New York Giants legend Tiki Barber on Barkley, Shurmur, NFC East

On the 2018 New York Giants

Think back to this time last year, the New York Giants were coming off a playoff appearance, and there was much optimism. It wasn’t to be as the G-Men suffered through a lousy 3-13 campaign. In 2018, there’s a new general manager, a new coach, and many new players. We asked Barber what should be the reasonable expectations for the team this season?

"“It’s hard to predict. And early, I do think there could be some growing pains, but I do see a team that comes together and charges through the latter half of their schedule.” “The challenge really is the division. It’s tough, with Philadelphia Eagles being defending champions. The Cowboys have a stout offensive line, even though they took some hits on the o-line these past couple of weeks. But the division is going to be difficult.” “I think the division is converting back to what it used to be. Football has become wide open, let’s throw the ball 55 times a game. The NFC East has the Philadelphia Eagles being a top five rushing team, and the Giants taking Saquon and rebuilding the offensive line. Obviously, the Cowboys are going to run the ball, they don’t have any deep [receiver] threats.” And I think the Washington Redskins want to be [a running team] even though they’re banged up at running back. [Quarterback] Alex Smith is not a throw the ball 50 times a game player, he’s a game manager.”"

Barber’s observation about the NFC East division is spot-on. It will be interesting to see if the “new” rushing attack paradigm takes a foothold in the pass-happy NFL. Sometimes the best defense can be a good rushing offense that can churn up yardage on the ground and run precious time off the clock. It would seem that the New York Giants are positioned well for that type of game plan.