Big Blue Huddle

New York Giants

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Also be sure to check out the new and improve Giantsfans.net front page

and a link to a good article

http://www.nfl.com/combine/story/09000d5d80ecd9a3/article/what-does-the-combine-data-mean-depends-on-your-position

If you are going to attend camp, please post what days you will be there


Me-  Will be watching practices starting Thursday August 2nd and Leaving after practice on Monday August 6th.

More from the Billick Chalktalk 101 Series at Mother's Grille in Federal Hill in Baltimore brought to you by Coors Light & Toyota Live Web.

Billick Chalktalk 101: Breaking down the 'Prevent Defense'

New York Giants All Time Team

I love his Xs and Os series:

QuoteThe two route concepts we consistently see in the NFL to target the top of Cover 2 (or Tampa 2) are Flat-7 and 4 Verticals. Today, let

Former Seahawk starting QB Marcus Trufant is moving inside and talks about the adjustment

QuoteTrufant

Billick Chalktalk: When a QB can identify man or zone he wins

WNST.net owner and former Super Bowl winning coach of the Baltimore Ravens Brian Billick talks Chalktalk with local NFL fans at Mother's Federal Hill Grille.

Pat Kirwan does a really good job explaining this

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/19195136/inside-triangle-key-to-every-teams-1st-and-2nddown-success-on-d

Nice Xs and Os article

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Breaking-down-the-basics-of-the-Dagger-route.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Al Blozis

Sport: Football

Born: January 5, 1919

Died: January 21, 1945

Town: Garfield, New Jersey

Albert Charles Blozis was born January 5, 1919 in Garfield. After his family moved to Hudson County, Al attended Dickinson High School in Jersey City. He was the star of the track team, using his 6

If you were going to start a team which running back would you take?

Frank Gifford?  3609 YDS Rushing, 34 TD Rushing, 5434 YDS Receiving, 43 TD Receiving

Joe Morris?  5,585 YDS, 4.0 AVG, 50 TD 960 YDS Receiving 2 TD Receiving

Rodney Hampton? 6,897 YDS, 3.8 AVG, 49 TD 1309 YDS Receiving 2 TD Receiving

Ottis Anderson? 10,273 YDS, 4.0 AVG, 81 TD 3062 YDS Receiving 5 TD Receiving

Tiki Barder? 10,449 YDS, 4.7 AVG, 55 TD 5183 YDS Receiving 12 TD Receiving

Brandon Jacobs?  4849 YRDS, 4.5 AVG 56 TD 730 YDS Receiving  4 TD Receiving

First published in 2007

I grew up in Syracuse.  I am 51 years old.  Syracuse University sports was a big part of my life.  My Dad was a guy who was hard to know.  He had problems communicating with his two sons because of a fractured childhood that was filled with serious illness and dislocation.  But he could get through to my brother and me with sports.  It was natural then that we all became intense fans.

I grew up in Syracuse.  I am 51 years old.  Syracuse University sports was a big part of my life.  My Dad was a guy who was hard to know.  He had problems communicating with his two sons because of a fractured childhood that was filled with serious illness and dislocation.  But he could get through to my brother and me with sports.  It was natural then that we all became intense fans.

My earliest memories of attending sporting events are from 1963.  The last game that the Nationals played in Syracuse before they moved to Philadelphia and became the 76ers.  Technically, that's not correct.  There was an interim agreement in place that had the Sixers play a couple of regular season games in Syracuse.  That lasted for about 4 years, as I recall.  Yankee Stadium against the Chisox in August.  And then the Giants in the fall.

As far as rooting for the Orange, the sustained memories begin in 1966.  This was the season of the Floyd Little-Larry Csonka tamden at RB and FB, respectively.  That season culminated in a loss to Tennessee in the Gator Bowl on December 31, 1966.  The team's determination to run the football during that era was simply consistent with how the game was being played throughout the country.  Little rushed for 216 yards in the game.  Csonka added another 114.  But still the Orange lost.  They were continually jammed up inside the Vols' ten yardline.  The wingback on that club was #49.  He hailed from Waterloo, N.Y., just west of Syracuse.  He was Tom Coughlin.

Wingback was kind of the pre-historic flanker.  Although it was beginning to be phased out of the lexicon of collegiate football, it was still in use when the great Art Monk played on Piety Hill.  This position required incredible toughness.  Because the fullback frequently carried the football, the wingback's role was primarily as a blocker.  He also caught the occasional pass.

Coughlin played it with exceptional toughness and courage.  As a kid watching him play, I couldn't help but be impressed with him.  He wasn't fast nor big nor strong but he had sure hands and he was willing to drop his headgear into the chest of defenders who outweighed him by 70 pounds.

The coach of Syracuse was the legendary Ben Schwartzwalder. He was the eastern collegiate version of Woody Hayes.  A captain in the army, he had particpated in the invasion of Normandy with the 507th Paratroop Infrantry.  He was awarded a Silver Star for leading his men on a mission to take the LaFiere Bridge after the disastrous consequences of their jump.  Aerial maps had failed to show the extent of the water in the marshes in the drop zone.  Plus the Germans had flooded them.  This harrowing event is well chronicled in the Youman brothers' excellent book on Syracuse's 1959 National Championship team.  Excellent read.  I suggest you do.  Anyway,  many guys drowned in four-feet of water as they got snagged and pulled down by the weight of their equipment.  And most of the radios were lost.  The situation was an absolute nightmare.  From this, Schwartzwalder engineered victory, which is all that you ever need to know both about the man and his abiltities.

As a change up to his brutally effective, straight charging running game, in which the quarterback was also frequently a ball carrier, Coach loved the "scissors" play or "cross buck," which ended up being a hand-off to the wingback.  It was his favorite call.  Properly run, it had the effect of suckering the interior defenders in the 5-2 front, which was the prominent defense of the day. Sometimes the play broke open completely.  I used to watch Coughlin churn through there, kneecaps up, helmet down, offering the would-be tackler nothing soft to hit into.

Little left after 66.  Csonka became the marquee option in 1967. He gained 1127 yards on 261 carries that season.  Coughlin, operating  from half back, chipped in with 256 yards on 42 carries, while setting what was at the time the school record for receptions in a season. He caught 26 for 257, numbers that you would sneeze at today.  But at the time watching the ball being thrown was like viewing the game from another dimension.

That team finished 8-2.  It wasn't selected for a Bowl game.  There weren't many of those around back then.  In fact it would be the best record that a Syracuse team would compile until the 87 team, which went 11-0-1 under Dick MacPherson. We didn't realize it at the time, but the program was beginning a long descent into darkness.

By this time, once venerable Archbold Stadium was falling apart. Literally.  I had a friend who would go on to being a tri-captain on his university's lacrosse program who worked with a construction company on a summer job to prop up Old Archy.  He told me that they found rotting timbers underneath the corner sections of each end zone.  It wasn't out of the range of the possible that large chunks of concrete might have given way during a game, to who knows how much ensuing carnage.  The stadium had opened in 1907. Once considered a pinnacle stadium in the US, it was now crumbling so badly that not even a walk atop the famous arch overlooking Irving Avenue gave much relief.

There was no moral ambiguity with Coach Ben.  Coughlin was a perfect player for him.  Although he played in the sixties, Coughlin was actually from the fifties.  Neither man was consumed by his times.  Schwartzwalder's best years ended with Coughlin.  He had to face the ultimate irony when most of the African-American players on his team in a future season would stage a boycott over the lack of black assistants on his coaching staff.  Ironic in the sense that the school's prestigious football reputation had been built largely by giving African American stars like Jim Brown scholarships in the fifties.  Consider that in the deep south, Alabama's first black player was Wibur Jackson; I think in 1970.

Also Ben had to coach through the tumult centered around the Vietnam protests.  I remember attending a game between Syracuse and Kansas in the early autumn of 1970.  The Jayhawks featured the Riggins brothers.  Junior and his soon-to-be NFL, and ultimately Hall of Fame, bound, brother John.  The game was pretty much a blow out.  Kansas won 31-14.  But what I remember is seeing the oval around the field being ringed by National Guardsman on horseback.  I didn't notice any flare ups inside the stadium.  However when I walked up to the arch, I saw some students engaged in flag burning on Irving.  There were vitriolic speeches being delivered by student leaders by bullhorn.  It must have been difficult for Ben to keep the program together in those days.  Anitquated facilities, black unrest, anti-war demonstrations.  But he was able to at least keep his head above water for awhile.  That season ended with the destruction of the Miami Hurricanes at Archbold, which allowed him to fashion a winning 6-4 season.

Coughlin stayed on as a graduate assistant.  Then he took a job as the head coach at RIT.  He would return to Syracuse as an offensive coordinator for Frank Maloney.  I always kept track of his coaching career.  When Maloney announced that he wasn't returning following the 79 seaon, I signed a petition addressed to the school's athletic director to consider hiring Coughlin as the head coach.  He didn't.  As I recall, Coughlin interviewed, but the job would ultimately go to Dick MacPherson, whose tenure saw a the university's return to national prominence.  Always an anomaly when you consider Syracuse as a football school.  It remains the third-smallest to play Division I football.

For Coughlin it was onto the NFL, first with the Eagles and Packers as an assistant coach, and then joining Parcells and the Giants in 88. He was the receivers coach on the Super Bowl winning 1990 team.  He was regarded as a rising star in the coaching ranks.

That 90 staff was comprised, in part, by Bill Belichick, Romeo Crennel, Al Groh and Charlie Wies, who began his first season in the NFL after leading Franklin Township High School to the 89 state championship.  The point I am trying to make here is that if you have an opening and you decide on Ray Handley, when everybody in the organization was aware for quite sometime that the current guy was seriously entertaining doubts of leaving, then place the blame for what was to follow at the doorstep of the correct person.

Coughin returned to the collegiate ranks, this time as head coach at Boston College, where it only took him two years to breath life into a program that had lapsed into a state of decay under Jack Bicknell, who seemingly lost interest at Chestnut Hill once Doug Flutie graduated.  Coughlin used that job as a stepping-stone to land him where he always wanted to be, which was as a head coach in the NFL, with the start up Jacksonville Jaguars.  He found early success there, in part aided by favorable league rules regarding the formulation of the salary cap for the two expansion franchises.  But unlike Carolina, he chose to play mainly young players.  Ultimately he paid the price for salary-cap manipulations that he and his cap guru engineered. The team's ownership didn't have the deep pockets of Dan Snyder. They were unable to continually restructure contracts the way Washington does.  Coughlin was told that he was going to have to bite the bullet.  Play young guys.  Suffer through the ensuing years of rebuilding.  He did, and ultimately he lost his job.

I mentioned earlier that I think that he's from the fifties.  People will jump on the fact that the description isn't necessarily a good thing, or at least, in the whole not all good, and I recognize that.  But I remembered something that he said after fellow Cuse alumnus, and current Giant player, David Tyree was busted for having a brick of grass in his car, when he was stopped by police authorities.  Coughlin when asked about the situation remarked, "He ruined the family's good name."  Reading this, I was floored.  I hadn't heard somebody speak like that in years.  Certainly not from a guy like Jim Fassel, the previous coach, whom although I greatly admired as a football mind, became increasingly frustrated about because I considered him to be a relativist who told people what they wanted to hear, and wouldn't embrace the tougher and less desirable duties of his job.

Shame still exists in the world of Tom Coughlin.  So does honor and commitment, and a sense that you should be grateful to have the opportunity to play in what he considers to be the greatest professional league in the world.  He can't fathom how it could be otherwise.  And I am sure that the kid from Waterloo, who had followed every directive of the paratrooper Captain when he was playing his college ball, was similarly bewildered when his star player conducted a weekly critique of his coaching style and methods last season.  An ingrate whose best years were played under the same coaching tutelage that he was routinely trashing.  A felow whose fumbles had been becoming the punchline for the various sports networks before the current coach arrived on the scene.

But this is 2007, not 1966.  It hasn't gone as I thought it would.  At least, not yet.  Many Giants fans consider Coughlin to be an anachronism, or at least a coach whose style is more in tune with dealing with college players.  I submit that the only difference between his style and Belichick's are the Super Bowl rings.  Had he won, he'd be getting the same treatment as the anointed Little Bill.

With Coughlin there is no keeping married women on the side.  He's a daily communicant in a faith that he has lived while many of us have sadly faded from the same Truths.  He has the support of a strong, loving family, one of whom plays for him.  He'll need it because he's under siege from hostile elements in the capricious, arbitrary press, who, make no mistake on this, hate him for as much what he is as how he runs his football team.  Remember the mob line? "Nothing personal, just business."  It's all personal with these clowns.  As men, they aren't fit to wipe Coughlin's rear-end.

Ultimately, as my board guru Kat constantly reminds me, all he must do is win.  And I acknowledge that fact.  Nothing I wrote is meant to exculpate Coughlin should the losses mount.  Rather I look at his remaining time with the Giants as sort of a last, best chance for my type of guy to enjoy success.

With the inevitable pendulum swing of policy change, I fully recognize that the next guy will undoubtedly display goo goo qualities that will endear him to the masses.  A people person.  We are in the final days of the Bob Knights, the Tom Coughlins.  When they're gone from the coaching landscape people of a certain age will mourn their absence.  There will always be excellent candidates--true. Especially with the gob that these guys are making now.  It just won't be the same.

Therefore, I hope Tom's run lasts as long as possible.  With great success.  If it doesn't, it doesn't.  The struggle in the good fight is always worth it.  I will remain a fan.

1973 wk 9 Cowboys at Giants

1. Do not overstate the power of your argument. One

UK Giant's write up

Prince Amukamara (Nebraska) is 6', 206lb

It's amazing the facts one can learn when you talk to a person rather than listen to people talk about a person.  In this case Gruden shows how Newton was in a very simplistic college system:

Quote

When asked about favorite players people tend to list the stars.  However most hard core fans have a few favorites that never reached the level of stardom but their hard work, effort and character make them personal favorites.   Who would make your list?

http://subscribers.footballguys.com/2009/09bramel_idpguide.php

From former NFL scout:

QB Dominic Randolph (Holy Cross)- No report

TE Jake Ballard (Ohio State)- Ballard is simply a solid free agent signing with size for an NFL team next spring. He has played in a lot of
big games over the course of his career with limited production. He has just enough ability to get into a camp
as a 4th/5th TE for a team with a need. Overall, Ballard is not likely to be drafted, but may be given a chance
as a free agent. He is going to need to improve as a player if he is going to stick and make an NFL roster.

WR Tim Brown (Rutgers)- Brown is a player that was not highly thought of entering the 2009 season because of his size and lack of great production, but he changed our mind
with his consistency making big plays throughout the 2009 season. He is a smart receiver who knows how to get open and has shown the hands
to make tough catches seem routine. When he gets the ball in his hands he is a dangerous play maker who can make tacklers miss, has excellent
instincts running with the ball and a quick burst thru holes. He does not however have the size or playing strength to consistently run thru contact
or break tackles to gain yards after contact. An added bonus is his experience returning kickoffs where he is a good returner

You can take the Giants pick or anyone below that choice (no trades).  I will archive this post so we can revisit it after the season is over.  Feel free to do the top pick or the top 3 or the entire 7 picks.

Here is a helpful link to build your draft list:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/draft;_ylt=ArCyEAdoptbgaLMqDuCCTPDXb6x_

good memories

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMkN2H1_O3I

As you know, we have always tried to recruit and retain the most thoughtful and knowledgeable Giants fans for our forum.  The success of this board has been and always will be because of all of you.  We believe this is the best discussion board about the NY Giants on the internet thanks to your efforts and contribution.   

The purpose of these discussions is to form a collaboration between BBH and Inside football to provide benefits for both.  If this comes to fruition we will be the message board for Inside Football.   We feel this would be a good marriage because the fan base of both seems to be a mirror image of each other.  Pat has a quality premium product that she publishes on a weekly basis to fans just like you.  We provide a discussion group that transcends the average run of the mill sports message board.  Pat herself has said many of her ideas have come from her fans and our board may serve as a resource for new and fresh ideas. 

We realize that we can't get everyone to agree on everything, however we will not proceed with out the blessing of the majority of our membership.  Therefore we are asking you to vote on this and if you vote no, please state the reason why.   

Be assured that we will never allow this board to be out of control, so if you have any reservations about it becoming too big city we don't for see that happening.   Here is a link to her existing message board called the Tailgate Club and here is a link.

http://insidefootball.websitetoolbox.com/

Reader Dave writes:

Could you address the different wide receiver positions: split end, flanker, and slot? How are their routes different? What makes certain guys suited to one position but not others? What roles do they play in the offense? I have read that in most West Coast offenses everything is designed to funnel balls to the flanker. Why?

First, the terms: a split end is a receiver on the line of scrimmage several yards from the five interior linemen. A flanker is aligned one or two yards off the line of scrimmage and split wide. A slot receiver is aligned between the main formation and another receiver. If he is inside the split end, he is off the line of scrimmage. If he is aligned inside the flanker, he is often (but not always) on the line. A receiver can also be "flexed," placing him on the line of scrimmage and four to six yards wide of the offensive tackle. This is usually a tight end's position, but in modern offenses wide receivers are often flexed. See the figure for some default positions.

Basic Wide Receiver Positions


I use these terms when explaining playbook diagrams, but they are really out of date. The terms are holdovers from T-formation offenses, in which the flanker was often one of the backs who reached the flanker position via presnap motion. Modern offenses use letter names for receivers: X and Z for the starting receivers, Y for the tight end, letters like F, H, or W for third, fourth, or fifth wideouts. Different systems have different preferences. In one system, the X receiver is typically on the left, Z on the right. In others, X is usually on the line of scrimmage, Z off. As offenses become more complex, even those in-system generalities get blurred.

Instead of explaining the difference between an X and a Z receiver, which is nearly impossible, let's go over the advantages and disadvantages of each position. A receiver on the line of scrimmage can release immediately into his route, and he is in good position to block his defender at the line. On the downside, he can be jammed easily. A receiver a yard or two in the backfield has extra space to beat a jam, which is why smaller receivers are often "flankers."

The wider a receiver's split, the more space he has in which to isolate and beat his defender. However, a receiver split wide of the field numbers has little room for running out-routes and other patterns that work the sidelines. Wide spacing also creates longer throws for the quarterback, which can be dangerous. Slot or flex receivers have space to work to the inside or out, can catch shorter, safer passes, and have a better chance of getting mismatched against a linebacker, safety, or nickelback in coverage. On the downside, they are working in tighter space; a slot receiver running a crossing route quickly moves from one defender's zone to another, making it hard for him to get open.

I have heard that old versions of the West Coast Offense funneled plays to the flanker, who was usually the Z receiver in their system. I have seen some WCO playbooks from the 1980s, and one thing that is striking is how often the Z-receiver went in motion. Factor in the motion and the fact that a flanker is hard to jam, and you have the perfect short-pass target from a three-step drop. That's an oversimplification, and I think the Z receiver got so much attention because his name was usually Dwight Clark or Jerry Rice.


http://www.footballoutsiders.com/walkthrough/2009/walkthrough-camp-adventure

http://www.ericwinston73.com/blog.html

http://history.giants.com/page/New+York+Giants+Uniforms

Very interesting article about the year the Giants started to turn things around.


http://bigblue101.com/2009/05/1981-a-critical-year-in-giants-history.html

RAMSES BARDEN

Height: 6'6"
Weight: 229
College: Cal Poly
Conference: Great West
Hometown: Altadena, CA
High School: Flintridge Prep
ARM / HAND - 34 1/2 -- 10 3/4


Combine Results:
40 Yard Dash : 4.68 seconds
Bench Press : 17.0 reps
Vertical Jump : 33.5 inches
Broad Jump : 118.0 inches
20 Yard Shuttle : 4.26 seconds

Strengths:

Barden is a huge receiver with great/rare height and long arms. He has excellent hands and combined with tremendous
ball skills is consistently able to make great catches. He can twist body to catch off-target passes with
remarkable ease and combined with his jumping ability can get up high to consistently make catch over CB
in jump ball situations. He has no hesitation or fear catching pass in traffic, takes hard hit and holds onto the
ball. He does a very good job of using long arms to push off defender to get a little space and can make catch
with defender trying to go over him to break up the pass. He is a very competitive blocker who consistently comes
down the LOS aggressively and will blow up the LB on crack-back block. He does a very good job of blocking
down the field, stays after blocks and consistently eliminates defender to spring ball carrier for big play. He
gets started upfield quickly after the catch and can make quick cuts to avoid tacklers running after the catch.

Weaknesses:

Barden is thin for his size. He lacks the explosiveness off the ball to get behind cornerback immediately,
does not show burst out of cuts to get separation and lacks the top end playing speed
to stretch the field and get separation deep. His inability to get separation vs small school cornerbacks
is a major problem because he is not going to be able to get separation from NFL defenders.
He is a long armed and legged receiver who does a lot of swinging of them in routes which slows
him down. Despite his size, he is not a big play runner after the catch - Gets tripped up by low
grab tackles too easily and does not show the strength to run thru or break tackles to gain yards
after contact consistently.

Summary:

Barden is a huge small school receiver who was dominant at Cal. Poly State, but even as he was dominating he did not show the explosiveness/
speed to get separation from defenders and did not break tackles consistently to make big plays running after the catch. He
is going to need a lot of work on his routes to get them more compact and efficient if he is ever going to get in and out of cuts quickly to
get a little space. Overall, most receivers who could not get separation vs small school defenders and lack good playing speed would
not get drafted. However, with his great size, hands and excellent ball skills he should get a chance because he will be able to make
plays in the redzone from day one. In the end, he will end up as a backup receiver who only contributes as a redzone receiver and
as a special teams coverage man if he does not greatly improve his route running and hopefully by doing so will be able to improve
his quickness in route to get separation from defenders. If he can improve in these areas then he has the talent to become a starter.