3 keys to a successful season for the New York Giants

3 keys to a successful season for the New York Giants
Big Blue View Big Blue View

It sounds simple when you say it boils down to three things, but it really isn’t

To have a 2025 season that doesn’t resemble last season’s 3-14 disaster, the New York Giants will need to have most of their offseason decisions be proven correct.

With that in mind, I thought it would be interesting to pull a recent question out of the Big Blue View mailbag and address some of those variables.

Doug Mollin asks: Chris had a very interesting take on Kayvon Thibodeaux recently, how he is “better than you think”.

This is another data point story of many this offseason that has me believing this team might really be better than a lot of people are assuming right now.

Will every variable break their way? Of course not. But enough might to make this a really interesting season.

What are your top three variables you’d want to break the Giants’ way this year? I’m going with:

  • The OL coming together to play above average as a group.
  • Bowen finding a way to get everything out a talented defensive group; top 5 potential.
  • Tracy/Skattabo forming a dynamic duo at running back.

Valentine’s View

I think Doug is on the right track, but my three are somewhat different. Here they are:

The defense is what it is supposed to be

We keep hearing it, reading it, and maybe even feeding into the hype a bit ourselves here at Big Blue View. The Giants have one of the best defensive front sevens in football. They have so much talent that they should trade Kayvon Thibodeaux. Abdul Carter will be a superstar the second he steps on the field. The Giants should have a top 10 defense.

The Giants will need that defense to be better, probably much better, than it was a year ago when the Giants were 20th in the league in points allowed, giving up 24.4 per game.

The Giants added Carter and promising defensive tackle Darius Alexander in the draft. They beefed up a secondary that had just four interceptions last season by adding cornerback Paulson Adebo and safety Jevon Holland. They added versatile edge/defensive lineman Chauncey Golston, along with defensive tackles Roy Robertson-Harris and Jeremiah Ledbetter. They are expecting safety Tyler Nubin to take a Year 2 leap, and hoping linebacker Bobby Okereke rebounds from a disappointing, injury-shortened season.

The Giants will need to fill up their turnover chest to help the offense and have a chance to win a decent number of games against a schedule that promises to be difficult.

Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen will need to find the creativity to take advantage of the pieces he has been handed.

Co-owner John Mara was critical of last season’s defensive play, and Bowen knows he will face scrutiny as he tries to find the right roles for the array of talented players he has. Does he sense the pressure?

“I wouldn’t say pressure. I’m driven by the guys. My job is...