Post by plax on Dec 9, 2013 18:34:25 GMT -5
For those who are not aware, the Giants loss to the San Diego Chargers coupled with wins by both the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals has officially knocked the Giants out of playoff contention for the fourth time in five years (as we all know, that one time we made it, we went all the way).
This poor fact has led many Giants fans to be irate at the Front Office. It is very easy to see their frustration with missing the playoffs so many times in recent years. It is also very easy to see the fans that are not as upset seeing as how we have won two Super Bowls in the past seven seasons.
Regardless, the Giants roster is expected to change a lot over the course of the next seven or eight months.
Eli Manning has had one of his worst seasons with the Giants this year. It is very possible that Eli Manning might be on the decline due to questionable arm strength that he has possessed this year, as well as his always questionable decision making. However, he has not had much help, especially in the blocking department.
Will Beatty, the Giants franchise Left Tackle who received a 5yr/38mil dollar contract this past offseason, has been nothing but terrible. In several games this year (The Carolina game comes to mind), he consistently got beat by his man, leading to bad plays. Chris Snee, a former Pro Bowler who has been a stalwart of an offensive lineman as there has been for the past decade, has declined at a horrific rate. There is even talk of him possibly hanging it up at the end of the year due to a plethora of injuries the past two or three seasons. David Baas came from San Francisco two seasons ago, and his best trait was that he never had missed a game before in the NFL. That trait could not have been any further from the truth with his Giants tenure. Baas has not only been injured a lot, but when he is healthy, he is a detriment to the team. David Diehl has been one of the worst offensive lineman in the league, and he recognized that as he took a paycut to the veteran's minimum before the year begun. The only reason he remained on the team this season was due to his versatility, which has been helpful when noting all of the Giants injuries this year. Luckily rookie tackle Justin Pugh has been a very nice surprise, and a case could be made that he has been the best rookie tackle all season (DJ Fluker is the other who is mentioned for best offensive tackle).
As people now know, the Giants offensive line has been completely terrible this year. Eli Manning has gotten no blocking, and has caused the offense to spiral out of control. That is not even including the Giants offensive scheme, which I will get to a little later.
Two very underrated losses this past offseason has been Ahmad Bradhsaw and Martellus Bennett. Why? Well, Ahmad Bradshaw is statistically the best pass-blocking RB in the entire league. And Martellus Bennett was one of the best blocking TE's in the league last year. So when those two are replaced by Brandon Myers and a bunch of RBs who are no where near the blocker Bradshaw was, it even makes more sense as to why Eli was forshadowed to have a poor season.
Speaking of Brandon Myers, the TE situation for the New York Giants has been a mess this season. I will not lie, I was very high on Brandon Myers coming to the team. He was touted for his great receiving skills. We all knew he was not a good blocker. In fact, we all knew how poor of a blocker he actually was. However, we knew that, and he was supposed to come in and provide Eli with another security blanket. I projected him to make a much bigger impact to the team than Bennett did. Little did Giants fans know, that Myers was not a good receiver either. The first problem with Myers is his height, checking in around 6'3", below average for TEs, especially ones that are running out and catching the ball. As a comparison, Bennett was 6'6". The next problem with Myers was that he seems inept when getting YAC. Almost every time he catches the ball, he falls right down. He even cost the Giants a TD on one occasion where he simply fell to the ground.
And somehow, Brandon Myers might not even be the biggest disappointment at the TE position for the Giants this year. In my opinion, that honor has a chance of going to Adrian Robinson. Robinson is a second year TE out of Cincinnati (if I recall correctly). When drafted in the fourth round in the 2012 NFL Draft, he was touted by members of the Giants FO and coaching staff as the "JPP of TEs" due to his freakishly athletic ability. He was very raw, and did not play much his rookie year. When Bennett took his talents to Chi-town, the Giants would look to Robinson to play a big part in the offense. However, he suffered a foot injury before the season began. Week after week, he was on the inactive list. And even this past game, Adrian Robinson was yet again inactive, to many Giants' fans displeasure. With the Giants out of the playoffs, they need to get a feel of what they have, and Robinson is an intriguing piece. Is he simply not playing, or is he still hurt? If the former, get him on the field. If the latter, I want to know how serious a foot injury can be if he is still out because of it.
I also mentioned the running game before when mentioning Bradshaw, and that too has been another disappointment this season. David Wilson was given the keys to the Giants starting RB role, and many Giants fans, myself included, had extremely high hopes for the young speedster out of Virginia Tech. He had two problems when being drafted - ball carrier vision and the ability to hold onto the football. It seems after almost two years with the team, he still has those problems. The ball carrier vision problem is almost gone, and I still wish I could see what he would do with the way the run blocking has been the past six weeks, but that is besides the point. Week one against the Cowboys, Wilson was not good, as he fumbled the ball once. I understand Coughlin getting mad at the fumbling problems, but benching the kid every time he fumbles? He has to learn, so leave him on the field.
I was, however, very happy to see Brandon Jacobs come back. I have never seen a man be so happy to be on the Giants. He knew he made a mistake going to San Francisco last year, and we could have used him, but we all know what happened with the SF debacle. Anyway, he came back with passion and even some youth. He had some good speed, and was a bulldozer. I am not sure if he comes back next year due to his wear and tear, but I would definitely not mind him being back getting some attention here next year.
It was also very pleasing to see Peyton Hillis, who in a way, is like Jacobs. He also provided some good catching ability, and I can recall a few plays in which he made something out of nothing.
The running back that I am most happy with at this point is Andre Brown, better known as Andre Beast with the way he has run the ball since returning. I feel for the guy. He has been constantly released by teams and was always injured. And his injury woes continued this year when he missed the first eight games of the year with an injury. Hopefully we can use a Brown and Wilson tandem next year, as I truly have high hopes for them.
This brings me to the wide receivers. Where to start? Victor Cruz has been amazing this year, but the one play that I will be reminded of is that fumble against the Cowboys a few weeks back. I remember that it was early in the game, and we just stopped Dallas and forced a punt. After getting the ball, we put up two great running plays in a row that gained approximately 30 yards between them. Then on a first and 10, Eli passed it to Cruz for about six yards. Cruz being Cruz and his will to make plays, tried to extend the play and the ball subsequently got stripped by a Dallas defender, who returned it for a touchdown. But besides that play, and the fact that every Giants WR minus one has had problems scoring, Cruz has been a great target this year and is a guy who we can rely on for many years down the line.
Now to Rueben Randle, the second year WR out of LSU. I was ecstatic when we got him considering he was a first round talent who we got with the last pick of the second round. He had all of the physical attributes to be great, but he just had to put it together. And to be honest, he is almost there. In the beginning of the year, the chemistry between him and Eli was terrible, and to my estimation, Randle has been the cause for around eight turnovers this year, whether it is him running the wrong route or him dropping the ball (which he did against San Diego yesterday which led to a Donald Butler interception). But he has showed that he can be a big time player, and hopefully he progresses towards that goal.
On a small side note, I have been very disappointed with Louis Murphy this year. He was supposed to be a good WR4 off the bench who could stretch the field. However, he has barely seen the field, and when finally on it, barely made any plays at all.
The big news at wide receiver is easily Hakeem Nicks. There is just so much to say about him and the situation that he is in this year. First off, it must be noted that Nicks has not one touchdown this year. Yes, that is correct. Hakeem Nicks has NO TOUCHDOWNS this year. Part of me wants to believe that it was done purposely to lower Nicks' contract demands seeing as how he is due to a new one this offseason. He has been injured and has lot his ability to separate on several occasions, but he is still a great target who draws a lot of attention. For those who may now know, he did not play against Dallas, our biggest game of the year. This is something that I must get into because it is very important and interesting. There are a few rumors regarding the reason for Nicks' absence in that game. One rumor is that the Giants simply benched him because he did not practice much that week leading up to the game. If that is correct, than shame on the Giants coaching staff. Nicks barely practices in the middle of the week. A lot of players do it. They did it with Plaxico Burress in 2008 before the shooting incident. So to bench him because he didn't practice? Terrible. The second rumor ties in to another rumor. So, this rumor still goes with the fact that Nicks was benched by Coughlin. However, it was for another reason. In the previous week against the Packers, it was reported by some that Nicks took himself out of the game at some point in the second half. So the second rumor is that he was benched because he benched himself the week before. The last rumor is that Nicks simply gave up and the Giants didn't want that attitude to be condoned. This now leads to a very sticky situation between Nicks and the team. It is believed that Nicks will be asking for a contract of at least $10 million annually. Before this year, I would agree, but he has not been good this year. I love Nicks and want him to stay, but it will be interesting to see how this situation turns out.
As we see, there is disappointment all over the Giants offense. But there was also a lot of disappointment on the defense as well.
Stud defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul has had a very bad year. He suffered an injury before the year begun, and it seems that he tried to come back too early. Throughout most of this year, he struggled mightedly. And then when it finally seemed that he was back to his old self (as even he stated he was at least 90%), he got injured again (against the Raiders). Personally, I hope the Giants shut him down for the rest of the year. He is a key piece to our team, and we need him healthy. And this would be a great time to see what rookie defensive end Damontre Moore can do. Moore has the promise and the potential. I see him being the starter alongside Pierre-Paul next season.
Why would Moore start? Well, that is because the contract of Justin Tuck is set to expire this offeason. He is getting older, and besides the one crazy game against Washington where he recorded four sacks, he has not been good, not to mention that he gets hurt every game with some sort of injury. I like Tuck as a player and as a leader, but we need to move past him unless he takes a serious discount from the six million he is making this year.
Speaking of defensive end, I want to talk about the converted DE-to=LB Mathias Kiwanuka. He is also making a lot of money (I believe he is making 5+ million this year and next), and has been just as bad as Tuck. In a way, he cost us big time against the Cowboys late in the game - on the same drive! On one play, he hit Romo in the helmet I believe (even though I thought the hit was pretty clean as he tapped him). And on another play, he held a Dallas player on a critical third down play. Kiwanuka has been a bust for what the Giants hoped he would be.
When talking about the defensive tackles, all of them have been a positive this year. Linval Joseph has proven to be a top DT in the game with a special combination of pass rush and run stuffing. His contract is expired following this year, and he was said to be the number one priority by the front office. Cullen Jenkins has also been good for us and has been one of our most consistent pass rushers on the team (but that is not saying much). Shaun Rogers was just a big clog in the middle of the defense when he was on the field (and the clog mention was not to make fun of his blood clot from last year, if anyone wanted to try and make that assumption). He has been great for us, but he had another unfortunate injury this year, and I am not sure if he will return next year. We are beginning to see a little more of rookie DT Jonathan Hankins now, and from what I can tell, he is gonna be a special player for us.
The linebacking core has been an interesting one this year. Here is what I can tell from watching them: Mark Herzlich is a great story, but not a good football player......at all. Jacquian Williams has the tools to be a great linebacker, and will be on this team next year due to his speed and ability to cover the fast TEs in the league, but he has to step up his game all around. Spencer Paysinger has shown a lot of promise this year, and I expect him to be in contention for a starting job next season (I believe he is in a contract year, so hopefully he returns). Keith Rivers has been almost nonexistent this year, and I do not expect him to be back next year unless we need someone and he comes in for another veteran's minimum contract. This brings me to:
JON BEASON! I loved the trade when it happened, and I love it even more now. He was traded for a SEVENTH round pick! And he has been the best thing on our defense, not to mention a leader already on it, and when discussing linebacker, he is our best one since Antonio Pierce, and maybe even beyond him. His contract is over at the end of the year, and I pray to whatever I can pray to that Beason returns next year. And it seems that both sides are in agreement, as Beason said not too long ago that he wants to be a Giants for life.
The one thing that I have noticed over the year with the Giants is that our defense runs through the defensive line. When the defensive line is wrecking havoc on the offense and forcing them to throw the ball quick, it helps everyone else. The line has struggled this year, and now Giants fans see how exposed the back seven of the defense is when the front four is not producing.
Prince Amukamara has been very good for us this year, and if you want my honest opinion on him going forward, I think he will establish himself as a top 15 CB next year. He has a great mind for the game and knows what to do. He is also a great tackler. Terell Thomas has been a feel-good story after numerous ACL tears. It is amazing that he can even compete at the NFL level anymore. He shows flashes of his old self (which was a very good player), but as shown in the San Diego game, he can easily be a liability. I respect what he has done here, but unless he is the fourth or fifth option at CB and playing reserve (or safety even), I do not mind him not coming back.
Now the disappointments at cornerback. Corey Webster continues his decline at a drastic rate. It is almost sickening to see the way and pace of his decline over the course of the past two years. I am hoping he does not come back next year unless it is on the veteran minimum. The biggest disappointment for me at cornerback is Jayron Hosley, the second year CB out of Virginia Tech. He was touted as a late-1st to mid-2nd pick for the 2012 Draft. However, it was discovered that he failed tests for drugs, and he fell to the Giants in the third round. I love his talent and I think he will turn out to be a very good slot corner. But he has to improve his skill set.
We are almost there with the players, do not worry.
Now we go to safety, where the play has been very up and down. Throughout the first half of the year, Antrel Rolle was almost a lock to be released following the season due to his extremely poor play and due to the fact that he is slated to make over nine million next year. Then, the Giants started winning, and that is due in large part to the play of Rolle. If the Giants made the playoffs, Rolle would be in the running for defensive player of the year. He was THAT good during the stretch of five or six games. I do not know if he will be released of his hefty contract any longer, but it was good to see the fight in him. It was sad to see Stevie Brown miss the season. The dude was a ballhawk and was always in the right spot, recording eight interceptions last year. His contract is expired following this year, so it will be interesting if the Giants give him their famous one year, prove it contract.
One guy I am extremely excited for is Will Hill. For those do not know of his backstory, I will tell it here. He was a five-star recruit in high school. One of the most talented players going to college that year. However, he got into a lot of trouble with drugs and women, and all of that stuff led to him being undrafted when he declared for the draft. If I recall, he did not play the entire year for any team. The next year, the New York Giants gave him a chance. And he has been on his best behavior. Ultimately, he has been a great guy for this team - he hits hard, plays hard, and has all of the talent in the world. Hopefully he is a big part of this team next year, because he can make things happen. Ryan Mundy has not done much since Hill came back from his suspension due to Aderrall. And Cooper Taylor, a rookie, has not done much besides some work on special teams.
We lastly go to special teams when discussing the players. Steve Weatherford had a slow start to the year (the whole team did), but has picked it up and is one of the best punters in the league. I was excited when we signed Josh Brown to the team, but he has proved to be a disappointment and missed a decent amount of field goals. I doubt he returns next year. Nothing new on long snapper Zac DeOssie, who has held that duty with the team for many years. I won't forget that terrible snap against the Eagles, though. How is it even possible to snap a ball that high over the punter's head?
All in all, this was a season of disappointment for the players. Many players declined and underperformed. However, the players are not the only ones to blame. Which brings me to my last little bunch of paragraphs - the FO and coaching staff.
Tom Coughlin is a top coach in the league (along with Bill, the Harbaugh's, and Payton). He is respected by everyone. I think he should go when he wants to - he earned that right. However, many Giants fans think it is time to move on and get a new philosophy. I see their point. But I do not see TC going. The one problem I have with Coughlin would be his tendency to stick with veterans even though they struggle. At some point, he has to know when to play younger players - they are the future, ya know. There is actually one more problem with TC, in which is huge for me. He loves his coordinators right now, and doesn't like changing them.
Kevin Gilbride, where to even begin. His scheme worked wonderfully a few years ago, as shown by the offense's ability to tear apart teams in the playoffs (ATL, GB, NE). The league has adjusted since then, but Gilbride has not. I can correctly guess what the Giants are doing at least 50% of the time. I am just a guy who watches all of the Giants games, and I can figure out what they are doing. Imagine the scouting department? The offense has not produced, and Gilbride's scheme has been a big part of the struggle. But for those do not what, this is what the Giants almost always do: 1st down imcomplete pass, 2nd down shotgun run for one or two yards, 3rd down pass for five yards, Punt. Or when it is a 3rd and less than five, we almost always bomb it down the field, and when it is third and long, we do a shotgun draw. It is terrible.
Perry Fewell has had the defense doing better, but he still needs to go. Through the first six games of the season, I believe the Giants recorded a total of six sacks, with some of them being the opposing QB slipping behind the line on a rollout. The Giants thrive on pressure, and they have not been able to dial up any new blitz or looks. Fewell is very repetitive, and like Gilbride, the league has adjusted, but Fewell has not.
ST coach Tom Quinn has been the worst coordinator for the Giants this year. Let me just state that I have never seen a team worse at returning kickoffs and punts than the Giants. We never get a return of more than ten yards, but when we do, there is a penalty. Just terrible, and we never get good field position. Furthermore, our ST defense has been one of the worst I have ever seen. Quinn needs to go.
This brings me to GM Jerry Reese. Many Giants fans have been critical of Reese as of late, especially the selection of QB Ryan Nassib in the fourth round of the past draft. Some say he needs to go, but I think he should get another shot. He brought us two super bowls already. He and Coughlin should stay, but bring aboard new coordinators with a new philosophy and scheme.
So now we look ahead to the 2014 NFL Offseason. The Giants have a lot of FAs this upcoming offseason, and they are as follows:
QB Curtis Painter
RB Andre Brown
RB Brandon Jacobs
RB Peyton Hillis
FB Henry Hynoski
WR Hakeem Nicks
WR Louis Murphy
TE Bradon Myerr (the Giants can void his contract if they want for no CAP penalty)
TE Bear Pascoe
OL David Diehl
OL Kevin Boothe
C Jim Cordle
DE Justin Tuck
DT Mike Patterson
DT Linval Joseph
DT Shaun Rogers
LB Mark Herzlich
LB Keith Rivers
LB Spencer Paysinger
LB Jon Beason
CB Terrell Thomas
CB Aaron Ross
CB Trumaine McBride
S Stevie Brown
S Ryan Mundy
K Josh Brown
If the Giants release S Antrel Rolle and OG Chris Snee, they will have approximately $32mil in cap room to work with, which is huge. Hopefully they can spend their money on some big time players as opposed to getting a bunch of average plugs.
When discussing the needs of the Giants, they could use a lot. Assuming no one above returns, this is what the Giants would need:
WR (Cruz and Randle are guys to build around. They can use one more good WR to help Eli. Manningham could be a potential return. Another guy in mind is Kenny Britt, who might be happy to play close to home).
TE (We need a TE who can block AND catch. A guy like Pettigrew comes to mind).
OT/OG (If we could land a LT, it would move Beatty to RT and Pugh to OG. If not, we could just use a OG. Jon Asomoah is a guy I would enjoy getting).
LB (I think we get Beason back, so we would still need an OLB. Lance Briggs and Desmond Bishop come to mind).
CB (We need a guy opposite Prince Amukamara. Some interesting names are Aqib Talib, Sam Shields, and Charles Tillman).
S (We need at least one safety [two if Rolle is gone]. It will be interesting to see if the Giants poke their heads at Jarius Byrd. TJ Ward is another guy who I like).
K (anyone who can kick is good by me).
I think I will end on this note.
Hopefully people actually read this.
This poor fact has led many Giants fans to be irate at the Front Office. It is very easy to see their frustration with missing the playoffs so many times in recent years. It is also very easy to see the fans that are not as upset seeing as how we have won two Super Bowls in the past seven seasons.
Regardless, the Giants roster is expected to change a lot over the course of the next seven or eight months.
Eli Manning has had one of his worst seasons with the Giants this year. It is very possible that Eli Manning might be on the decline due to questionable arm strength that he has possessed this year, as well as his always questionable decision making. However, he has not had much help, especially in the blocking department.
Will Beatty, the Giants franchise Left Tackle who received a 5yr/38mil dollar contract this past offseason, has been nothing but terrible. In several games this year (The Carolina game comes to mind), he consistently got beat by his man, leading to bad plays. Chris Snee, a former Pro Bowler who has been a stalwart of an offensive lineman as there has been for the past decade, has declined at a horrific rate. There is even talk of him possibly hanging it up at the end of the year due to a plethora of injuries the past two or three seasons. David Baas came from San Francisco two seasons ago, and his best trait was that he never had missed a game before in the NFL. That trait could not have been any further from the truth with his Giants tenure. Baas has not only been injured a lot, but when he is healthy, he is a detriment to the team. David Diehl has been one of the worst offensive lineman in the league, and he recognized that as he took a paycut to the veteran's minimum before the year begun. The only reason he remained on the team this season was due to his versatility, which has been helpful when noting all of the Giants injuries this year. Luckily rookie tackle Justin Pugh has been a very nice surprise, and a case could be made that he has been the best rookie tackle all season (DJ Fluker is the other who is mentioned for best offensive tackle).
As people now know, the Giants offensive line has been completely terrible this year. Eli Manning has gotten no blocking, and has caused the offense to spiral out of control. That is not even including the Giants offensive scheme, which I will get to a little later.
Two very underrated losses this past offseason has been Ahmad Bradhsaw and Martellus Bennett. Why? Well, Ahmad Bradshaw is statistically the best pass-blocking RB in the entire league. And Martellus Bennett was one of the best blocking TE's in the league last year. So when those two are replaced by Brandon Myers and a bunch of RBs who are no where near the blocker Bradshaw was, it even makes more sense as to why Eli was forshadowed to have a poor season.
Speaking of Brandon Myers, the TE situation for the New York Giants has been a mess this season. I will not lie, I was very high on Brandon Myers coming to the team. He was touted for his great receiving skills. We all knew he was not a good blocker. In fact, we all knew how poor of a blocker he actually was. However, we knew that, and he was supposed to come in and provide Eli with another security blanket. I projected him to make a much bigger impact to the team than Bennett did. Little did Giants fans know, that Myers was not a good receiver either. The first problem with Myers is his height, checking in around 6'3", below average for TEs, especially ones that are running out and catching the ball. As a comparison, Bennett was 6'6". The next problem with Myers was that he seems inept when getting YAC. Almost every time he catches the ball, he falls right down. He even cost the Giants a TD on one occasion where he simply fell to the ground.
And somehow, Brandon Myers might not even be the biggest disappointment at the TE position for the Giants this year. In my opinion, that honor has a chance of going to Adrian Robinson. Robinson is a second year TE out of Cincinnati (if I recall correctly). When drafted in the fourth round in the 2012 NFL Draft, he was touted by members of the Giants FO and coaching staff as the "JPP of TEs" due to his freakishly athletic ability. He was very raw, and did not play much his rookie year. When Bennett took his talents to Chi-town, the Giants would look to Robinson to play a big part in the offense. However, he suffered a foot injury before the season began. Week after week, he was on the inactive list. And even this past game, Adrian Robinson was yet again inactive, to many Giants' fans displeasure. With the Giants out of the playoffs, they need to get a feel of what they have, and Robinson is an intriguing piece. Is he simply not playing, or is he still hurt? If the former, get him on the field. If the latter, I want to know how serious a foot injury can be if he is still out because of it.
I also mentioned the running game before when mentioning Bradshaw, and that too has been another disappointment this season. David Wilson was given the keys to the Giants starting RB role, and many Giants fans, myself included, had extremely high hopes for the young speedster out of Virginia Tech. He had two problems when being drafted - ball carrier vision and the ability to hold onto the football. It seems after almost two years with the team, he still has those problems. The ball carrier vision problem is almost gone, and I still wish I could see what he would do with the way the run blocking has been the past six weeks, but that is besides the point. Week one against the Cowboys, Wilson was not good, as he fumbled the ball once. I understand Coughlin getting mad at the fumbling problems, but benching the kid every time he fumbles? He has to learn, so leave him on the field.
I was, however, very happy to see Brandon Jacobs come back. I have never seen a man be so happy to be on the Giants. He knew he made a mistake going to San Francisco last year, and we could have used him, but we all know what happened with the SF debacle. Anyway, he came back with passion and even some youth. He had some good speed, and was a bulldozer. I am not sure if he comes back next year due to his wear and tear, but I would definitely not mind him being back getting some attention here next year.
It was also very pleasing to see Peyton Hillis, who in a way, is like Jacobs. He also provided some good catching ability, and I can recall a few plays in which he made something out of nothing.
The running back that I am most happy with at this point is Andre Brown, better known as Andre Beast with the way he has run the ball since returning. I feel for the guy. He has been constantly released by teams and was always injured. And his injury woes continued this year when he missed the first eight games of the year with an injury. Hopefully we can use a Brown and Wilson tandem next year, as I truly have high hopes for them.
This brings me to the wide receivers. Where to start? Victor Cruz has been amazing this year, but the one play that I will be reminded of is that fumble against the Cowboys a few weeks back. I remember that it was early in the game, and we just stopped Dallas and forced a punt. After getting the ball, we put up two great running plays in a row that gained approximately 30 yards between them. Then on a first and 10, Eli passed it to Cruz for about six yards. Cruz being Cruz and his will to make plays, tried to extend the play and the ball subsequently got stripped by a Dallas defender, who returned it for a touchdown. But besides that play, and the fact that every Giants WR minus one has had problems scoring, Cruz has been a great target this year and is a guy who we can rely on for many years down the line.
Now to Rueben Randle, the second year WR out of LSU. I was ecstatic when we got him considering he was a first round talent who we got with the last pick of the second round. He had all of the physical attributes to be great, but he just had to put it together. And to be honest, he is almost there. In the beginning of the year, the chemistry between him and Eli was terrible, and to my estimation, Randle has been the cause for around eight turnovers this year, whether it is him running the wrong route or him dropping the ball (which he did against San Diego yesterday which led to a Donald Butler interception). But he has showed that he can be a big time player, and hopefully he progresses towards that goal.
On a small side note, I have been very disappointed with Louis Murphy this year. He was supposed to be a good WR4 off the bench who could stretch the field. However, he has barely seen the field, and when finally on it, barely made any plays at all.
The big news at wide receiver is easily Hakeem Nicks. There is just so much to say about him and the situation that he is in this year. First off, it must be noted that Nicks has not one touchdown this year. Yes, that is correct. Hakeem Nicks has NO TOUCHDOWNS this year. Part of me wants to believe that it was done purposely to lower Nicks' contract demands seeing as how he is due to a new one this offseason. He has been injured and has lot his ability to separate on several occasions, but he is still a great target who draws a lot of attention. For those who may now know, he did not play against Dallas, our biggest game of the year. This is something that I must get into because it is very important and interesting. There are a few rumors regarding the reason for Nicks' absence in that game. One rumor is that the Giants simply benched him because he did not practice much that week leading up to the game. If that is correct, than shame on the Giants coaching staff. Nicks barely practices in the middle of the week. A lot of players do it. They did it with Plaxico Burress in 2008 before the shooting incident. So to bench him because he didn't practice? Terrible. The second rumor ties in to another rumor. So, this rumor still goes with the fact that Nicks was benched by Coughlin. However, it was for another reason. In the previous week against the Packers, it was reported by some that Nicks took himself out of the game at some point in the second half. So the second rumor is that he was benched because he benched himself the week before. The last rumor is that Nicks simply gave up and the Giants didn't want that attitude to be condoned. This now leads to a very sticky situation between Nicks and the team. It is believed that Nicks will be asking for a contract of at least $10 million annually. Before this year, I would agree, but he has not been good this year. I love Nicks and want him to stay, but it will be interesting to see how this situation turns out.
As we see, there is disappointment all over the Giants offense. But there was also a lot of disappointment on the defense as well.
Stud defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul has had a very bad year. He suffered an injury before the year begun, and it seems that he tried to come back too early. Throughout most of this year, he struggled mightedly. And then when it finally seemed that he was back to his old self (as even he stated he was at least 90%), he got injured again (against the Raiders). Personally, I hope the Giants shut him down for the rest of the year. He is a key piece to our team, and we need him healthy. And this would be a great time to see what rookie defensive end Damontre Moore can do. Moore has the promise and the potential. I see him being the starter alongside Pierre-Paul next season.
Why would Moore start? Well, that is because the contract of Justin Tuck is set to expire this offeason. He is getting older, and besides the one crazy game against Washington where he recorded four sacks, he has not been good, not to mention that he gets hurt every game with some sort of injury. I like Tuck as a player and as a leader, but we need to move past him unless he takes a serious discount from the six million he is making this year.
Speaking of defensive end, I want to talk about the converted DE-to=LB Mathias Kiwanuka. He is also making a lot of money (I believe he is making 5+ million this year and next), and has been just as bad as Tuck. In a way, he cost us big time against the Cowboys late in the game - on the same drive! On one play, he hit Romo in the helmet I believe (even though I thought the hit was pretty clean as he tapped him). And on another play, he held a Dallas player on a critical third down play. Kiwanuka has been a bust for what the Giants hoped he would be.
When talking about the defensive tackles, all of them have been a positive this year. Linval Joseph has proven to be a top DT in the game with a special combination of pass rush and run stuffing. His contract is expired following this year, and he was said to be the number one priority by the front office. Cullen Jenkins has also been good for us and has been one of our most consistent pass rushers on the team (but that is not saying much). Shaun Rogers was just a big clog in the middle of the defense when he was on the field (and the clog mention was not to make fun of his blood clot from last year, if anyone wanted to try and make that assumption). He has been great for us, but he had another unfortunate injury this year, and I am not sure if he will return next year. We are beginning to see a little more of rookie DT Jonathan Hankins now, and from what I can tell, he is gonna be a special player for us.
The linebacking core has been an interesting one this year. Here is what I can tell from watching them: Mark Herzlich is a great story, but not a good football player......at all. Jacquian Williams has the tools to be a great linebacker, and will be on this team next year due to his speed and ability to cover the fast TEs in the league, but he has to step up his game all around. Spencer Paysinger has shown a lot of promise this year, and I expect him to be in contention for a starting job next season (I believe he is in a contract year, so hopefully he returns). Keith Rivers has been almost nonexistent this year, and I do not expect him to be back next year unless we need someone and he comes in for another veteran's minimum contract. This brings me to:
JON BEASON! I loved the trade when it happened, and I love it even more now. He was traded for a SEVENTH round pick! And he has been the best thing on our defense, not to mention a leader already on it, and when discussing linebacker, he is our best one since Antonio Pierce, and maybe even beyond him. His contract is over at the end of the year, and I pray to whatever I can pray to that Beason returns next year. And it seems that both sides are in agreement, as Beason said not too long ago that he wants to be a Giants for life.
The one thing that I have noticed over the year with the Giants is that our defense runs through the defensive line. When the defensive line is wrecking havoc on the offense and forcing them to throw the ball quick, it helps everyone else. The line has struggled this year, and now Giants fans see how exposed the back seven of the defense is when the front four is not producing.
Prince Amukamara has been very good for us this year, and if you want my honest opinion on him going forward, I think he will establish himself as a top 15 CB next year. He has a great mind for the game and knows what to do. He is also a great tackler. Terell Thomas has been a feel-good story after numerous ACL tears. It is amazing that he can even compete at the NFL level anymore. He shows flashes of his old self (which was a very good player), but as shown in the San Diego game, he can easily be a liability. I respect what he has done here, but unless he is the fourth or fifth option at CB and playing reserve (or safety even), I do not mind him not coming back.
Now the disappointments at cornerback. Corey Webster continues his decline at a drastic rate. It is almost sickening to see the way and pace of his decline over the course of the past two years. I am hoping he does not come back next year unless it is on the veteran minimum. The biggest disappointment for me at cornerback is Jayron Hosley, the second year CB out of Virginia Tech. He was touted as a late-1st to mid-2nd pick for the 2012 Draft. However, it was discovered that he failed tests for drugs, and he fell to the Giants in the third round. I love his talent and I think he will turn out to be a very good slot corner. But he has to improve his skill set.
We are almost there with the players, do not worry.
Now we go to safety, where the play has been very up and down. Throughout the first half of the year, Antrel Rolle was almost a lock to be released following the season due to his extremely poor play and due to the fact that he is slated to make over nine million next year. Then, the Giants started winning, and that is due in large part to the play of Rolle. If the Giants made the playoffs, Rolle would be in the running for defensive player of the year. He was THAT good during the stretch of five or six games. I do not know if he will be released of his hefty contract any longer, but it was good to see the fight in him. It was sad to see Stevie Brown miss the season. The dude was a ballhawk and was always in the right spot, recording eight interceptions last year. His contract is expired following this year, so it will be interesting if the Giants give him their famous one year, prove it contract.
One guy I am extremely excited for is Will Hill. For those do not know of his backstory, I will tell it here. He was a five-star recruit in high school. One of the most talented players going to college that year. However, he got into a lot of trouble with drugs and women, and all of that stuff led to him being undrafted when he declared for the draft. If I recall, he did not play the entire year for any team. The next year, the New York Giants gave him a chance. And he has been on his best behavior. Ultimately, he has been a great guy for this team - he hits hard, plays hard, and has all of the talent in the world. Hopefully he is a big part of this team next year, because he can make things happen. Ryan Mundy has not done much since Hill came back from his suspension due to Aderrall. And Cooper Taylor, a rookie, has not done much besides some work on special teams.
We lastly go to special teams when discussing the players. Steve Weatherford had a slow start to the year (the whole team did), but has picked it up and is one of the best punters in the league. I was excited when we signed Josh Brown to the team, but he has proved to be a disappointment and missed a decent amount of field goals. I doubt he returns next year. Nothing new on long snapper Zac DeOssie, who has held that duty with the team for many years. I won't forget that terrible snap against the Eagles, though. How is it even possible to snap a ball that high over the punter's head?
All in all, this was a season of disappointment for the players. Many players declined and underperformed. However, the players are not the only ones to blame. Which brings me to my last little bunch of paragraphs - the FO and coaching staff.
Tom Coughlin is a top coach in the league (along with Bill, the Harbaugh's, and Payton). He is respected by everyone. I think he should go when he wants to - he earned that right. However, many Giants fans think it is time to move on and get a new philosophy. I see their point. But I do not see TC going. The one problem I have with Coughlin would be his tendency to stick with veterans even though they struggle. At some point, he has to know when to play younger players - they are the future, ya know. There is actually one more problem with TC, in which is huge for me. He loves his coordinators right now, and doesn't like changing them.
Kevin Gilbride, where to even begin. His scheme worked wonderfully a few years ago, as shown by the offense's ability to tear apart teams in the playoffs (ATL, GB, NE). The league has adjusted since then, but Gilbride has not. I can correctly guess what the Giants are doing at least 50% of the time. I am just a guy who watches all of the Giants games, and I can figure out what they are doing. Imagine the scouting department? The offense has not produced, and Gilbride's scheme has been a big part of the struggle. But for those do not what, this is what the Giants almost always do: 1st down imcomplete pass, 2nd down shotgun run for one or two yards, 3rd down pass for five yards, Punt. Or when it is a 3rd and less than five, we almost always bomb it down the field, and when it is third and long, we do a shotgun draw. It is terrible.
Perry Fewell has had the defense doing better, but he still needs to go. Through the first six games of the season, I believe the Giants recorded a total of six sacks, with some of them being the opposing QB slipping behind the line on a rollout. The Giants thrive on pressure, and they have not been able to dial up any new blitz or looks. Fewell is very repetitive, and like Gilbride, the league has adjusted, but Fewell has not.
ST coach Tom Quinn has been the worst coordinator for the Giants this year. Let me just state that I have never seen a team worse at returning kickoffs and punts than the Giants. We never get a return of more than ten yards, but when we do, there is a penalty. Just terrible, and we never get good field position. Furthermore, our ST defense has been one of the worst I have ever seen. Quinn needs to go.
This brings me to GM Jerry Reese. Many Giants fans have been critical of Reese as of late, especially the selection of QB Ryan Nassib in the fourth round of the past draft. Some say he needs to go, but I think he should get another shot. He brought us two super bowls already. He and Coughlin should stay, but bring aboard new coordinators with a new philosophy and scheme.
So now we look ahead to the 2014 NFL Offseason. The Giants have a lot of FAs this upcoming offseason, and they are as follows:
QB Curtis Painter
RB Andre Brown
RB Brandon Jacobs
RB Peyton Hillis
FB Henry Hynoski
WR Hakeem Nicks
WR Louis Murphy
TE Bradon Myerr (the Giants can void his contract if they want for no CAP penalty)
TE Bear Pascoe
OL David Diehl
OL Kevin Boothe
C Jim Cordle
DE Justin Tuck
DT Mike Patterson
DT Linval Joseph
DT Shaun Rogers
LB Mark Herzlich
LB Keith Rivers
LB Spencer Paysinger
LB Jon Beason
CB Terrell Thomas
CB Aaron Ross
CB Trumaine McBride
S Stevie Brown
S Ryan Mundy
K Josh Brown
If the Giants release S Antrel Rolle and OG Chris Snee, they will have approximately $32mil in cap room to work with, which is huge. Hopefully they can spend their money on some big time players as opposed to getting a bunch of average plugs.
When discussing the needs of the Giants, they could use a lot. Assuming no one above returns, this is what the Giants would need:
WR (Cruz and Randle are guys to build around. They can use one more good WR to help Eli. Manningham could be a potential return. Another guy in mind is Kenny Britt, who might be happy to play close to home).
TE (We need a TE who can block AND catch. A guy like Pettigrew comes to mind).
OT/OG (If we could land a LT, it would move Beatty to RT and Pugh to OG. If not, we could just use a OG. Jon Asomoah is a guy I would enjoy getting).
LB (I think we get Beason back, so we would still need an OLB. Lance Briggs and Desmond Bishop come to mind).
CB (We need a guy opposite Prince Amukamara. Some interesting names are Aqib Talib, Sam Shields, and Charles Tillman).
S (We need at least one safety [two if Rolle is gone]. It will be interesting to see if the Giants poke their heads at Jarius Byrd. TJ Ward is another guy who I like).
K (anyone who can kick is good by me).
I think I will end on this note.
Hopefully people actually read this.
