The offseason plan

The season officially came to an end for the Giants yesterday with a loss against the Packers. While it was a tough game that I felt like the team did have a chance to win, I have found myself focusing on next year today more than even reflecting on the past season since I think it still needs some time to sink in. In the coming weeks, I will give a full recap of the Giants' season and the NFL season. It might seem to be out of order, but right now, I am already looking ahead to the 2017 season for the Giants, so I will provide my thoughts here on what I would like to see from now until the beginning of training camp. I will start on the offensive side of the ball.

Quarterback - Obviously, Eli Manning will be back here for the foreseeable future, but he is 36 years old, and I think it might be time to start at least considering what life will be like in the post-Eli era. Josh Johnson and Ryan Nassib are his backups now, and neither of them have shown me any signs of being capable starting quarterbacks in the NFL. The quarterback crop in this upcoming draft is considered somewhat shallow, but the class coming out next year is supposed to be much deeper. While I am in no way saying that Eli's job is in jeopardy, I think in 2018, the Giants should at least consider the search for his replacement.

Running back - Paul Perkins came on at the end of the season, and I think that him and Rashad Jennings could potentially be at least a serviceable one-two punch. Orleans Darkwa and Shane Vereen missed most of the season due to injury, but if even three of those four guys can stay healthy next year, I would still feel comfortable. Bobby Rainey's contract is up, and I have only one thing to say to him: Good riddance.

Wide receiver/Tight end - As much as the fans love Victor Cruz, and as much as he has done for the team, I think his days as a Giant may be over. He really was not involved in the offense very much overall this season, and with Odell Beckham and Sterling Shepard as the new focus on the outside, I think Cruz is viewed as expendable. However, Tavarres King did show some flashes both in the preseason and late in the regular season, so he might be looking at an expanded role going into next season. Until I see anyone who can replace him, I think Dwayne Harris should remain as a return man, and Roger Lewis definitely will get a shot to stick with the team if he proves worthy from now until the 2018 season begins.

As far as tight end goes, I would have no problem with Larry Donnell being shown the door, as his negatives have definitely outweighed his positives during his tenure with the Giants. For an undrafted player from a small school, Will Tye has far surpassed expectations, and he should be back. Jerell Adams had a small impact this season as a rookie sixth-rounder, but he should get a shot at a bigger role in 2018. It would be nice if the team added some depth at this position over the offseason, either through the draft or through free agency.

Offensive line - As has seemingly been the case for many years now, the offensive line is the weakness on that side of the ball. Everyone loves to hate on Ereck Flowers, and for the most part it is deserved. He has not lived up to expectations. However, being a first round draft pick on a rookie contract means that he is not going anywhere as of now. Maybe the team tries to move him to the right side of the line, but he is going to be on the roster next year whether we like it or not.

Justin Pugh and Weston Richburg will be safe, but the right side of the line needs to get better. Marshall Newhouse will hopefully be gone, and I have never liked John Jerry.

Brett Jones and Adam Gettis were reserves this year, and they are both young so I think they should at least get a shot at filling the holes in the line. I think the team needs to look to the draft for help here as well. Will Beatty (remember him?) is also still in the mix.

Defensive line - This is where the offseason will get a bit tricky, as our two biggest expiring contracts belong to Jason Pierre-Paul and Jonathan Hankins. I was wrong on JPP. I thought his fireworks "incident" would be the end of his career, but he proved me wrong when he put together a very good season before he got injured late in the year. A healthy JPP teamed with Olivier Vernon coming off both ends was a great combination this season, and I would love to see them back in tandem next year.

As far as the inside of the line goes, Damon Harrison proved to be worth every penny we spent on him by having a Pro Bowl season, but the importance of Jonathan Hankins alongside him cannot be forgotten. Jay Bromley did flash a few times, but he is not as good as Hankins right now. Romeo Okwara actually surprised me by how well he played after Pierre-Paul got hurt, so he could possibly fit into the future somehow, but I think the team needs to address the inside of the defensive line in the draft.

Linebacker - It has been years since the Giants have had a good linebacking corps, and while the unit did overachieve a bit this year, it still needs help. I was surprised at what Jonathan Casillas gave the team as the starting middle linebacker after wallowing in mediocrity for the majority of his career before this season. He is not exactly Antonio Pierce or Ray Lewis, but he did hold his own for the most part.

Keenan Robinson, Kelvin Sheppard, and Mark Herzlich all have expiring contracts, and they all performed somewhat capably in limited roles, but I doubt they will all be back next season. The Giants have missed time and time again on linebackers in the draft over recent years (Jonathan Goff, Greg Jones, Clint Sintim, etc.), The team drafted B.J. Goodson in the fourth round last year, but he did almost nothing. He should still get a chance, but I think they still need to try to draft a linebacker again this year.

Secondary - It has been a very long time since we could say this, but the secondary was the best part of the Giants defense this past season. Janoris Jankins, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, and Eli Apple were one of the best groups in the NFL, and I would look for that to continue next year. Landon Collins was an All-Pro at safety, and he seems like he could possibly an anchor on defense for years to come. The weakest part of the secondary was the rotating players alongside of him. Mykkele and Darian Thompson showed some brief promise, but both were injured early on. Andrew Adams was acceptable for stretches, but I like him better as a reserve than a starter. Leon Hall played next to Collins as well at some points, and he did a nice job, but he may look for greener pastures this offseason.

If either Darian or Mykkele can be healthy next year, the secondary could be elite. I do not want to understate the importance of Collins either. In only his second year in the NFL, he has shown the potential to be one of the best safeties in the entire league.

Special teams - Brad Wing did a very good job punting this season, and he should be back next year as both the punter and holder. Zak DeOssie has been a mainstay as the long snapper for almost a decade now (he and Eli Manning are the only Giants players with two rings with the team), and he will return. Josh Brown had a brief stay at kicker very early on, but his domestic violence issue caused a huge uproar and forced the team to get rid of him. Robbie Gould filled in well. If he does not return, I can't say that kicker is at the top of my priority list when it comes to top voids to fill. However, those damn kickers still do matter in some of the biggest spots of the season, so I would be fine if Gould returned.

As far as the return man goes, I am totally fine with Dwayne Harris coming back to handle a ton of work on special teams, including returning both punts and kicks. He was better last season than he was this season, but his versatility alone is worthy of a roster spot. The team will likely add another returner through either the draft or free agency, but if all goes well (and as long as that man is not Bobby Rainey), that will not matter much in 2018.

Coaching staff - While Ben McAdoo does not exactly blow you away with charisma as a head coach, I feel like he did a pretty good job in his first season. I know that he was hired because of his relationship with Eli and his familiarity with the offense, but sometimes it would get a bit frustrating to see the head coach burying his head in the play calling sheet after each play on offense. Mike Sullivan was the offensive coordinator by name, but I am not sure how much impact he actually had on the play calling during the game. I do know that it was anywhere from little to none. So maybe if McAdoo at least scaled back some of his strictly offensive duties during games it would be nice.

On the defensive side, I think Steve Spagnuolo has proven that he is a great defensive coordinator and not a very good head coach (just ask the Rams). Maybe Spagnuolo is not one of the "hot names" in the offseason head coaching search, but it's possible his name could come up. Hopefully, he stays on in his current role though, because as our defensive coordinator, I think he is a perfect fit.

Daily NFL Update: I will give a synopsis of the NFL playoffs to this point some time in the near future, but the Divisional round is coming up this weekend, and that means it is the best NFL weekend of the year.

Daily NBA Update: Cleveland, Golden State, and San Antonio are all really good. Nothing has changed since about seven months ago.

Daily Rangers Update: After a brief stretch in which it seemed like the Rangers were giving up goals in multiples of six, the team has been better over the past week and a half, and they sit in second place in the Eastern Conference. Michael Grabner has been spectacular. More importantly though, Henrik Lundqvist has been anything but. 40 games left to play though, so there is still plenty of time to change that.