At this point today, who are the Giants 5 Best Players

[Jolly Blue Giant]

For me:

1) Andrew Thomas
2) Dexter Lawrence
3) Brian Burns
4) toss-up between Kayvon Thibodeaux and Bobby Okereke (slight edge to Thibs)
5) toss-up between Bobby Okereke and Deonte Banks (slight edge to Okereke)

I guess the point of this exercise is to point out the significance of Brian Burns joining the Giants

[londonblue]

I would list the same players but for me Lawrence, Thomas, Burns, Okereke, Thibodeaux is the order with Banks as the emerging challenger. It rather highlights both the dearth of game-changing talent on O (maybe one of Robinson, Hyatt, JMS will emerge) and the potential for the D to be good if we can just raise the floor in the defensive backfield. This is also why it must be QB or WR in R1 of the draft in 44 days time.

[Stringer Bell]

I'm very high on Banks and early on targeted him as a Giants draft pick, but even I don't feel he warrants including on this list. Yet.

He showed flashes of very-goodness last year, but the others are on another level. Dex has been consistently elite. Thomas has been short-term elite when healthy. Burns and Okereke have a few years of excellence under their belt, with flashes of greatness. And in his limited time as a pro, KT has shown flashes of greatness.

Banks needs to progress from doing his job well (which he mostly accomplished last year) to truly impacting games in order to join the ranks of the top 5.

[Ed Vette]

Let's look at this again mid season.