Kenny Golladay enhances NY Giants NFC East Odds
When the Sportsbooks opened their NFC East lines after the Super Bowl - immediately the Dallas Cowboys were installed as odds-on favorites. Since then they’ve secured star QB Dak Prescott on a long-term contract but they are nowhere near the value that the books are portraying. What I’m liking is what I’m seeing up in the Big Apple.
When the New York Giants shocked everyone by announcing they had secured the services of a legitimate WR1 in Kenny Golladay it once more focused the mind that they have enough skill players to go head-to-head with pretty much anybody. The big question is whether Daniel Jones is the right man to utilise all these weapons.
A couple of years back when Dave Gettleman passed on Dwayne Haskins to take the Duke signal-caller with their second selection of the 2019 NFL Draft first round - it was greeted by jeers from other fans and abject disdain by supporters of the franchise.
Whilst Jones hasn’t exactly set the world alight in his first two years, his career is on a significantly better trajectory than Haskins, who was released by the Washington Football Team mid-way through his second season. Cutting a first-round QB in just his second campaign is quite the statement and by doing that - no doubt the New York Giants had a small smirk on their face and a feeling of vindication.
Now though there are no excuses. Jones is in his third year and his second as the full-time starter. Superstar Running Back Saquon Barkley should be back from his season-ending injury and if he’s still the dynamic playmaker in the backfield, it will cause defenses to choose between stuffing the box to stop him but leaving the likes of Golladay and Sterling Shephard in one-on-one matchups or dropping an extra man away from the box to give Barkley a better chance to break the big one.
Golladay’s four-year $72million deal seems about right in the current marketplace and includes $40million in guaranteed money. He is a season removed from back-to-back 1,000 receiving year campaigns and on paper this is a great fit. The NFC East is not a good division as we all saw last season. With the addition of the former Lions WR and the return of Barkley - the Giants likely have the two best players added to their skill positions compared to what they were trotting out there for most of the 2020 schedule.
I’m not going so far to say that the Giants should be favorites to win the division but the Cowboys always flatter to deceive. Ezekiel Elliott did not look like the dominating Running Back last year compared to what he’s shown in the past. That O-Line too is a step below what they were a couple of years back. Nine or ten wins should easily win the NFC East and the value play is without a shadow of a doubt - the G-Men.
