Big Blue Huddle

We're at the point now where either the seeds sprout, or they don't.

For years, and certainly as Schoen's taken over, the Giants have been one of the youngest teams in the league:

RB - Drafted Gray (25) and Tracy (25) last 2 years. Are they players or do they suck? RB depth will be needed to do anything meaningful.
WR - If Nabers (21) and Hyatt (23) pop, and Robinson (23) keeps going, they could have one of the best trios in the league. If they don't, the worst.
TE - Bellinger (24) & Theo Johnson (23) are the potential difference makers. How good are they?
OL - The performance of the group swings on Schmitz (25) and Neal (24). 2 premium investments. 
CB - Banks (23), Flott (23), Robinson (26), Phillips (23) & Hawkins (24) are 5 planted seeds. This could sprout into a great situation or completely suck. 
S - Investments made in Nubin (23), Pinnock (25), Belton (24) & Owens (25). Solid 4-man group or a weakness?

Almost every position group hinges on how these youngsters (acquired by Schoen) come around. We could get a bumper crop, or starve to death.

It's amazing. They've picked Neal, Ezeudu, McKethan and Schmitz, and barely have anything serviceable to show for it.

They better hope Bobby Johnson was a terrible OL Coach.

Bricillo provides some sort of hope, but at this point, the OL situation defies logic. Multiple schemes, coaches, coordinators, play callers & GMs. Even with a great LT they are still scary bad. That almost doesn't make sense. Part of me thinks we sold our souls for those Super Bowls.

In any event, I'll play it straight and say Neal and Schmitz are the swing states. You can go from bad to good quickly in the NFL. If those 2 guys live up to their draft status, the Giants will have an excellent OL.

Thomas
Runyan
Schmitz
Eleumunor
Neal

Those are all Schoen's guys. This is on him now.

Imagine if the draft plays out this way based on current rumors?

1-CHI: QB Caleb Williams
2-WAS: QB Jayden Daniels
3-MIN: QB Drake Maye (trade up, 3 #1 picks + 2nd round pick)
4-AZ: WR Marvin Harrison, Jr.
5-LAC: WR Malik Nabers
6-DEN: QB J.J. McCarthy (trade up, Giants receive DEN's 1st round pick (#12 overall), 3rd round pick (#76 overall), 2025 1st round pick and CB Patrick Surtain)

This might be the dream scenario: McCarthy slides to #6 and they're able to get a king's ransom to trade down. Surtain and Burns gives the D a new look, with Surtain and Banks the most physical CB duo in the league. And with a bounty of picks, a path forward plugging all the holes and lack of playmakers. The Giants may still have a shot at Bo Nix or Michael Penix at #12, too, if they like them.

I respect JJM as a prospect, and the importance of the QB position, and I'd be stoked to get him. But I think I'd rather get the bounty from DEN. It would be a ballsy move of the Giants not to take him, but just one fan's thoughts as I nervously await the draft. The good news is, they can't lose. They are either going to get a QB, a stud WR or trade down for a bunch of picks. That's pretty exciting.

There are lots of QBs that produce with bad OLs and good skills. That's all I meant. Herbert has a terrible OL and puts up big numbers too.

Now - if we're talking about team-building and being a Super Bowl contender, I agree 100%. It's no coincidence most of the best teams in the league have good OLs. 

RB - Audric Estime, Notre Dame
Jack-hammer with a nose for the end zone. They've been missing a back like this for years. Had a private visit with the Giants.

3T - Johnny Newton, Illinois
Giants like this kid, I've heard he's a target if they trade down. Had a private visit with the Giants.

CB - Max Melton, Rutgers
Physical CB who can support vs. the run. Shows starting ability, would pair nicely with Banks. Good value in round 2. Had a private visit with the Giants.

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I think at least 1 of these guys is going to end up in blue.

That's a great way of articulating it.

I've been saying this for a long time, in "defense" of Jones.

You can get by with a bad OL and good skill players, or a good OL with bad skill players. But you won't get by with a bad OL & bad skills. NFL is too good for that.

The Giants can barely hold up for 3-step drops right now. As Schoen said - it's embarrassing. If the Giants truly want to be a passing team, Joe Alt makes a ton of sense.

You can say that's too much spent on the OL, but if that's the cost to finally being allowed to run your offense, so be it.

Technically, the farther and more lateral he has to go, the less effective. Good drive blocking and combo blocking and I like how busy he was in pass pro. Always looking to help G's and hit somebody.

The negatives I saw? Outside zone liability. With OZ you gotta stay even with the LOS and start arcing up the field. I saw him consistently taking false steps backward (bad trajectory out of his stance) and getting beat by the DT. That's a tough block - the reach block - against some athletic DTs who are sometimes already shaded ahead of you. If the C can't cut the guy off (or loses depth) the play is ruined by penetration.

This was a key play in the Daboll/Barkley offense (it was considered Barkley's best play) even though they sucked at blocking it. When you look at the G's they added, maybe they are going to more of a gap scheme this year, which seems to fit Neal better too. 4 of the 5 projected starting OL do not move laterally well.

To me, it looks like an OL that is going to struggle again picking up stunts and twists if they try to throw the ball without establishing the run. If they pound downhill with gap runs and Singletary keeping them on schedule, it can be an effective OL IMO.

I do think PSUBeirut made some nice points though, it's not these guys fault where they're drafted and Barkley clearly did the best he could.

The Giants stupidly drafted this guy #2 with no plan. That will always infuriate me. You wanna take Barkley at 2? Fine. Build a fully comprehensive run game with the QB up under center and an unusual amount of resources on run blocking OL. Capitalize on the significant, out-of-the-box direction you've chosen.

Instead, just like with Jones, they surrounded him with a terrible run blocking OL, "blocking" TEs like Evan Engram, Lawrence Cager and Darren Waller, and shotgun inside hand-offs up the wazoo. He was running into a meat-grinder and got physically destroyed, right before our eyes, just like DJ.  It's been ugly to watch.

With all due respect to Banks, I think everyone appreciates what Barkley did (and didn't) do here.

But he soured on the Giants last year and because of all the ineptitude, guys like him and DJ don't think much of Giants fans either. It's a tough town - it's win or go home. His goodbye to the Giants community was pretty lame and now he'll continue to chirp.

I'm not going to "bash" him but I have the same evaluation of him now that I've had for years here: he's a mental headcase, he's compromised due to injury, he makes mental mistakes in pressure situations and he does not do a good with situational football or keeping the offense on schedule. Despite his reputation he's clunky and robotic in the pass game. What made this guy special is the gamebreaking ability and that's been gone for years now, and isn't coming back.

Business move rooted in emotion, both parties trying to stick it to the Giants. The Eagles were getting smacked around by everyone down the stretch. It's over. He'll have a couple big games and the fans will go crazy, but they'll regret the contract and booing the #^@$ out of him by the end of year. 

He just knows what to do. He plays with a calmness that allows him to make tough catches.

The comparison to Larry Fitzgerald is good. Big, great hands, perfect technique and a natural football player. Odunze or Nabers would be very exciting, but if the Giants somehow got MHJ I'd be over the moon. 

Let the guy bumble around in Sirianni's clownshow, behind a declining Eagles OL. The Eagles looked broken by the end of the year and Barkley isn't going to fix it. He's been an unlucky guy here and he'll continue to be unlucky going to PHI at the wrong time.

That said, I agree Barkley had no chance here, much like Daniel Jones. I was OK picking a once in a lifetime RB at #2 PROVIDED you build your franchise around his talents. Run heavy scheme with the QB up under C and the OL down in 3 pt. stances. Downhill. Big slobberknocking TEs. Think Kevin Gilbride running game.

Instead, he's used as a bit player, taking shotgun inside hand-offs while they try to be a passing team. As usual, there was no vision, strategy or plan with the pick.

Since I think he'd be an excellent G, I'll jump in.....

Let me start by saying I think he showed progress at RT last year and I have no issue giving him more time there.

That said, I have a strong feeling G would be his best position.

*He was an excellent G at Alabama.

*Part of the reason he was considered a slam-dunk high in the draft was because if he flopped at T, he'd be a great G worst-case scenario. (It was right there in the scouting report.)

*His issues (at least to me) are clearly playing in space related. When he's able to keep his balance and lock on to somebody, it's over. I see a guy extremely tough to beat in a phone booth. The one thing I'd worry about is picking up stunts inside - I see no reason he'd be any better at it at G than T.

In terms of his height, teams generally want shorter guys inside so they don't lose leverage to squatty, powerful DTs. And they also want to give the QB a clean scan of the field, and a throwing lane. I'd imagine Neal's head would block out the sun. I still think he'd be far better inside than out.

I know a lot of people would throw the remote, but you have to be careful passing on Alt because you don't need him. You just gave up almost 100 sacks, and this guy can really help you. Especially if you want to attack the edges like Daboll and Kafka do. This guy's got all the athleticism in the world to do those outside zones. That's Barkley's favorite play - but they've never had an OL that can block it.

king/clayton: I respect you guys, but he showed enough to convince real football people he was worth a $90M guaranteed contract. Those are the facts, the rest is just your opinion.

And yes, king - I thought they were going to have a good year. It doesn't matter what I or anyone else thought. The facts are, the OL was worse than ever & the skill players didn't pan out. (And no, it wasn't DJ's fault that they didn't.) Waller was forked with the hamstring, Parris Campbell was God Awful and Hyatt was sushi. Barkley got hurt week 2. Slayton is JAG. By the time Wan'dale got back DJ was long gone.

DJ got $90M from an NFL GM and the skill players and OL were subpar last year, as they have been every year of DJ's career. Those are the facts. The rest is just fan BS.