Giants Earn Generous Post-draft Power Ranking from SI

No quarterback? No problem as far as SI.com’s Conor Orr is concerned regarding the New York Giants.

In his post-draft power rankings of 32 NFL teams, Orr ranked the Giants at No. 20, possibly the highest ranking given to them since the draft concluded.

Notes Orr of the ranking: “The Giants had no business drafting a quarterback with Drake Maye off the board, and I maintain that they’ll have more success with either Daniel Jones or Drew Lock and WR Malik Nabers than they would with a combination of Michael Penix Jr., Bo Nix or McCarthy and no weapon. Additionally, their focus on friendly mid-range targets for Jones—and in building the core of the defense—shows a smart approach to the long term.”

Orr is spot-on in noting that the Giants were smart not to reach for a quarterback in a panic-related move once Maye, wildly believed to have been the apple of their eye, went off the board to the New England Patriots at No. 3.

In contrast, some teams might have panicked or settled on their second choice, the Giants didn’t settle, and instead shifted the focus to building up a roster that, coming into the draft, still had some significant holes across the board.

General manager Joe Schoen has been building up the roster to remove any remaining excuses for the team’s lack of competitiveness.

That especially applies to the quarterback position, where Schoen went to work on fixing the offensive line by signing five veterans to compete for various roles, running back (switching to a committee approach rather than a bell-cow system), receiver (adding a legitimate No. 1 wideout in first-round pick Malik Nabers and a tight end prospect in Theo Johnson), and reinforcing the defensive side of the ball.

Of course, power rankings in general aren’t an indication of a team’s success during the season, but with so many people down on the Giants for the last several years (rightfully so, given their won-loss records in those seasons), it’s nice to see one national media outlet looking more on the bright side when it comes to the Giants’ future.

The rest is up to the Giants to justify the slowly growing confidence that 2024 will be different.