WALL STREET, NYC – I’m a busy little beaver trying to prevent my 401(k) from going Enron. The NFL is getting ready to ring the opening bell and there is some cautious optimism around the Jets and Giants. Is it time to go long on these guys or should we sell short? It’s never too early to make the Bull & Bear cases for the Giants and Jets 2022 seasons, and their promising-ish young QBs, Daniel Jones and Zach Wilson. Let’s roll.
Let’s start with the QBs.
Bull Cases – QBs
Jones: The organization and the players really want it to work with Danny Nickels, because the work ethic and the respect of his teammates is there. He’s got everything you want…off the field. Think Kyler Murray, but the exact opposite.
He showed off some skills in his early seasons when his biggest problem was fumbling. Then he was saddled with horrible coaching, non-existing blocking and pop gun weaponry for the next two years (but other than that things were great!). Now he’s got an improved (fingers crossed) O-line and offensive-minded coaches, so he should be in a better spot to succeed. Last chance, Danny.
Wilson: The Jets added some nice pieces in the off-season, on both sides of the ball. With Mike LaFleur having a season under his belt, Zach should be in a much better position for success. I’m expecting a jump from the MILF- hunter assassin.
I saw a strange quote from Wilson about Joe Flacco’s wife. “Pretty bold of him to try to take my job when his wife is a crisp 37 years old.” The use of the word “crisp” there made me consider becoming a Jets’ fan. I’m going to put that in the positive column.
Bear Cases – QBs
Jones: In trying to coach the turnovers out if him, and playing with an offense less dynamic than a boulder rolling down a hill, and an O-line more porous than a chain link fence trying to contain a swarm of bees, it’s possible that Jones is broken beyond repair. I mean like David Carr broken. Throw in some rumors that his neck is not healed and you might have trouble.
Wilson: The Flacco thing had to be a joke but it’s tough to get a read on this guy. The guy gets down with his Mom’s friends, busts on old QBs, and might be a bit of a jerk. Or a hilarious ball buster, I’m not sure.
It seemed like many of Wilson’s troubles last season were self inflicted and the guy is his own worst enemy. If they get off to a bad start, and they have a really tough first half schedule, a Zach meltdown would not be surprising.
Now on to the teams…
Bull Cases – Teams
Giants: There definitely seems to be a competency among the Giants’ front office and coaching staff that hasn’t been there in a minute or two. They seem to have drafted players with a plan on how to use them. We’ve seen a wildcat backfield in preseason with Saquon, Kadarius Toney, and Wan’Dale Robinson. That sounds like a formation a 13 year old nerd would put together in Madden football. At the very least, they’ll be more fun to watch.
Jets: The bull case here is easy. Big weapons added on offense in the draft and big weapons added on D in the draft and free agency. Zach and the coaching staff should be much more comfortable in year two.
Bear Cases – Teams
Giants: We’ve been hearing a lot of familiar headlines coming out of camp like “Daniel Jones uneven has an performance in scrimmage,” and “D-line dominates the O-line in practice.” Deja F You. Hopefully it’s just transitional growing pains.
Even if the offense is better, they still have one decent cornerback with a D coordinator who loves to blitz. That combination didn’t work out great for the Ravens last year when they had massive secondary injuries but Wink Martindale didn’t know how to do anything else besides blitz. I guess he expected his fourth string CBs to hold up.
While there Giants have had a decent offseason, it’s not hard to come up with scenarios where it falls apart quickly and spectacularly for Big Blue. And if they kind of hold it together, win a few games, but Jones is just ok, that might be the worst outcome of all. They won’t want to franchise tag their QB and they won’t be in prime position to get a new one. Fuuuuuuuudge.
Their under/over for Giants wins is 7. If it was 6.5, I’d like that over. But you need eight wins to win that bet and that doesn’t seem like a sound bet. Seven and ten seems about where they’ll land.
Jets: Even with a stellar off-season, there was no way they could patch all the holes in the SS Minnow. And again, their schedule is absolutely brutal. Look at their first 10 games; Ravens, @Browns, Bengals, @Steelers, Dolphins, @Packers, @Broncos, Patriots, Bills, @Patriots. Good god man. Someone on the Jets pissed on Goodell’s Deviled Eggs.
I would love the Jets over 5.5 wins if it weren’t for that schedule and the fact that they give you the crappy -175 odds. I wouldn’t bet it with that juice, but I do think the Jets will go over.
There you have it. Let me know how many wins the Giants and Jets will have in the comments. If you come back tomorrow it will pay dividends, as Angry Ward will be here. Follow us on Twitter at @BenWhit8, @MeetTheMatts, @Matt_McCarthy00, Instagram @MeetTheMatts and like our Facebook page, Meet The Matts.
