New York Giants Thread

wawaman

Josh freeman has been in for a workout and talks of Matt Flynn coming in as well. Obviously insurance in case Eli's recovery takes longer than expected

wawaman

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000340515/article/roster-reset-nfc-east

glued

I think if the Giants can get get Jason Pierre-Paul and Eli Manning playing then they will surely be in with a great shout of a playoff spot next season. I still think that the Redskins are going to get better but the health of RGIII has a huge bearing on their season. I don't think a guy like that can play 16 games a year. The Eagles have lost their best wide out but I'd expect that another season under Chip Kelly will see them improve as they get more used to his style and integrate guys like Sproles and maybe another wide out from the draft into this offense. I think the biggest problem for the Eagles is how is Foles going to react when he doesn't get away with those 'nearly' interceptions next year. He had a great year last year but he got away with one of two and I don't think he's going to be as successful next year. Losing DeSean is big but nothing that will rock that organisation too much. Losing Ware and Hatcher is a huge loss. Their DLine is a mess and I can't see them being as good next season.

I still think that Center is a huge need for the Giants and I think drafting an Center has to be on the cards. If Aaron Donald is there at 12 then the Giants will take him. He's an amazing player. I think Reese will taget three main needs in the first round and my preference would be to take Aaron Donald at 12, if Donald isn't there then you would imagine that the Giants would take Eric Ebron who will be an impact player and would get huge exposure in his rookie year with Adrien Robinson being the only other Tight End of note on the roster. Then if Ebron is gone at 12 I think the Giants will take Mike Evans. I think wide out is a need for the Giants. There is no doubt that the OLine, running game and passing game can't get much worse. I don't think Eli Manning is going to be as poor next season and Will Beatty has to bounce back and hopefully Jennings will improve the Giants too. Adding Mike Evans or Ebron gives Eli another weapon. I think if those three guys are gone then the Giants will be pretty pis$ed but then you would have to think that the Giants will look at Taylor Lewan.

I don't think Ebron will be there at 12 but I think you have to look at Troy Niklas in the second maybe trading back further in the second to take him. Also in the second you could see the Giants going for Austin Seferian-Jenkins or Jeremiah Attaochu.

My top three mock would be:

1) Aaron Donald, DT, Pittsburgh
2) Jeremiah Attaochu, OLB, Georgia Tech
3) Troy Niklas/Austin Seferian-Jenkins

Dublin Red Devil

So what will the team look like next season.

Offence

Beatty - Schwartz - Walton - Snee - Pugh

Randle - Draft Pick - Cruz

Manning

Conner - Jennings

Dublin Red Devil

Defence

Kiwanuka - Hankins - Jenkins - JPP

Williams - Beason - McClain

R.Cromartie - Rolle - Hill - Amukamara

Dublin Red Devil

Ebron would be ideal

glued

Dublin Red Devil wrote: »

Ebron would be ideal

It depends on what you want to do. A lot of analysts reckon that Ben McAdoo's 'West Coast Offense' will suit Eli Manning better and I agree with that. Gilbride's variation on the run & shoot suited Eli when his confidence was high but really neglected him when he was low on confidence. I think moving to a West Coast style will suit the team better. The main differences between the two is that there is a lot less decision making on the ball for Eli in the West Coast style that McAdo intends on running. I think the longer Eli has the ball in his hands the worse a decision maker he becomes. In 2011 Eli actually made some really smart football decisions and one key aspect that stays with me throughout that period was his ability to extend plays and keeping drives alive; a contradiction of my initial point. However, Eli has become less effective at employing this style and his confidence has dipped as a result of his poor decision making.

It's clear that at this stage of his career that Eli needed a change. He needed new ideas and a play generator that could use his ability efficiently. With the West Coast style the ball tends to get out quicker and there is less options and cover reads for the receivers too. This helps not only Eli Manning, but should improve our wide out play and out OLine should at least statistically get better; less pressures, sacks etc.

In my opinion a tight end is essential to fully exploiting the benefits of this offense. However, if Aaron Donald is there at number 12 then we have to take him. However, if we sign Kevin Williams I think that means that we're going to take Ebron and that may mean having to jump in front of Detriot.

Knex*

I actually read a graphic recently, where Eli's bad decision making last year was graphed at just over 2%. It was down from the year before. Made for some strange reading, and I might see if I can dig it up again.

Having no TE, no RB, and an OL not worth talking about, was a killer for Eli last year. Any system would have failed in it. It just spiraled too as confidence and injuries took a hit.

I do think the new offence will help, and there should be a lot less receiver/QB misreads etc, but Eli hasn't exactly been very accurate with short to medium throws in his career. The deep bomb was his main asset. I do think he can adjust though, but expect some miscues in the early weeks.

Unless they are seeing something out of Robinson (who has all the measurables to perform big if he can stay fit), then I think Ebron is the guy we go for. He'd probably have the most immediate impact and would be a big boost for Eli.

Also, people knocking Philly since they lost DeSean. Just wait and see people trying to stop them in a two TE offence, with Ertz and Celek. Throw McCoy and Sproles in, with Maclin or Cooper still keeping defences stretched, and that is still a nightmare for defences to face. A bloody nightmare.

We have been notoriously horrendous in recent years at stopping TE's such as Witten, too. Beason, plus the other additions and guys like Williams and Paysinger improving, should help there though.

glued

Hakeem Nicks I think suffered a lot as Gilbride began to expand his run & shoot. I don't think Nicks is an intelligent football player and his injuries only exacerbated his exposure to misreading coverage. I think Eli has a tendency to force the ball a bit too much. I don't think he's necessarily a terrible decision maker but I think the less decisions that you give him then the better he becomes. McAdoo likes the short game and a tight end is essential to that. When I'm saying that I think Eli is a poor decision maker I mean that he is poor when he's holding onto the ball too long and he tries to force the ball. One of his strengths is his quick decision making ability, something which a West Coast Offense relies on.

Knex*

Yeah. He's such an instinctive player, that a confident Eli in a West Coast offence could be a joy to see. Especially if we allow him to run a hurry up offence from time to time.

I'm very interested for the season ahead, if perhaps less excited than I was for last year. Tempered expectations, and all that.

krustydoyle

Josh Freeman signs a 1 yr deal

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/10790136/josh-freeman-new-york-giants-agree-deal

What you're back eli (hehehehe)

Knex*

Interesting. Bye to Painter, and quite possibly Nassib too.

HigginsJ

Knex. wrote: »

Interesting. Bye to Painter, and quite possibly Nassib too.

Hard to know really, if Freeman is focused & determined he clearly would be the best of the 3 but even if he was unfairly treated by Tampa (I believe Schiano screwed him over) he was still appeared to struggle in Minnesota as well.

If the rumours about being late for meetings etc. are true Coughlin will run him out of town, so it's last chance saloon which can only benefit us.

Nassib is puzzling because I can find nothing about him anywhere. You would think that there would be reports "leaking" about how he had been working hard in the off-season and showing great improvement. It is a great chance for someone to take 1st team reps for a while during OTA's but it is looking like Nassib is another pair of wasted mid-round picks by Jerry Reese.

Glad Curtis Painter could be gone, he didn't look anywhere near as cool as David Carr on the sidelines

glued

What can we take from all the gossip and rumours to date? Well one thing that is almost for certain is that J.D. Walton is our Center next year. Reportedly, we're happy to see if Stork or Swanson fall to us late on.

Giants have extensively worked out Kadeem Williams, OT a likely undrafted prospect from Albany, NY.

Knex*

Yeah, certainly agree on the Walton front. They must be really confident that he is over his injuries and can get back on track.

I wouldn't know a huge amount about him, as the majority of my knowledge has come in the last two years, before that I was an extremely casual watcher (more of an obsession now!).

What I can gather, he was pretty highly rated with the Broncos. Not quite Pro Bowl level, but consensus was that he could get there. Will be very interested in seeing how he pans out.

Our OL in general is an interesting thing. Well, worrying is probably another way of putting it! Very happy with Schwartz. Also happy with Pugh. Have no idea which Beatty we will see, and not a notion on how Snee will come back. Add those two uncertainties to the Walton question mark, and that's a worry, really.

Could be very good, could be similar story to last year. I can see us signing an interior line man, Guard or Center, in one of the later rounds. Hopefully Reese can shrug off his tendency to waste these picks.

Tight End is probably of bigger importance though, especially with our new offence. Just gotta weigh the value that Ebron would bring there, against the value of say, Donald to our Dline (another area that needs additions).

Very worrying how many question marks we have in the trenches, really. Already spoke about OLine, but we don't know how Moore will progress, or if JPP will perform as he did in 2011. Can Hankins replace Jospeh too?

Randle needs to play big in order to take attention away from Cruz, especially if we don't take Ebron, and even then, we may need another WR. A true outside threat, similar to Nicks, would be ideal, but I'm not so sure we can get that.

Two more question marks again here with Mario and Jernigan. Former has injuries, the latter its unknown whether he can he push on from last season or not. Was that simply a purple patch for him in some dead weight games?

I'm trying not to think too much on it until the Draft kicks off really, but suffice to say, we're very far from a well packaged deal.

tgdaly

HigginsJ wrote: »

Nassib is puzzling because I can find nothing about him anywhere. You would think that there would be reports "leaking" about how he had been working hard in the off-season and showing great improvement. It is a great chance for someone to take 1st team reps for a while during OTA's but it is looking like Nassib is another pair of wasted mid-round picks by Jerry Reese.

It's disappointing really. Nassib was decently rated coming out of Syracuse, and it was a surprise really when he fell to us when he did (remember many people actually had Doug Marrone and the Bills taking him in the first round!!!). There was talk that this guy was gonna sit behind Eli for a few years and be traded later for a high value pick. So far he doesn't seem to be generating anywhere near that buzz like Matt Flynn did or Ryan Mallett at the moment behind Brady

HigginsJ

http://www.giants.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Fan-asks-Steve-Weatherford-to-Prom/d0980a4a-2b6e-4343-80a4-3bad25038af1

With so much disgraceful behaviour from NFL players during the off-season it's nice to have Steve Weatherford as a Giant.

Kylo Ren

HigginsJ wrote: »

http://www.giants.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Fan-asks-Steve-Weatherford-to-Prom/d0980a4a-2b6e-4343-80a4-3bad25038af1

With so much disgraceful behaviour from NFL players during the off-season it's nice to have Steve Weatherford as a Giant.

Probably my favourite player the last two seasons.

Probably our best player the last two seasons

glued

Keno wrote: »

Probably my favourite player the last two seasons.

Probably our best player the last two seasons

I thought in 2012 Weatherford was fairly poor. Had an excellent 2011 and was good last year.

HigginsJ

http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2014/04/will_hill_fails_another_drug_test_could_be_facing_hefty_suspension.html

****ity **** **** ****!!!! What a moron, really gutted if this comes to pass.

Knex*

Ah Jesus. Why would he do that after making impressions last season? Bloody idiot, if true.

glued

Get rid of him now. Add Terrell Thomas as cover for safety/corner and move on. Thankfully Stevie Brown is healthy and we have Demps now along with Cooper Taylor.

He's never going to learn. Such a shame for a guy that has the potential to be the best safety in the league.

HigginsJ

glued wrote: »

Get rid of him now. Add Terrell Thomas as cover for safety/corner and move on. Thankfully Stevie Brown is healthy and we have Demps now along with Cooper Taylor.

He's never going to learn. Such a shame for a guy that has the potential to be the best safety in the league.

I'd hold tough till I know for sure it's a year long suspension (you never know the commish might be feeling lenient!!) I would certainly bring him back next year.

I would be a bit worried about our safety depth without Hill. Stevie is healthy but still hasn't played in a year, I don't know a huge amount about Demps apart from the fact that he is a good special teamer & Cooper Taylor is very much an unknown quantity still. TT could be a good shout as a cheap stop gap.

I must have a look to see who is left on the market at this stage. The pickings are fairly slim at this point. The only one that would interest me is the former Jets safety Jim Leonard

glued

HigginsJ wrote: »

I'd hold tough till I know for sure it's a year long suspension (you never know the commish might be feeling lenient!!) I would certainly bring him back next year.

I would be a bit worried about our safety depth without Hill. Stevie is healthy but still hasn't played in a year, I don't know a huge amount about Demps apart from the fact that he is a good special teamer & Cooper Taylor is very much an unknown quantity still. TT could be a good shout as a cheap stop gap.

I must have a look to see who is left on the market at this stage. The pickings are fairly slim at this point. The only one that would interest me is the former Jets safety Jim Leonard

Ralph Vacchiano says it should only be 6-8 games and Will Hill plans to appeal any suspension handed down but he also said that the Giants are going to dump him.

David Wilson has said that his neck surgery isn't as serious as some were making it out to be and at no point did anyone advise him to not play football again. Will Beatty is 'ahead' of schedule but isn't sure whether he'll make the season opener or not. Eli Manning is rehabbing well and expects to be fully fit for training camp.

Jason Pierre-Paul expects to have full participation in camp this year and he says he's 15lbs lighter this year. Which is probably a move that suggests that he's trying to take as much pressure off his back as possible. Snee says that he's 100% too.

HigginsJ

glued wrote: »

Ralph Vacchiano says it should only be 6-8 games and Will Hill plans to appeal any suspension handed down but he also said that the Giants are going to dump him.

David Wilson has said that his neck surgery isn't as serious as some were making it out to be and at no point did anyone advise him to not play football again. Will Beatty is 'ahead' of schedule but isn't sure whether he'll make the season opener or not. Eli Manning is rehabbing well and expects to be fully fit for training camp.

Jason Pierre-Paul expects to have full participation in camp this year and he says he's 15lbs lighter this year. Which is probably a move that suggests that he's trying to take as much pressure off his back as possible. Snee says that he's 100% too.

If that's the case we'd be mad to dump him. He is simply too good.

That's good news about Wilson but he still has a tonne of questions to answer regarding fumbling & pass protection.

wawaman

The full schedule is released later today. We get to see what the exact route is that stands in the way of another Super Bowl !!!!!

Knex*

wawaman wrote: »

The full schedule is released later today. We get to see what the exact route is that stands in the way of another Super Bowl !!!!!

I think our Roster stands more in the way of a Super Bowl than our schedule, unfortunately :P

Kylo Ren

Knex*

Well, its not easy, that's for sure.

HigginsJ

Knex. wrote: »

Well, its not easy, that's for sure.

It's so hard to say at this point in time. If Houston & Atlanta are back in play-off shape it's a 6/7 win schedule