Dan Duggan's ranking of the Giants' coaching candidates

McDaniels' tenure as Broncos head coach from 2009-10 was a disaster. But I believe he has learned from those mistakes.

For starters, McDaniels was 32 when he got the Broncos job. That failure was a humbling experience and McDaniels, 41, didn't jump at the next opening. He has taken seven years to review his mistakes and grow from them so he won't repeat them when he gets another shot.

The Giants have a clear power structure in place with general manager Dave Gettleman in charge of personnel to save McDaniels from some of the blunders he made in Denver (Tim Tebow in the first round!)

As far as coaching, McDaniels has proven to be one of the best offensive minds in the game. It's easy to attribute his success to the presence of quarterback Tom Brady, but the Patriots went 11-5 and had the No. 5 offense in the NFL with Matt Cassel running McDaniels' offense in 2008 after Brady tore his ACL in the opener. And the Patriots averaged 27 points in Jimmy Garoppolo's three starts while Brady was suspended last season. That track record bodes well as the Giants consider taking a quarterback with the second pick in the draft. 

McDaniels runs a diverse offense that adapts to his personnel, whether that's a home-run threat like Randy Moss, a matchup nightmare like Rob Gronkowski or a steady slot receiver like Julian Edelman. He'd surely maximize the potential of Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and tight end Evan Engram.

Too much tends to be made of the fact that Bill Belichick went from a failure in his first head-coaching job with the Browns to the best coach ever with the Patriots. Just because Belichick did it, that doesn't mean other coaches will follow suit. But if anyone is positioned to follow in Belichick's footsteps it's McDaniels, who has spent almost his entire coaching career under Belichick's tutelage.

Shurmur isn't the sexiest name on this list, but he'd be a solid hire. His 9-23 tenure as the Browns' head coach from 2011-12 looks better by the day considering Cleveland has won four games in the past three seasons.

So, let's throw that Cleveland stint out the window, while trusting that Shurmur learned some things from that experience that will help him at his next stop. Shurmur has an excellent track record as an offensive coordinator, most recently leading quarterback Case Keenum to a career year for the 13-3 Vikings.

Shurmur has shown the ability to run different offenses. Minnesota has succeeded with a conservative ground-based offense, while Shurmur was at the controls for the Eagles' up-tempo attack under Chip Kelly from 2013-15.

Shurmur's track record with young quarterbacks is a major selling point as the Giants transition into the post-Eli Manning era. Keenum, Nick Foles, Sam Bradford and Donovan McNabb all thrived under Shurmur.