The New York Giants: Best Players of the 2000's

The 2000's were kind to the New York Giants. They've already made it to the NFC playoffs six times and still have a chance at seventh with two weeks left in the 2009 season. In 2006-07, the Giants shocked the NFL by beating the previously undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. With all of their success in the past ten seasons, it is not hard to figure out why picking the best five Giants of the decade was difficult. Out of all the players that wore a New York Giants jersey, these are the best five of the 2000's. (Only accomplishments and stats while playing for the New York Giants from 2000-2009 were considered.)

1. Michael Strahan - The defensive end played eight seasons with the Giants in the 2000's before retiring in 2008. In those eight seasons, Michael Strahan totaled 77 sacks, including an NFL single season record of 22.5 in the 2001 season.

2. Tiki Barber - Barber rushed for over 1,200 yards in six of the seven seasons that he played in the 2000's. He retired after the 2006 season, even though he was coming off the best two seasons of his career.

3. Eli Manning - In 2004, the New York Giants made a swap of rookie quarterbacks with the Chargers that helped them win a Super Bowl. It hasn't always been pretty with Eli, but he has got the job done. He will probably never become the quarterback his older brother is, but Eli is developing more and more as the years go on.

4. Osi Umenyiora - Thankfully, I only have to type Osi Umenyiora and not pronounce it. Michael Strahan might have been the best Giants defensive end in the past ten years and probably ever, but he wasn't the only one giving quarterbacks nightmares in the 2000's. Umenyiora totaled 47.5 sacks since 2003 for the G-men.

5. Plaxico Burress - When not busy shooting himself in the foot, Plaxico made a great #1 receiver for the New York Giants. Putting Burress as the #5 New York Giants player in the past decade is a bit of a stretch. He only played four seasons with the Giants and only topped 1,000 yards receiving in two of those seasons, but he did get 988 yards in one of the other seasons, so I will just round that up to three 1,000 yard seasons. On a serious note, he gets the fifth spot because he was the missing piece for the New York Giants and he was the best wide receiver for the Giants in the 2000's.