Betting on the New York Giants in 2019: Not So Fast

By Joanne Kong

Twitter: @KongFu4U

As a New York Giants fan, there has been little to celebrate.

Since their last Super Bowl win against the New England Patriots in 2011, their last, and only, post-season appearance was a 2016 loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Rewinding back to the 2018 season, the team faced various challenges under new head coach Pat Shurmur, including a generally disheveled team shuffling starters throughout the season, injuries to key playmakers, Odell Beckham Jr and Evan Engram, and discontent in the locker room leading to a rough season where the New York Football Giants finished last in the NFC East, with a record of 5-11.

Fast forward to present day and Odell Beckham Jr is now with the Cleveland Browns, the Giants selected Duke quarterback, Daniel Jones, with their sixth pick in the 2019 NFL draft, and questions continue to plague the Giants.

Need to know where to place a bet or who to bet on in a regular season game?  Maybe try Best Sportsbooks.  But how about betting on the Giants having a winning season?  Let’s take a look.

WHY TO BET ON THE GIANTS

1) A Kick-Ass Defense

According to Pro-Football-Reference, the Giants defense ranked 23rd overall in 2018. They had the second fewest sacks in the league, but were among the top ten teams in interceptions (16). Overall, they allowed an average of 25.8 points per game, which explains their 5-11 record for the 2018 season.

Don’t despair.

Although we don’t know the final 53-man roster, the Giants did use the majority of the 2019 NFL draft to build up their defense with seven out of the ten picks were defensive players, and its more than likely the Giants will use them. Young and promising, this collection of players can build on to the current defense and may define it in the upcoming season.

We’ve seen what a successful defense can do in the NFL. If this young group of potential starters are as good in the NFL as they were in college, the Giants will at least have a fighting chance to see more than five wins in 2019.

2) Receiving Options With Potential

Although they lost Odell Beckham Jr., and no one remaining wide receiver is as dynamic as OBJ, together they have the potential to be more effective. Veteran Golden Tate has had three seasons with over one-thousand receiving yards and two with over eight-hundred receiving yards, totaling 38 touchdowns over his career. Sterling Shepard has improved every year since entering the NFL, totaling 14 touchdowns so far. Entering into his fourth season, Shepard has the opportunity to lead this wide receiving core. Cody Latimer hasn’t had much of a role with the Giants, but that should change in the upcoming season.

[UPDATE: With Corey Coleman out for the season with an ACL tear, Sterling Shepard with a broken finger and Golden Tate facing a potential PED suspension, I’m a lot less bullish on this. This actually might now be a reason to bet against the Giants rather than for them.]

Outside of the wide receiver core, a healthy Evan Engram for the 2019 season has been, outside injuries, all that the Giants had hoped for. The two-year veteran has 1299 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns, but has yet to play a full season.

Although Odell Beckham Jr has a new look for a new team (gone with the blond), his fashion sense remains the same.

3) Saquon Barkley

Saquon Barkley’s stats speak for themselves.

In 2018, Barkley had the 2nd most rush yards, behind Ezekiel Elliot, and was the 5th in rushing touchdowns — Need I say more?  Specifically, Barkley had 1,307 rush yards, 11 rushing touchdowns and 721 receiving yards with 4 receiving touchdowns and shows no signs of slowing down.

WHY NOT TO BET ON THE GIANTS

1) Quarterback?

Yeah, this position is a huge question mark.

A lot of doubt has been dispelled as experts become more positive about the Giants 1st round draft pick, quarterback Daniel Jones, after highlights in spring OTA’s. But lets remember that highlights are just that…highlights.  It’s not until Jones gets on the field and faces a high pressure NFL defense will his abilities truly be measured.

Eli Manning on the other hand, is a fifteen-year veteran with the Giants, and Manning doesn’t intend to retire, but whether he’ll continue his career with the Giants past the 2019 season is uncertain as he enters the last year of his contract.

The Giant’s might have had a 5-11 season in 2018, but you wouldn’t have thought it looking at Manning’s 2018 stats. Eli Manning had the 9th most passing yards (4299), 17th most touchdowns (21) and just 11 interceptions (ranked 16th), but he was also the 6th most sacked quarterback (47) in the NFL. That’s not entirely his fault.

One thing is for certain for the Giants, whether its Manning or Jones, the Giants certainly have a “type.”  Both are eerily similar…in appearance.

Eli Manning at the 2004 Draft
Daniel Jones at the 2019 Draft

Kinda like how eerily similar the Marvel movies and the DC movies can be.  I mean, what’s the difference between Thanos collecting “infinity stones” and Steppenwolf collecting “mother boxes” anyway?  But I digress.

Steppenwolf likes Mother Boxes
Thanos likes Infinity Stones
2) Offensive Line

As mentioned, Manning was the sixth most sacked quarterback in the NFL, which doesn’t say much for the offensive line.  Unfortunately, according to Pro Football Focus, they haven’t improved much for the 2019 season being ranked 18th in the league. Although seeing some improvement in the interior with Will Hernandez and the addition of Kevin Zeitier, the remainder of the offensive line hasn’t had much improvement. This doesn’t bode well for either quarterback. Let’s face it, how effective is a quarterback with a three hundred-pound tackle barreling down on them?

Thinking out of the box, they’ve brought in shot-putter Austin Droogsma to try out as an offensive guard. Droogsma hasn’t put on a football uniform since high school, and thought the invitation was a joke. He was wrong. Droogsma might just be the feel good player of this offensive line.

THE PREDICTION

There’s no doubting that the Giants look to be a better team in the 2019 season, but it won’t likely be due to Daniel Jones.  But, this team has more work to do before they see a Super Bowl playoff in their future.

Predicted 2019 Record: 7-9

UPDATED (July 27, 2019)

Based on the rash of injuries in the Giants WR core, I’ve decided to revise my 2019 prediction to 5-11.

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