Big Blue Huddle

I'm ridiculously calm. I should be a little tied up in knots, and I'm not. Do I know something?

Troy Archer (died in car accident)

Dan Lloyd (cancer, recovered)

Doug Kotar (cancer, later died)

The Irrelevant Giant, John Tuggle (cancer, later died)

Kevin Belcher (car accident, career-ending injuries)

Karl Nelson (cancer, survived)

Many "could have been" great players. Nelson won a Super Bowl. Archer would likely have made it to Pasadena as well as Tuggle and possibly Belcher.

Peace!

Quote from: EDjohnst1981 on Today at 11:27:46 AMPer The Athletic:

Will Filip Chytil be the Rangers' X-factor?

The Rangers need Artemi Panarin playing at his regular season MVP-caliber level. New York will be in good shape offensively if that line featuring Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafrenière can lead the way at five-on-five, in addition to Mika Zibanejad's line scoring at a steady clip.

Those are the obvious keys. Looking beyond that, Filip Chytil emerges as New York's wild card.

Chytil hasn't played since Nov. 2 because of concussion issues. He has, however, been a full-contact practice participant with the Rangers recently. The 24-year-old Czech center broke out as a bona fide top-six player last season with 22 goals and 45 points in 72 games. Those totals were especially impressive considering his limited power-play usage.

He looked electric at the start of this season centering Panarin and Lafrenière. Of course, expectations need to be tempered if he returns as he'll have missed so much time and would likely slot in a third-line role rather than playing with Panarin because of how well Trocheck is performing. But if Chytil is healthy and even 70 percent of the player he was last season, the Rangers will get a massive secondary scoring boost.

Chytil drives play with his smooth skating, above-average frame and highly competitive style. He can be a lethal attacker off the rush. Chytil scored four goals in seven games on the third line when the Rangers played the Hurricanes in 2022. Will he return and play another big part in this rematch?

>>>>

Interesting points. It would bump Rempe to the press box and slide Wennberg to centre the 4th line.

My biggest concern is that Chytil is one more concussion away from something very bad happening to him. I'm very concerned about that.

I don't know if now is the right time to inject him into the lineup with the risk of something bad possibly happening and throwing off the Rangers' momentum.

My vote would be to stay conservative and pack him in for the rest of this season and evaluate him for next.

Peace!

I think the importance of his passing TD increase is heightened this year. Coming off an ACL we have to expect a noticeable drop off in rushing production. Also a second neck injury might dilute any goal line keepers.

My personal view:

1. I think Jones would need to have another injury-free year like he did in 2022. Missing one game with a mild ankle sprain wouldn't be the end of the world, but he can't have another season where he misses multiple games with a significant injury, as he has in four out of his five seasons in this league.

2. The team will need to have at least a decent season. Of course, this isn't all on Jones, but given QB is the most important position, I think he'll have a hard time being brought back if they have another season with fewer than 8 or 9 wins. He'd have to have an insanely productive season and they'd need to lose a lot of 38-35, shootout type games for this to not be the case.

3. He will need to be a legitimately productive passer. Absolute bare bones minimum of 3800 passing yards and 25 passing TDs. No excuses. He's getting paid too much to be a dink and dunk, 3200 yard/15 TD guy, and they know it.

4. Ball security: Max of 11/12 INTs if his passing TDs are in the 25-29 range, and a max of 14/15 if he's above 30 passing TDs. Fumbles need to be low/mid single digits again.

5. Risk appetite: Jones will need to take more risky shots downfield and not always opt for the closest receiver. Tyrod Taylor did it last year on the same team, and with Nabers and better O linemen Jones needs to do it this year.

6. Pocket/rush awareness: Jones will have to show marked improvement in this area.


Personally, I think all of the above will need to happen for the Giants to want to keep him beyond this season. Right now I believe he is on the outside looking in. He will have to have a significantly better season than he has ever had to be brought back. The economics just don't work otherwise.

I don't think a statistical repeat of his 2022 season will be enough in year six. They gave him the contract after that year with the hope that he would build on that performance and make further strides, not that he'd settle into that productivity level for the long haul.

My best guess-  Jones needs to do what he did in 2022, lead the team to a record that makes it difficult to impossible to draft his replacement

I don't think there's anything he can do. With his health concerns even if he throws for 4,000 and 30tds which is extremely unlikely he can't be trusted to stay healthy. Plus I believe Schoen and Daboll want their own guy, which also likely buys them more time, and this will be the perfect time for them to let him go.

Quote from: sxdxca38 on Today at 01:41:22 PMWhat I am expecting from him with the additions of Nabers, Theo, and the upgrades on the O line.

3,500-4,000 Yards
22-30 TD's
10-12 Int
65%
400-500 Yards rushing
95.0-98.0 RTG

I think he has to hit production and numbers like this for the Giants to keep him for the remainder of his three-year contract.

With the additions that he has, combined with him taking more chances, I believe this is within reason.

If he can do that he will be in the Pro Bowl and we will be deep in the playoffs. One can only hope

Quote from: Trench on Today at 12:26:16 PMExcellent debate. It shows how dug in everyone is towards their views and that is ok. I think the point being made is a QB can in fact win with a bad Oline or receivers - ( BUT maybe not consistently is the key)...but it can be done and has been done.

Another point on having a great o-line which I think is overlooked is the fact nobody had had better Olines and receivers than Dallas for a sustained period, yet they never win. I think that is very telling to the point of how much more important the QB is.

Trench,

Thank you for your comments and reasonable approach. You took into consideration both sides of the discussion without putting anyone down, and I really appreciated that, so thank you once again.

Good points about Dallas as well.

What I am expecting from him with the additions of Nabers, Theo, and the upgrades on the O line.

3,500-4,000 Yards
22-30 TD's
10-12 Int
65%
400-500 Yards rushing
95.0-98.0 RTG

I think he has to hit production and numbers like this for the Giants to keep him for the remainder of his three-year contract.

With the additions that he has, combined with him taking more chances, I believe this is within reason.