beckham as Eli Manning’s only talented receiver. When Victor Cruz and rookie Sterling Shepard are thrown into the mix things could get a lot more interesting. McAdoo was the coach who revived Manning’s career and pumped some life into the Giants’ offense. Now that Ben McAdoo has full control of the team, the New York Giants may end up having one of the top offenses in the league.
The New York Giants’ running offense may also not be as bad as it seems. When starter Rashad Jennings is healthy (which is rare) he isn’t a bad player. He has shown that he has the ability to be the Giant’ bell cow back, but his durability is still a major concern. That is why Jerry Reese elected to bring in fifth round draft pick, Paul Perkins, into the mix. Perkins has the capability to take Andre Williams’ number two spot on the running back depth chart.
Is all of this enough for Ben McAdoo to end the New York Giants’ playoff drought? The answer is yes, the New York Giants now have enough talent to make a push for a playoff spot.
[Photo by Ron Antonelli/Getty Images]
