New York Giants: Major storylines to follow in Week 1 vs the Jaguars

Going into Week 1, here are some key things to be watching for as the New York Giants take on the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Week 1 is the toughest game to provide a litmus test on how a team will do the rest of the year. That is particularly the case for the New York Giants. So, what should we be watching for?

If you want proof of the Giants’ Week 1 blunders, just look at their last two Super Bowl winning seasons.

The team started 0-1 in each of those seasons in 2011 and 2007 respectively.

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But, lets not talk about the past. This offseason, the Giants have been all over the media for a variety of different reasons.

To start, the search for a new general manager and head coach was the primary concern upon the exit of basically everyone at the end of last year.

Dave Gettleman, the new general manager has brought in a new philosophy that the Giants haven’t seen in a while, and that is to start your roster from the inside out (AKA “hog mollies“).

As for a head coach, many names were getting thrown around but the Giants found a great mind in Pat Shurmur.

The second priority became important as well. What to do with the second overall pick in the draft was on everyone’s mind.

So, for months everyone wanted to play general manager and figure out what the Giants were going to do. Ultimately, they went with the safest bet and drafted running back phenom Saquon Barkley.

After the draft, it became imperative to sign Odell Beckham Jr long-term. That drama could have been way worse than it ended up being, but was still the biggest elephant in the room.

So, finally and recently, the saga with the Odell Beckham Jr. contract situation came to its inevitable conclusion.

Luckily, it was solved before the season, and we will see Odell running around in Giants blue for five more seasons.

A lot of the offseason dramas took care of themselves. Now, we are finally at Week 1 and the beginning of the regular season.

But, going into Week 1 there are still some important factors that fans need to keep an eye out on.

First off, how will the offensive line will become a huge headline this time?

Primarily, how will Ereck Flowers manage at the right tackle? How will Will Hernandez handle his first full-game workload as a pro? Will Nate Soldiers big contract live up to expectation?

The offensive line has been in the news for the Giants the past few season but in a bad way. Hopefully in Week 1, they get noticed as a much improved group.

Another thing to keep an eye on is how will the revamped linebacking core look?

New additions of Alec Ogeltree, Kareem Martin, Conor Barwin and rookie Lorenzo Carter will be looked to in order to solidify a unit that hasn’t been solid in a while.

A huge part of that unit will also be third year player B.J. Goodson. In limited roles due to injuries he’s shown flashes of being a pretty solid every down linebacker. But health is the biggest part with Goodson, if he can stay on the field he will be a key factor to this defense.

For the Giants, another huge key is how will this defense generate a pass rush?

The Giants ranked 30th in sacks just a season ago. So, all they can really do is go up.

Also, how will Bettcher create sacks? Will he call more stunts, or more biltz packages? How will he use Landon Collins and the defensive backs to create chaos?

But most importantly, can Oliver Vernon, playing a new position, be a dominant force in the sack department?

He has his injury problems, but can he rack up sack totals to help the rest of the pass rushers get to the quarterback.

But, and here are again with this, the biggest key is Eli Manning.

Is the 37-year old quarterback the right man to lead this team? How will he distribute the ball to so many options? Can he still hang in the pocket, with guys around him, and deliver a good ball? Can he still throw the deep ball?

If the Giants don’t win, not just against the Jaguars, but don’t win a lot in the next couple years with Manning at the helm, this draft pick of Barkely will be debated for years to come.

Not all of these questions will be answered on Sunday afternoon, in fact all these questions might not be answered in just one game.

Next. 3 Reasons why the Giants can beat the Jaguars. dark

But these are some key factors that Giants fans have to look for and continue looking at for weeks to come and the weeks to come includes Week 1 vs the Jaguars.

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