EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Giants enter 2017 with high expectations, a residual effect from winning 11 games last season and making the playoffs for the first time in five years.

During the offseason, they added wide receiver Brandon Marshall, tight end Rhett Ellison and offensive lineman D.J. Fluker in free agency, along with tight end Evan Engram in the draft.

The positive momentum has guard Justin Pugh thinking this is the most talented team he has been a part of since being selected in the first round of the 2013 NFL draft.

“Going into my fifth camp, I think this is the best team we’ve had on paper,” Pugh said Thursday, after the Giants reported for the start of training camp. “But at the end of the day, if you have a team on paper that is not going out there and winning games on Sunday ...

“We have to go in there and put in the work and go out there and produce. I’m just excited with the type of guys we have, the character that we have in the room, the coaches that we have. I think top to bottom this is an exciting team. And once you’ve been to the playoffs and know what it’s like and get that taste of how good those teams are, we’ve beaten the teams that have been in the playoffs. That gives us confidence.”

So does adding Marshall, a wide receiver whom Pugh said is the size of an offensive lineman. That is only a slight exaggeration. Marshall (6-foot-5, 232 pounds) brings more to the Giants' offense than his pass-catching ability. His ability to block -- along with Ellison's -- continues to be stressed by the offensive line and coaching staff.

The Giants are looking to improve an offense that struggled to run the ball and score points last season. The Giants were near the bottom of the league in both categories.

A lot of that will fall on the shoulders of the offensive line, which is considered the weak spot on the roster, talent-wise. The defense returns nine of 11 starters after allowing the second-fewest points in the NFL last season.

Justin Pugh, flanked by teammates Weston Richburg (70) and John Jerry (77), believes the Giants are more talented now than at any time in his five years with the team. Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire

The Giants are banking on continuity and experience playing a role in the offensive line’s improvement. They could potentially be starting the same offensive line as most of last season, with (left to right) Ereck Flowers, Pugh, Weston Richburg, John Jerry and Bobby Hart.

“We have more experience playing with each other. Growing pains,” Pugh said when asked what gave him confidence about the group. “I think somewhat of it is we didn’t play well enough. So you learn from it. I can speak personally from that.”

When the Giants arrived at camp last year, they talked about winning a Super Bowl -- making it a goal to put a fifth trophy in the case. After four seasons without a playoff appearance, coupled with a rookie head coach and a roster stacked with new players, that wasn’t totally believable. It seemed ambitious.

This year, that goal seems to come with more merit. To no one's surprise, the expectations from outside are significantly higher than they've been in the past few seasons.

The Giants’ thinking remains the same.

“They’re high. We’re always talking about putting another trophy in a case,” Richburg said. “So I think if our goal is anything other than that, there is no point in being here.”

For the Giants to accomplish their goal, it will be imperative to score more than the 19.4 points per game they managed last season. That’s why all eyes this summer will be on the offense, as everyone attempts to gauge how the new pieces fit together.

Marshall is the headliner who perhaps makes this the best Giants roster on paper in years.

“When you add Brandon Marshall, that changes everything,” defensive tackle Damon Harrison said. “You can’t really double-team Odell [Beckham Jr.] and zone the other half of the field. Brandon’s too big for that. You have Sterling Shepard, the rookie Engram, Roger Lewis, Tavarres King.

“There is a lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball.”

The defense isn’t shabby, either. Five players (Harrison, defensive end Olivier Vernon, cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, and safety Landon Collins) earned first- or second-team All-Pro honors last season.

As Pugh said, the roster looks good on paper.