A lowly team last season, this NFC East squad is a legit contender in 2016-17

From one of the worst to first.

Laugh all you want, but the New York Giants are primed to contend in 2016-17.

Related: Cowboys' "biggest fear" has come true, now what?

After a 6-10 season got Tom Coughlin canned, Ben McAdoo's squad ready to bounce back in a big way.

"Yeah, definitely," Manning said on if the Giants are a playoff team, via the New York Post, per PFT. "We added some great players in the offseason. We were aggressive in free agency, but still have a lot of our core guys, especially on offense, back and I think we made some good moves on defense. We're getting some guys back healthy. It's just a matter of, hey, the talent is there, can we put it together, can we find a way to win the games and play our best football when we need to?"

While quarterback Eli Manning remains a steady option at quarterback and wideout Odell Beckham Jr. is one of the top 10 best players in the NFL today, rookie Sterling Shepard fills an immediate need as a complementary option in the passing game. Running back Bobby Rainey is a dark horse to take over the starting gig after New York's ball carriers struggled carrying the rock last season.

On the flip side, New York's defense is significantly upgraded with the addition of defensive end Olivier Vernon and defensive tackle Damon Harrison. Add a recovered Jason Pierre-Paul and the defensive line could be a fearsome, quarterback-attacking group.

As for the secondary, Landon Collins, Janoris Jenkins and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, along with Eli Apple could be one of the more feared groups in the NFL.

Dallas is certainly upgraded, Washington could have another big year if all the pieces fall in the right place and the Philadelphia Eagles don't look much better than they did last season.