Scouting the offense


BACKFIELD


Eli Manning may be the NFL’s highest paid player, but when the Giants line up he might not even be the most important player in their backfield. That could be Brandon Jacobs, the churning engine of emotion who plows over cornerbacks and linebackers. Jacobs is trying to become only the third Giants back to have three straight 1,000-yard seasons. He’ll be joined by Ahmad Bradshaw, a fraction of Jacobs’ size but one of the NFL’s most electric players, and Danny Ware. Manning wants to keep his interceptions in single digits and improve his completion percentage.


RECEIVERS


Plenty of questions surround the receivers. Steve Smith is one of the NFL’s top slot men but he’ll be asked to go outside where he might not be as effective. Domenik Hixon was picked up by the Giants as an afterthought in 2008 and has become a top receiver here almost by default. The two to watch develop this season will be Mario Manningham, a second-year player who missed most of his rookie training camp with injuries and never caught up, and first-round pick Hakeem Nicks who has shown flashes of excellence in the preseason but has yet to prove himself against NFL starters. TE Kevin Boss will be a weapon in the red zone again after leading the Giants in TD receptions last year.


LINEMEN


The starting five were named Team MVPs for 2008, which should tell you how highly they are regarded both inside and outside the team. Heck, there was even talk of them splitting the NFL MVP award last year. Shaun O’Hara, Chris Snee, Rich Seubert, Kareem McKenzie and David Diehl have started 32 straight regular season games side-by-side. If they do that for another 16 the Giants will be fine. If the have to replace anyone due to injury (Diehl played through tendinitis in his knee this summer and McKenzie has a cranky back) it could get messy. Kevin Boothe is the first backup at either guard or tackle and Adam Koets, who had trouble snapping early this summer, is the backup at center.


Scouting the defense


LINEMEN


As much as Plaxico Burress was a factor in the fade of last season, the wearing down of the defensive line was just as problematic. Considering the team lost it’s best pass rusher in Osi Umenyiora, it’s amazing they got as far as they did. They’ve tried to fix that issue. Not only is Umenyiora back from knee surgery, they added DTs Chris Canty and Rocky Bernard to returning starters Barry Cofield and Fred Robbins and have one of the deepest D-lines ever assembled. They even experimented with a five-man front in training camp and there will be times Pro Bowlers Tuck and Umenyiora will line up next to each other rushing the passer. The Giants won a Super Bowl on the strength of a de- fensive line that disrupted plays. It’s how they plan on winning another.


LINEBACKERS


The Giants got solid play from their linebackers last season. What they wanted was spectacular play. Consider that this group in ’08 managed only 3.5 sacks and one interception. So they brought in athleticism with free agent Michael Boley on the weak side and power with second-round pick Clint Sintim on the strong side. Boley will serve a one-game suspension in the opener and is recovering from hip surgery while Danny Clark will start until Sintim is ready. And there’s Antonio Pierce in the middle, the CPU of the defense, who is motivated to prove himself in the face of doubters this year.


BACKFIELD


The Giants are much younger here than they’ve been in many years, and yet they have more experience than in recent memory. Corey Webster has developed into a Pro Bowl-caliber corner and Aaron Ross is sla- ted to start on the other side if his hamstring allows. Kevin Dockery and Terrell Thomas are pressing Ross, even without the injury. Safety Michael Johnson will call the coverages but the guy they need to make an impact is Kenny Phillips, the second-year player. As deep as the Giants are at cornerback, they are pretty shallow at safety. Free agent C.C. Brown had a rocky preseason after coming in looking to fight for a starting job. Beyond him, there is no one with a game of NFL experience.

They have a good mix of veterans and young players...they will have some growing pains at wideout...but I think eventually they will be fine..the front 7 on Defense will be monsters...and the d-backs will be improved from last year...looking forward to a good season..

Two seasons ago, everybody claimed the Giants offense couldn't handle the loss of Tiki Barber. Wrong. Last season everybody said the offense couldn't handle the loss of Shockey, and the defense would be lost without Umenyiora and Strahan. Wrong again.

This year, I don't believe D. Ward will be missed. So far, both Bradshaw and Ware have shown the ability to step up. The Giants WRs are certainly talented, it's just that all but Smith lack much experience at the pro level. Will they (Hixon, Manningham, Nicks) show that they can handle the job? Nobody can know that until the season starts. We'll see.

The defense is deep and talented. Sheridan was the corerct hire (Spags wanted to take him to the Rams) so the system stays the same, but the real question is how will the players respond to a new coordinator's schemes and play calling.

Yea not sure tickin off uzi - er osi is a good way to start the year.  But then again if he can channel it and take it out on the opponents he's gonna be hurtin some folks on a regular basis.

I agree that the Giants biggest question mark is in it's line-backing. At times Antonio Pierce looked lost, particularly in that game against the Browns. They exposed a weakness there that other teams could have easily taken advantage of. Inexplicably, it seemed that no one took notice, or no one was able to duplicate what the Browns did to us in that game. The short, quick release passes killed us. Antonio Pierce was confused and consequently so were the rest of the Giants LBs. (I'll not forget that game anytime soon)