When people talk about teams “tanking” to better their lot for the future, many perceive it as the team simply going out on the field to intentionally lose games.
In the NFL, that does not happen. You cannot play this game at half-speed. It’s risky enough to play it at full speed, never mind choosing to go out and physically get pushed around.
There are teams who “tank” in the NFL. The Miami Dolphins are a prime example. They traded away many young stars this season that did not fit into their future plans in exchange for cap room and draft picks. The players that remained, however, still give 100 percent. They just don’t have enough talent to compete.
The Giants could certainly benefit by losing their final two games. They are currently in the No. 2 overall position in the next year’s NFL Draft and will stay there by losing the next two weeks. They would also finish last and will draw a last place schedule in 2020.
But don’t expect the Giants to go out and just lay their helmets on the field. Landing the second pick in next year’s draft will put them in position to select Ohio State edge rusher Chase Young, a player that would lift this sagging defense out of the doldrums.
“[Young is] a heckuva player, and obviously not only Giants fans but any fans of any team that’s not doing that well this season, would love to have a player like that,” running back Saquon Barkley told the New York Post.
“But I don’t think anyone’s mindset in this locker room or this team is to go out there and lose these last two games.”
Maybe not intentionally. The Giants travel to Washington this week to play the Redskins, another 3-11 team with a ton of holes on their roster. The Redskins are operating under an interim head coach (Bill Callahan) and have been playing a much better brand of football than the kind that got previous head coach Jay Gruden fired.
The Giants will have their hands full with the Redskins and rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins, who is much more prepared to play an NFL game this time around.
The Giants have had the No. 2 overall pick before, last season as a matter of fact. They chose Barkley and have an 8-22 record to show for it. It didn’t do much for them then and it probably isn’t going to do it for them this time around, either.
Barkley is just looking forward to going home. His season was ruined by a high ankle sprain in Week 3 and he hasn’t looked anything like the player he was as a rookie last year when he made the Pro Bowl.
This has been a wasted year for the former Penn State star and the ebullience Barkley displayed as a phenom in 2018 has completely dissipated here in Year 2.
“It sucks, I guess you could say it’s stressful because of all the hard work that we put in,” Barkley said. “I have a positive mindset, that’s the type of person I am, so I just try to find the positivity in all the negative things. If anything, it’s probably molding me into being a better player.”
There is no positivity coming out of this season. Securing the second pick and the right to select Young is all that’s left for the Giants right now. Unless the ownership is completely inept, there should be a housecleaning come January along with a thorough restructuring.
Many are suspecting they won’t get any of that right, either.
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