New York Giants: Grim Prediction Comes In About Next Three Seasons

New York Giants, Eli Manning
Dec 30, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) reacts after an incomplete pass in the fourth quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com via USA TODAY NETWORK

There’s not one dominant take about the New York Giants. Some think that the team made the right choice by drafting Daniel Jones and think that Eli Manning still has something left in the tank while others would argue that the team moving on from some of their best players and sticking with an aging quarterback while taking a big risk in the draft on a prospect such as Jones means that the team is headed for some losing years soon.

We won’t be able to find out which side is more accurate in the Giants debate but it’s clear that ESPN stands on the less than optimistic side when it comes to predictions. In their article making future projections for the next three years, three ESPN writers placed the Giants at the second worse spot in the entire league.

Their reasons for pessimism are some of the same worries that have been repeated by Giants fans ever since the draft and the team’s decision to go with a massive underdog with the sixth overall pick. This is what ESPN said that the biggest worry is for the Giants:

Has Gettleman made the right decision concerning the future performance of Eli Manning, the future performance of rookie first-round QB Jones and how well these two can perform without the services of one of the most explosive, naturally gifted WRs we have seen come into the NFL in as long time in Beckham? If he is right and this team will be able to win in both the short and long term, then he will look like a genius. I see the end approaching quickly for Manning, and have been on record as saying Dwayne Haskins was the best QB in the 2019 draft, but the Giants decided on Jones when Haskins was still on the board. I would not have gone that route.

As these predictions are for the next three years, it’s important to consider Daniel Jones much more than one would when considering this season in isolation. The future of the team is riding on the shoulders of the rookie, and a number of teams have ended up stuck in lengthy transition periods in the past after moving on from a franchise quarterback and finding the wrong player in the draft to act as a replacement.

Could the Giants end up in that kind of spot? It’s definitely a possibility, but things could still go either way right now depending on whether or not Jones shows the traits of a player that can quickly learn and prepare for an eventual starting role in the next couple of seasons.

Either way, most fans will be hoping to find out just how good or bad this team is soon rather than being stuck playing the waiting game to find out the quality of the team, which has been the case all offseason.