The New York Giants are heading into the 2013 with high expectations after signing Victor Cruz to a lucrative extension and with Hakeem Nicks hopeful that he can return after dealing with injury issues, the team is thinking Super Bowl and now only because their home stadium is the venue for the championship game.
The Giants made number of small moves in the offseason to bulk up on offense and defense, adding Louis Murphy, Brandon Myers as well as bringing back Andre Brown to help stabilize the running game after he was injured last season. Longtime back Ahmad Bradshaw is now gone and the team is looking to get back into the playoffs after missing out three of the past four years, the other season being their Super Bowl victory before last season.
Eli Manning is working on being more accurate and careful with the ball and after winning two Super Bowls he has the drive and cache to be a full on leader for the Giants and all the players appear to be falling in line. Last season the offense was stagnant at times due to the injuries to Nicks, but if he can stay healthy, coach Tom Coughlin feels the team has Super Bowl potential again.
Two important players to the team are off the PUP list in camp finally with Terrell Thomas and Chris Snee and now that they are off, they can join their teammates on the field for the first time during camp. The Giants are already dealing with injuries to defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, fullback Henry Hynoski and they will need as many players on deck as they can get before the season starts up. While Pierre-Paul may be ready for Week 1, which might be wishful thinking and now Thomas returns after dealing with knee issues over the past few seasons. He hasn't played in a regular season game since 2010 and the team hopes his issues are behind him.
Snee is integral on the offensive line and with Justin Pugh coming in and pushing for a spot as a rookie, having Snee at full strength will be of the utmost importance. Some veterans like David Diehl and Corey Webster may be in their last run with the team and now that it appears that Nicks will be fully healthy, there might be big things in store for Big Blue in 2013.