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Indentity-less New York Giants destined for an unkown, scary rebuild

By Ryan Disdier

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For the fourth year in a row, the New York Giants will miss the postseason. With front office changes possibly on the horizon, this is a team primed for a rebuild

The New York Giants are one of the most successful franchises in NFL history. With four Super Bowls and even more NFL Championships, the G-Men know a thing or two about winning.

However, even the best teams undergo transition periods, and the Giants seem like they’re destined to be entrenched in one in the immediate future. The Giants aren’t a team that routinely goes through rebuilding periods, though. So the next few seasons will serve as a journey into the unknown.

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A quick summation of the state of the Giants is to say they’re a team with no identity and glaring holes across the roster. It’s the culmination of terrible drafts by general manager Jerry Reese, and it’s hurt this team immensely.

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Calling the drafts ‘poor’ would be a severe understatement, like calling the Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight ‘disappointing.’ The miscues were the reason the Giants had to spend so much money in the 2014 offseason, after all.

It’s the same story this year, as the Giants still have a plethora of holes to fill. It’s alarming, as this year’s squad was one of the worst units in franchise history.

Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young provided his two cents about New York’s 2015 roster.

It’s easy to brush that off, but the fact of the matter is that Young isn’t necessarily wrong. Obviously, some of the Giants’ issues stem from injuries, but most of them have to do with poor planning by the front office.

“The star power of Odell Beckham Jr. may have masked the true shape of the Giants. You look past the impressive performances by Beckham, though, and you have a bottom-feeding team.”

This team has done such a terrible job of growing their own talent through the draft, and this was the year those poor moves and lack of depth finally caught up to the team. It’s impossible to fix the kind of issues the Giants have had over the past few years solely in free agency.

But alas, they don’t have any other option than to at least try to add some value in the open market.

What exactly do they need? Well, in no particular order, this team requires two more starting offensive linemen, a linebacker, an edge rusher, a cornerback, a wide receiver, a tight end and then some depth everywhere. It’s also worth noting that the team might begin to look for a new quarterback to groom.

That’s a list of needs Santa wouldn’t even be able to help out with.

So with so many needs, what do the Giants even have? Luckily for the Giants, a franchise quarterback is not on their wish list, as Eli Manning is as stable as ever. That helps a lot, as does having a superstar wide receiver. Odell Beckham Jr. is undoubtedly one of the game’s best receivers, so having him on the team is definitely a plus.

Still, teams with franchise quarterbacks and great receivers have undergone rebuilding periods in the past. The Giants just don’t really have anyone else on the roster, especially on the defensive side of the ball, who stands out.

At the moment, the Giants have the QB to build around. I say ‘at the moment’ because as good as Eli Manning has been over the past two seasons, he’s in the latter portion of his prime, and he’ll be 35 next year.

A rebuild is inevitable, though it certainly won’t be Philadelphia 76ers-esque. There’s a good chance a new head coach and general manager accompany the rebuild, too.

Dec 6, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin (left) coaches against the New York Jets during the first quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Tom Coughlin has been with the Giants since 2004 and Jerry Reese has been the GM since 2007, so it’s a bit odd to try to envision a new regime in New York. Surely some people want Coughlin and Reese to stay, but with the team headed for another playoff-less season, it’s tough to justify no change.

The two Super Bowls won under the Coughlin-Reese era can no longer be used as an excuse for miscues. The Giants aren’t known for making big changes, but the way this team has played has been unacceptable.

If you want to look at history, after 2013 New York fired its offensive coordinator and last year it fired its defensive coordinator. Quire frankly, ownership is running out of people to blame, which doesn’t bode well for Coughlin and Reese.

I don’t want to talk about why Coughlin and Reese should go, as I’ve already talked about it extensively, but the fact that 31/43 of Reese’s draft picks from 2008-2013 have been busts speaks for itself. His incredibly bad drafting is the catalyst for this team’s failures.

If you want to give Reese credit for landing on Odell Beckham, don’t. A general manager shouldn’t need praise for hitting on a top-15 pick. The mid-to-late rounds is where Reese has been woefully bad. While Pittsburgh and Green Bay are drafting guys like Le’Veon Bell and Randall Cobb, Reese has been drafting guys like Clint Sintim and Rueben Randle.

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In regard to Coughlin, he’s going to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame eventually. But Peyton Manning is, too, and that doesn’t mean he should stick around forever. Everything from this year has simply served as another nail in the coffin. The blown leads, unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and the mental mistakes are all things that are typically never associated with a Tom Coughlin-coached team.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Yes, Coughlin brought a certain culture to New York. And yes, he’s won Super Bowls with that culture. But there comes a time when that culture is rendered obsolete. He’s a great coach, one of the best of all-time. But 2015 marks the third straight year he’s been the coach of a team with a losing record.

This team has shown up brutally unprepared on more than one occasion this year. In its most recent faux pas, New York looked humorously lethargic against Minnesota. It seemed like nobody wanted to play. The energy was sparse at best, and it was an ironic representation of what should be Coughlin’s final year with the Giants. Without OBJ, the offense failed to do anything. As crazy as it sounds, if Reese picked a guy like Ryan Shazier instead of Beckham, there’s a real chance the Giants would’ve been a two-win team this year.

The Giants simply don’t have an identity, and that blame belongs to Coughlin and Reese. In the glory days, New York was known for a fierce pass rush and a strong run game. Now, the only identity the Giants have is being a team that’s one-dimensional on offense and laughably bad on defense.

This is a broken team, and the horror show in Minnesota drives that point home. Coughlin’s final days are worse than the end of the Jim Fassel era.

Dec 6, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham (13) misses a long catch against New York Jets cornerback Darrin Walls (26) during overtime at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Losing has become far too frequent for the Giants, and change needs to be made if that culture is going to change.

The Giants are no longer a top-tier team. No amount of primetime games will change that fact. The star power of Odell Beckham Jr. may have masked the true shape of the Giants. You look past the impressive performances by Beckham, though, and you have a bottom-feeding team.

The Giants haven’t had a season in which they’ve beaten more than two teams with a record above .500 since 2011. They’ve been a team that preys on weaker opponents, while losing to the better teams more often than not.

A complete, trade-everybody overhaul isn’t necessary, but a rebuild is. Unless changes are made to improve the team from the draft, the Giants won’t be sniffing the playoffs for a while. That’s why winning the NFC East and going one-and-done in the playoffs would’ve ended up hurting this team in the long run.

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A playoff appearance would’ve enhanced the staying power of Coughlin and Reese, as well as ensured the Giants would be stuck with a less-than-desirable draft pick.

So, yes, believe it or not, Kirk Cousins’ Redskins making the playoffs actually helps the Giants in the long run.

Essentially, New York’s fan base is fed up with mediocrity. It’s time for a change in New York, even if that means saying goodbye to a legendary coach and beginning the dreaded stages of a rebuild.

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