Are the New York Giants, winners of just 13 games over the past three seasons, finally ready to compete?
Former quarterback and Giants Ring of Honor inductee Phil Simms says it's time. During a recent interview with Newsday, the Super Bowl XXI MVP said he thinks this year's Giants team is ready to move up in the NFC.
“What gives me a lot of hope is the Giants have enough stars now to make differences in the game,” Simms said. “They got stars at D-line. They got stars at linebackers, the draft picks, the offensive line’s got some players to build upon. The quarterback, Malik Nabers, if he gets healthy. I mean, there’s a lot of stuff there. That’s what’s exciting about them. They’re bigger, faster, and they got some dudes.”
The Giants are under new management this year. Out are all the coordinator wannabes they've been hiring over the last decade, and in is John Harbaugh, a Super Bowl champion who possesses a .609 winning percentage over 18 seasons as an NFL head coach.
“John has got great experience, but I know he knows how to handle the team,” Simms said. “I think without a doubt, the players, they know he’s the man. I mean, that’s pure and simple the whole thing. The players, the way he handles himself. I’m sure the way he delivers the message to them in the meeting rooms and the way he delivers it on the field, it’s different for the Giants.”
The Giants have new faces all over the building and in the locker room this year. They have all new coordinators and coaches, sans three holdovers. They have brought in experienced leaders on both sides of the ball and on special teams and have an infusion of young talent that can finally get them back in the win column every Sunday.
“They’re going to be capable of winning games when they don’t even play well,” he said. “They don’t need everybody to be great. They just need that one group to be great... but that’s when you know you got a damn good team, when you have all these different groups in so many different ways where you can win the game.”
Simms will be in the broadcast booth on Saturday afternoon when the Giants host the Minnesota Vikings at MetLife Stadium to open their 2026 preseason schedule.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Phil Simms: New York Giants have some 'dudes' to compete now