The difference is palpable in John Harbaugh’s first season in New York. The Giants’ situation has gone from dire to hopeless in a matter of months, with the belief that Big Blue can dig out of the cellar and become a contender quickly.
With mandatory minicamp underway, the atmosphere around the Giants is mostly positive — aside from the recent political debate. The belief in New York is that the club has enough talent to compete under the right management. However, veteran running back Brian Burns cautioned that offseason hype doesn’t always pay off in the fall.
“Man, I always like to say, like I said, everybody’s excited right now,” he said via the team’s official transcript. “Other teams are excited. Everybody’s 0-0. They’re seeing the pieces they have, flying through OTAs. But I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel a little different, I was a little excited, and I expect a lot from this team. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that. But like I have to prove, at the end of the day. (not) just about being happy and optimistic. You’ve got to get into the pitch and you have to prove it against another team and impose your will on them.”
If wins were based on streams, you could write giants for double digits right now. Unfortunately for Big Blue, they are not.
The Giants have seen quick turnarounds under first-year coaches in the past. Between Tom Caughlin and Harbaugh, New York has hired four full-time head coaches. Two – Ben McAdoo and Brian Daboll – took their club to the playoffs in their first season with the club. Each quickly dissolved after that. Those two playoff appearances were the Giants’ only winning season in 15 years.
Teams going from worst to first are not unusual in the NFL. In fact, it’s almost expected that someone will accomplish the feat every season. The question is whether the Giants, who haven’t won the NFC East crown since 2022, can be the ones to do so in Harbaugh’s first season.
Burns emphasized that all teams feel positive trends in June.
“It’s all 32 teams feeling the way we feel right now,” he said. “It’s just about how you handle it during the season, how you handle the pressure and especially how you handle the adversity when it hits. That’s the most important thing, but yeah, everybody’s feeling good and optimistic about the season.”