New York Giants: season preview

Projected record: 12-4, 1st in NFC East

Offensive MVP: Eli Manning. Manning showed a lot in the pre-season, but he is known for getting off to great starts and then tailing of late in the year. Still, I think this is one year Eli will really stand out, as he has no choice but to take charge of the offense now that Tiki Barber is gone. Also, Amani Toomer is healthy, which helps Manning a lot. His stats with and without Toomer last season were eye-poppingly different.

Defensive MVP: Michael Strahan. Seeing that this could be Strahan's last season, he is going to be as hungry as ever to get that elusive Super Bowl title. He is still the most dominant defensive end in the league when healthy and can easily record double-digits in sacks once again. Look for a big 15+ sack campaign out of the captain.

Offensive Rookie of the Year: Steve Smith. Smith turned heads in camp and even gave Toomer a run for his money as the number two receiver. He is explosive and runs great routes and, most importantly, has sure hands. He will have the impact on the Giants that most people expected Sinorice Moss to have on the team last season.

Defensive Rookie of the Year: Aaron Ross. Not really much of a surprise here, as Ross will be the only defensive rookie on New York that will see considerable playing time. He has struggled so far, but the extremely talented cornerback needs an adjustment period and needs to fully adapt to the style of play in the NFL. Once he does that, he will be something special.

Surprise rookie: Ahmad Bradshaw. Bradshaw, a seventh-round pick, was a very pleasant surprise for Tom Coughlin and company in training camp and the pre-season. He is a very intelligent back who knows how to hit the holes and get to the outside. He's blessed with good speed and great field awareness and will definitely see ample playing time this year.

Comeback Player of the Year: Osi Umenyiora. He missed a good portion of last season with a pesky hip injury, but Umenyiora is now 100% and should return to his 2005-06 form when he led the Giants with 14.5 sacks.

Best offensive lineman: Kareem McKenzie. One of the most under-appreciated tackles in the game, McKenzie is one of the best run-blockers in the league and did a superb job in pass protection last year as well. He is a wall.

Best receiver: Plaxico Burress. Expect Burress to have a much more productive year than last season now that Toomer is back at full strength to take some pressure off him. Not to say that Plax didn't have a good year last year (10 touchdowns), but Burress failed to reach 1,000 yards receiving and wasn't the same dominant wide-out that he was in his first season with the Giants when he accumulated over 1,200 yards.

Best defensive lineman: Strahan. See "Defensive MVP."

Best linebacker: Mathias Kiwanuka. Kiwanuka impressed the coaching staff so much last season as the team's second-string defensive end that they figured they had to start him this year no matter what position they put him at. Either way, linebacker might be Kiwanuka's best position after all. He will be a LaVar Arrington/Julian Peterson type of linebacker who will rack up sacks and force opposing quarterbacks into bad throws.

Best defensive back: Gibril Wilson. Wilson has quietly developed into one of the best safeties in the NFL. He is a tackling machine who was arguably the defense's MVP in the second half of last season. Look for a big year from the fourth-year star out of Tennessee.

Five predictions:
1. Strahan and Umenyiora will combine for the most sacks by a defensive end tandem in the NFL.
2. Brandon Jacobs will rush for over 1,200 yards and score 15 touchdowns.
3. Jeremy Shockey will have the best year of his career and will reach 900 yards receiving.
4. New free safety James Butler will record four interceptions this season.
5. The Giants will represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.