{"id":734475,"date":"2026-06-30T08:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T08:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/734475\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T08:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T08:22:16","slug":"2026-nfl-season-ranking-all-eight-candidates-to-go-from-worst-to-first-in-division-races","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/734475\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 NFL season: Ranking all eight candidates to go from worst to first in division races"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Harbaugh\u2019s arrival has brought optimism to the Giants that they lacked in the past several seasons. The longtime head coach knows how to coax the best out of his crew and will be a stabilizing force for the club.<\/p>\n

The defense has legit playmakers up front. Brian Burns<\/a>, Abdul Carter<\/a> and Kayvon Thibodeaux<\/a> can discombobulate quarterbacks. The loss of Dexter Lawrence<\/a> hurts, but the addition of chess piece Arvell Reese<\/a> provides Big Blue with a roving force in the middle. There are some questions on the back end, but if the front plays to its dominant potential in Dennard Wilson\u2019s scheme, it will be a much-improved unit.<\/p>\n

Jaxson Dart<\/a> flashed high upside as a rookie and owns the potential for a Year 2 leap — if he can avoid big hits. When Dart was in a groove, he provided playmaking and escapability. Staying on the field will be key. Ditto for bulldozer Cam Skattebo<\/a>. The offensive line, with first-rounder Francis Mauigoa<\/a> filling in at guard, should be a strength if Andrew Thomas<\/a> can stay healthy.<\/p>\n

The big question is the health of Malik Nabers<\/a>, who is working his way back from last season\u2019s ACL tear. If Nabers misses significant time, New York lacks a field-tilting passing-game threat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The NFC East will be hotly contested, with the Eagles remaining a steady force and the Cowboys and Commanders each shoring up weaknesses this offseason. However, Harbaugh\u2019s arrival brings belief that the Giants can swiftly turn things around.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Harbaugh\u2019s arrival has brought optimism to the Giants that they lacked in the past several seasons. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":734476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[4687,1829,1799,1810,1812,1814,977,5702,349,6257,99,8853],"class_list":["post-734475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-analysis","tag-arizona-cardinals","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-detroit-lions","tag-las-vegas-raiders","tag-new-orleans-saints","tag-new-york-giants","tag-new-york-jets","tag-nfl","tag-no-minute","tag-sports","tag-tennessee-titans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=734475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/734476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=734475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=734475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=734475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}