ESPN Makes a Very Early, Yet Glum Forecast About Giants' Immediate Future

For all the feel-good and optimism floating around East Rutherford these days, at least one analyst doesn’t think the New York Giants will parlay that optimism into anything special.

That would be ESPN’s Seth Walder, who lists the Giants with a 12% chance at landing the first overall pick in next year’s draft, one percentage point behind the Cleveland Browns, who ran first among the top ten teams listed.

Walder also goes on to project that the Giants have a 43% chance at drafting in the top five again come next year, a prediction which, if it comes to fruition, would make the fourth time in the five-year tenure of general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll that the Giants are picking early in the draft order.

That is, of course, assuming that Schoen and Daboll are retained by ownership. If the team doesn’t show the kind of progress ownership is seeking, they could opt to tear everything down and start from scratch.

However, in returning to Walder’s analysis, the primary reason behind his skepticism that the Giants will avoid drafting near the top of the draft order is that New York has the toughest schedule among all teams in the league.

While one would be hard-pressed to find anyone who has the Giants down as a potential Super Bowl contender for the upcoming season, it’s hard to imagine how the analytics can point to such a likelihood of the Giants again flopping. Schoen put a heavy emphasis on reinforcing the defense, which was just as much of an issue last season. He also added several intriguing prospects to help the special teams unit achieve more consistency.

That all said, the offense is probably the source driving the doubt. The Giants are essentially running it back with the same projected starting offense, minus the quarterback, as Russell Wilson has replaced Daniel Jones.  

Although the Giants added reinforcement at key spots such as the offensive line, which was the second biggest problem after quarterback last season, it’s still not enough to inspire confidence that New York might land up drafting in the middle of the draft order.

Time will, of course, tell if ESPN’s forecasts are accurate. While championships aren’t won in the offseason, Giants fans still should feel better about the state of this year’s roster than last year’s version.

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