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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants‘ 2022 schedule was released along with the rest of the NFL slate Thursday.

The 2022 NFL season will kick off on Thursday, Sept. 8 with the Buffalo Bills vs. the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. ESPN opens its schedule with Monday Night Football on Sept. 12 featuring the Denver Broncos at the Seattle Seahawks.

The NFL expanded to 17 regular-season games last season. The final regular-season games for the 2022 season will be played Jan. 8, 2023. The playoffs begin Jan. 14 and continue through Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12 in Glendale, Arizona.

Here’s what’s in store for the Giants:

Schedule

Sept. 11: at Tennessee

Sept. 18: vs. Carolina

Sept. 26: vs. Dallas (MNF)

Oct. 2: vs. Chicago

Oct. 9: at Green Bay in London

Oct. 16: vs. Baltimore

Oct. 23: at Jacksonville

Oct. 30: at Seattle

Nov. 6: Bye

Nov. 13: vs. Houston

Nov. 20: vs. Detroit

Nov. 24: at Dallas (Thanksgiving)

Dec. 4: vs. Washington

Dec. 11: vs. Philadelphia

Dec. 18: at Washington

Dec. 24: at Minnesota

Jan. 1: vs. Indianapolis

Jan. 8: at Philadelphia

Strength of schedule: 29th, .465

Biggest takeaway

The Giants are playing on Thanksgiving Day! It’s only the fourth time they have played on the holiday in the modern era, and the first time against the Dallas Cowboys since a 30-3 loss in 1992. In fact, the Giants haven’t won on Thanksgiving Day since 1982. And a Monday night matchup with the Cowboys on Sept. 26 is circled as the Giants’ only prime-time game this season, their fewest since 2004. Quite the dropoff from the usual three to five prime-time games they were accustomed to playing in recent years.

The Giants face a tough start with the Tennessee Titans (12-5 last season), Dallas (12-5), Green Bay Packers (13-4) and Baltimore Ravens (8-9) among the first six opponents. All will enter training camp with rosters significantly more talented than New York’s. The saving grace might be that only once in their first six games will the Giants face a hostile opposing crowd — in Week 1 against the Titans.

Revenge game

Cowboys at Giants on Monday Night Football in Week 3. Quarterback Daniel Jones and the Giants are looking to get their revenge in prime time. Jones is 0-8 as a starter in prime time, and New York has lost its past 10 night contests dating to 2018, when it beat the San Francisco 49ers and QB Nick Mullens on Monday Night Football. Did we even mention yet that the Giants were swept last season by the Cowboys and have dropped nine of the past 10 meetings against their NFC East rival? This is New York’s chance to prove its doormat days are in the past.

What the oddsmakers think

The oddsmakers have the Giants’ win total at 7, which seems ambitious. This would be a three-win improvement from last season’s 4-13 finish. Is the chance that Jones stays healthy (he hasn’t yet in three seasons) and a new coaching staff really enough to bring the four wins it would take to hit the over?

Bold prediction

The Giants will win twice as many games after the bye as before their break in Week 9. So that’s two wins in their first eight games and four in their final nine. It’s a byproduct of the tough early schedule, the easier post-bye matchups (beginning with home contests against the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions) and the time it takes to get acclimated to a new coaching staff.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — General manager Joe Schoen has stressed the New York Giants‘ multitude of needs every time he’s spoken publicly over the past month. He has insisted that will allow New York, which holds the No. 5 and No. 7 overall picks in the 2022 NFL draft, to take the best player available on Thursday in Las Vegas (8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN/ESPN app).

Usually, those kinds of comments can be brushed off as typical GM speak, specifically during the pre-draft process. However, in this instance it really does seem to apply.

“I think where we are in our roster, there’s several needs,” Schoen said last week. “To put a finger on what exactly the biggest need is would be difficult. If you can find two really good football players at [Nos.] 5 and 7, that’s how we stacked the board. Let’s just throw need, whatever [the] perceived need is, out. Who are the best football players in this draft?”

That is only possible because the Giants have enough needs — at premium positions, no less — to fill their entire draft board. Offensive line, edge rusher and cornerback all could use an influx of talent. We can also add safety, tight end, running back and most likely, quarterback, to the list.

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Luckily for the Giants, the top of the draft is filled with players at most of those premium positions (sans quarterback). The top 10 could include two offensive tackles (likely three), four edge rushers and two cornerbacks.

It’s perfect for Schoen and coach Brian Daboll. It gives them options, even if multiple sources within the organization and around the league have insisted they want to land an offensive tackle at pick No. 5.

Wanting, however, doesn’t mean it needs to happen at all costs. In this case, it could depend on Alabama tackle Evan Neal. Discussions with sources over the past few months indicate he is the top offensive lineman on their board, ahead of Mississippi State’s Charles Cross.

Which brings us to what has become an annual exercise: providing a list of prospects who make sense for the Giants with an informed projection of the most likely to be selected by New York in the first round.

This process has produced pretty respectable results — in five of the past eight drafts the Giants’ scheduled first-round picks have appeared on this list. Twice they have been the projected pick — offensive lineman Ereck Flowers in 2015 and running back Saquon Barkley in 2018. The big whiffs came with New York’s picks in 2016 (cornerback Eli Apple at No. 10) and 2017 (tight end Evan Engram at No. 23). Last year was an outlier because the Giants traded back from No. 11 to No. 20.

So let’s take another crack at it. Here are the prospects most likely to be selected by the Giants at No. 5 and No. 7 overall on Thursday:

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Pick No. 5

OT Evan Neal (Alabama): It feels like a coin flip between Neal and Cross here, but Neal has a higher grade and fewer flaws to nitpick. The biggest question seems to be whether Neal or Cincinnati cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner will be selected at No. 3 by the Houston Texans. That is the pick to watch. But Neal makes a ton of sense for the Giants. You can plug him in at right tackle, where he played a season for Alabama. He’s strong, good in the run game, and moves well for his size (6-foot-7, 337 pounds).

2. CB Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner (Cincinnati): Another player whom sources have said the Giants are really high on. Gardner is widely considered the best and safest cornerback in the draft. Again, this marries need and evaluation. New York needs to add to its secondary, especially if top cornerback James Bradberry is traded this weekend, and Gardner is a strong option. He didn’t allow a single touchdown reception in three seasons for the Bearcats.

3. OT Charles Cross (Mississippi State): It’s too hard to ignore all the smoke connecting Cross to the Giants, especially considering sources have told ESPN there are people in the building who “love” him. There is also the seemingly ideal fit in Daboll’s offense thanks to his pass-blocking prowess. However, at one point this offseason there was a belief among some in the organization that he was more of a mid-first-round pick. To be selected at No. 5 seems like quite the jump, but the fit makes sense. “Athletically, he’s got everything you need,” a scout said. “Best pure pass-protector in the draft,” offensive line consultant Duke Manyweather added. The Giants need to keep quarterback Daniel Jones upright and Cross would certainly help.

4. Ikem Ekwonu (NC State): Here we are back at offensive tackle with a third option. Ekwonu is ranked the lowest of the three tackles here because he likely has the best chance of the tackles to be selected in the top four picks and isn’t an ideal fit. He’s more of an “elite run-blocker,” according to multiple evaluators. Still, several teams have Ekwonu rated as their top offensive lineman. It just doesn’t seem the Giants are one of them.

5. Travon Walker (Georgia): Had to include him on this list for pick No. 5 because he made it to the Giants in our annual NFL Nation mock draft. It’s hard to see that happening on Thursday though. Walker is considered the favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick at the moment. There seems to be a really strong likelihood he goes in the top two selections. But a front-seven player with his ability, strength and versatility sure would fit well in defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale’s system.

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Pick No. 7

1. Gardner: The question with Gardner is whether he makes it this far. There has been some buzz about him going third overall to the Texans. If he makes it to No. 5, the Giants can likely wait to take him with their second pick because the Carolina Panthers will go in another direction after selecting cornerback Jaycee Horn at No. 8 overall last year. However, waiting to take Gardner at No. 7 could allow someone to trade up and snag him before the Giants. Risky? Sure, especially after the Philadelphia Eagles did it last year to get receiver DeVonta Smith one pick in front of New York. It’s the game of chicken that Schoen must ponder.

2. Edge rusher Jermaine Johnson II (Florida State): This is a name that has been gaining a lot of traction of late. He seems destined to be chosen in the top 10, so why not No. 7? The Giants have a massive need for a high-end edge rusher, and several evaluators believe his skills translate to the point that he will ultimately be the best pass-rusher in this draft.

3. Cross: Can the Giants wait until No. 7? Maybe. If at least two of the top three offensive tackles are available at five, Schoen can be patient and potentially still grab Cross at seven.

4. Kayvon Thibodeaux (Oregon): There has been a lot of talk about Thibodeaux’s motivation and his focus on his personal brand. That could create some hesitation to have him in New York, but the Giants have done a ton of work on him, and don’t appear turned off by that stuff. His perceived fall from the top five picks has more to do with potentially being a good (not great) player. Thibodeaux, however, does have the ideal first step and pass-rush production to make this a pick the Giants need to make. Schoen didn’t fly across the country to attend his pro day for no reason.

5. Cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. (LSU): He has all the skills, and some believe he will be the best cornerback in the draft. There is just a little too much risk for Stingley to be higher on this list. He hasn’t played at an elite level since his freshman year at LSU in 2019, and missed most of last season with a foot injury. But he’s a really good player with a high ceiling at a position of need whom the Giants like. Don’t completely count him out.

PALM BEACH, Fla. — The New York Giants aren’t messing around with their quarterback situation. The new regime has made the pecking order abundantly clear: Daniel Jones is the starter and Tyrod Taylor is the backup.

No quibbling over semantics. No saying the QBs will compete or that everyone has to win a job or that this is a pure meritocracy.

Nope, Jones is the starter under new general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll, with perhaps his biggest backer being ownership and John Mara.

“He’s shown enough when we’ve had the right pieces around him — when we’ve been relatively healthy — he’s shown enough talent to make us believe we can win with him,” Mara said last week at the NFL annual meeting in Palm Beach, Florida.

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Mara and the Giants believe Jones is a quarterback you can build around, even if they need to see it before putting up the money that proves it completely.

Schoen and Daboll followed the latest Mara endorsement by specifically referring to Taylor, who was signed as a free agent three weeks ago, as the “backup.” So barring an unexpected setback, Jones will begin the spring workouts, training camp and the regular season as the starter.

This is a make-or-break 2022 season for Jones, who is on the final year of his rookie contract. The Giants said they haven’t made a decision about whether to pick up his fifth-year option. They have until May 2.

It was just two years ago that Joe Judge took over as head coach and wouldn’t say the name of Jones (or any player for that matter) until he had them in the building and saw them on the field.

This is the opposite end of the spectrum — naming your starting quarterback in March.

“Yeah, [Taylor] came in as the backup,” Daboll said last week at the NFC coaches’ breakfast in Palm Beach. “Again, you’ve seen Daniel here the last few years. I think Daniel, I’ve said this before, he’s got good athleticism, he’s made some really good throws. I’m sure there are some plays that he wants back just like everybody.

“I think going into it right now and [the start of the offseason program], we kind of got it set the way we want it set.”

The Giants have no concerns about Jones’ neck injury, which cost him the final six games of last season. There will be no limitations this spring.

In fact, there were people in the organization who thought Jones was legitimately close to a return late last season. Four months later and almost five months before he will face his first contact, it’s hardly even a topic.

“He should be ready to go,” Daboll assured reporters about his starting quarterback’s availability this spring.

The Giants have Taylor just in case. It was a priority for Schoen to get a reliable backup this offseason, even with the team short on salary-cap space. He first went after Mitch Trubisky (who signed with Pittsburgh as the presumed starter) before turning his attention to Taylor.

Taylor, 32, was signed to a two-year deal worth $11 million with the potential to earn more with incentives he can only hit if he plays. He fits what the Giants were looking for in their backup quarterback — a veteran to work behind and push Jones.

“I like Tyrod a lot,” Schoen said. “I was in Buffalo with him that first year [2017] when we broke the 17-year drought in terms of the playoffs there. Morning workout guy. He was always the first one in. Always in there. First one in, last one to leave. He’s smart. He’s a leader. He’s athletic. He can run Dabes’ system and [offensive coordinator Mike] Kafka — the stuff they want to do on offense. You don’t have to change up your offense if he has to go into the game. Similar type skill sets [as Jones] and they can run the same offensive scheme.

“That was kind of some guys that we targeted. It was guys you don’t have to completely change your scheme in order to run your offense. That was important.”

Jones’ history suggests Taylor will end up playing this year. Jones has missed games because of injury in each of his first three professional seasons.

That is just one of the reasons there is uncertainty surrounding Jones as the long-term answer at quarterback. There is also his 12-25 record as a starter and 49 turnovers in 38 career games.

Yet the new coach, GM and ownership are looking beyond the inconsistent start to his career and believe this is going to be the year he finally puts it together.

“You’re going to have to wait and see,” Mara said. “I can understand there is going to be a lot of skepticism about that. But you’re just going to have to wait and see. You tell me: Which quarterback would have thrived in the situation that we’ve been in over the past two or three or four years? It was very difficult. I think he did the best he could. Plus, he’s been hurt.

“We think he’s going to be healthy this year. Our offensive line should be better. There are also some pretty good skill players out there. We have a new scheme. We have a head coach who has been very successful developing quarterbacks.

“So all of those things indicate we’re going to be better. Until we do it, I understand there is going to be skepticism.”