2008 New York Giants Season Preview

2008 New York Giants preview from MadduxSports.com. The NFC East once again houses 4 phenominal teams all capable at making a run through the playoffs. We will likely see teams over and undervalued off one good or bad performance. As NFL picks handicappers we can keep you on the undervalued and off the overvalued teams.

2008 New York Giants Predictions
By Adam Barone

Rundown
In case your space ship just crashed here on Earth, the “G-men” won the Super Bowl in February. They’ve done a fantastic job in the draft in recent years, and even got a little luck when all eight of last year’s draft picks developed quickly and contributed significantly down the stretch.

That just doesn’t happen. Except last season for the Giants. Otherwise never. Seriously.

It will be nearly impossible for Eli Manning and the Giants to live up to expectations in the coming season.

Pass rushing end Michael Strahan retired, but defensive end depth is a strength for Big Blue. They re-signed pass rusher Justin Tuck, but lost tackle William Joseph as a free agent to the Raiders. Joseph, a former first round pick, hadn’t contributed much in his time with the team. Strahan didn’t contribute much on the field in 2007 either, playing in only four games and accumulating just two sacks.

This team is still young overall, and will probably deal with questions about trading tight end Jeremy Shockey until either he’s traded, the season starts, or the media decide they’ve irritated us enough with the topic.

Draft Analysis
Despite winning the big one, the Giants have a ton of needs. A “big boned” quarterback is not one of them.

New York went into the draft with needs at wide receiver, offensive line, linebacker, safety, quarterback, cornerback, and defensive tackle. Most significantly, there was no depth behind Manning, they lost both of their starting outside linebackers to free agency, and the third and fourth cornerbacks (Sam Madison and R.W. McQuarters) are aging.

David Carr was signed to compete with Jared Lorenzen for the backup job.

The loss of safety Gibril Wilson, also to the Raiders, opened up a hole in the secondary. In an attempt to fill that hole, the Giants took Miami safety Kenny Phillips with their first round pick. Phillips is NFL-ready. He’s capable of playing the run and being dependable in pass coverage.

All of the needs were addressed except for offensive line and defensive tackle. Sixth round pick Robert Henderson, a defensive end out of Southern Miss, adds more depth to the rotation of pass rushing ends that took the field four at a time in 2007, causing havoc on offensive lines. The selection suggests that the Giants don’t plan to start using prototypical defensive tackles any time soon.

Linebacker Brian Kehl out of BYU is a speedy playmaker and could be a sleeper as a fourth round pick.

Now that you know about the 2008 New York Giants football team see how they stack up against the rest of the NFC East division rivals Cowboys, Eagles, and Redskins.

Related Pages:
Giants Official Site
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