Giants named one of NFL’s most improved teams for the wrong reason

The last six months have seen a ton of changes for the New York Giants. Staff and player departures, staff and player additions, and adjustments in an attempt to fix whatever was broken within the organization.

The feel around the team and the locker room is of cautious hope as the team comes together and gets on the same page.

That locker room feel is one of the reasons the team has already improved over last season, but Connor Orr of Sports Illustrated has a different outlook on why the Giants are improved.

Brian Burns changes the calculus of this defense, and I like the combination of Brian Daboll and Drew Lock and am very curious to see if it ends up bearing some Geno Smith-ian fruit for the Giants. While I wasn’t sold on Malik Nabers as the best available wide receiver at that point, I think this team can win between eight to 10 games this year despite not having what one would consider a transformative offseason. The Giants are still low on weapons, but their offensive line will develop (read: has to develop) and this defense is seriously formidable, though I would have liked to have seen a repair in the Wink Martindale–Brian Daboll relationship to the point where Martindale would have gotten to use Burns.

Now, Orr is not wrong to say the Giants are one of the most improved teams in the NFL thus far. The problem is his reasoning. Drew Lock isn’t going to start. Daniel Jones is the starter. So the Daboll-Lock combination has zero bearing at this time.

The reason the Giants are so improved is around how the weapons they’ve brought in and the staffing changes they’ve made affect the entire organization.

Malik Nabers doesn’t have to be considered as the best available receiver in the draft to be chosen at that time. What he has to be is the best receiver for the Giants to be chosen at that time. And, so far, it seems to be the right choice.

The Giants have the potential to be vastly improved over last year. Daboll and his coaching staff are on the hook for what happens next, so hopefully they’ll get everyone on the same page by the time the season starts.