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Palladino: Giant Task Of Winning NFC East Begins Thursday

By Ernie Palladino
» More Ernie Palladino Columns

By the time the Giants report for the opening of training camp Thursday, all the noise of the offseason will have died and the task ahead will have become crystal clear.

Eleven wins and a wild card aren't good enough. Only a division title will suffice.

How they get there, if they get there at all, will be determined by how well things go before the Sept. 10 opener in Dallas rolls around. Regardless of how good coach Ben McAdoo's team looks on paper right now, a lot has to happen over the next 6½ weeks for the Giants to unseat Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and the rest of the 2016 NFC East champion Cowboys.

New York Giants v Cleveland Browns
Giants quarterback Eli Manning throws a pass during against the Cleveland Browns on Nov. 27, 2016, at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

At least they'll all be in attendance, which is something that couldn't be said for the offseason conditioning program. Odell Beckham Jr. may be undisciplined, but bet that he's not so dumb that he'll sacrifice a chunk of his paycheck in fines for one more nightcap with Iggy Azalea. He'll be there. And once he arrives, he'd best set himself to work on refreshing himself with the fundamentals of catching a football.

For all his circus catches that land on the highlight reel, Beckham must finally realize that nothing replaces a good, old, reliable two-handed grab in the end zone. Avoid the wall punch-inducing end zone drops like the one he let fall in the wild-card game against Green Bay, and the offense may just revert to the scoring unit McAdoo designed in 2015, his last year as Tom Coughlin's offensive coordinator.

MORE: Silverman: 5 Keys To Giants Taking The Next Step In Super Bowl Quest

A lot of that, however, will have to do with the progress of an offensive line that couldn't keep the pass rush off quarterback Eli Manning last year. General manager Jerry Reese all but ignored that unit in the draft, save for sixth-round project Adam Bisnowaty. Free agent D.J. Fluker could figure at either right tackle or right guard, but he comes with a first-round bust tag from his struggles with the Chargers.

Other than that, the line coming out of training camp could look exactly like last year's. That's not good news, unless left tackle Ereck Flowers settles down, learns how to count Manning's huts and eliminates the false starts and holds that ruined numerous drives.

Moreover, the line must learn how to win its personal matchups so that running backs Paul Perkins, Shane Vereen and fourth-rounder Wayne Gallman can do their thing. Having a true blocking tight end such as Rhett Ellison will help, but things must improve from left to right and return a ground game that has floundered in recent years to productivity.

The Giants scored a touchdown less often last year than it did in 2015. But if acquiring ex-Jet Brandon Marshall and drafting first-round tight end Evan Engram to go with route runner Sterling Shepard and Beckham has the desired effect, the offense will do more than its share in securing that division title.

MORE: Beckham Makes Trip To Visit 9-Year-Old Battling Cancer In Texas

The defense stacks up as one of the NFC's best.

All-World safety Landon Collins was so confident in this unit that he openly challenged Prescott. Pass rusher Jason Pierre-Paul went a step further, counting his team as a Super Bowl contender.

They both had good reasons. It's a packed unit. The key is getting out of camp injury free, so as not to disrupt a potential bookend of double-digit pass rush between JPP and Olivier Vernon, the run-stopping middle led by Damon Harrison and a secondary of standout cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie paired with safeties Collins and a healthy Darian Thompson.

They may even have found an answer for the troubled linebacker unit in B.J. Goodson.

It all looks great on paper.

The task of putting it all together is a different matter.

Collins and Pierre-Paul put their teammates on the spot.

The response starts Thursday.

Please follow Ernie on Twitter at @ErniePalladino

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