By Michael J Basile, @MdoublejB
The 2020 NFL season is almost here, and we’re hoping that the pandemic doesn’t prevent/delay/postpone any part of the NFL schedule. As for Big Blue Nation, here are some bold predictions for the 2020 Gmen season:
Daniel Jones will throw for 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns, have less than 10 interceptions. The 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns aren’t a stretch by any means, but less than 10 pics might leave you scratching your head.
Here’s why that’s going to happen
Joe Judge is an old-school, mistake-free guy. The Giants will lean on Saquon Barkley and play smart football under this new coaching regime. Jason Garret is DJ’s coordinator, and Jerry Schuplinski is the new QB coach. Jimmy Garoppolo credits his development to Schuplinski (The two were together in New England) and he’s a highly regarded QB whisperer.
Saquon Barkley will have 2,500+ all purpose yards – Considering he broke 2,000, in his rookie campaign and now is fully healthy heading into year 3, this is a safe bet. The Giants offense will rely on Barkley and he’s motivated more than ever to have a bounceback season after his injury-riddled 2019 season.
The Giants defense will be in the top 15 in points allowed and yards allowed – This does not seem like anything outrageous, but if you’ve watched the Big Blue defense at all in recent years, you might roll your eyes; Look for key free agent additions Blake Martinez and James Bradberry to make immediate impacts, and for rookie Xavier Mckinney, and 2nd year players Dexter Lawrence, Oshane Ximines, Corey Ballentine, and Julian Love to surprise people.
Big Blue will be in playoff contention deep into December – This will not be a popular one, but the fact that they will be in close games and not hurt themselves allows them to steal a few game that they normally wouldn’t. This prediction also comes from the fact that the rest of the division has a ton of question marks as well.
Call me crazy, but let’s revisit this in January of 2021. Only time will tell.