Big Blue Huddle

https://x.com/BigBlueVCR/status/1784628647128941018

https://x.com/BobbySkinner_/status/1784629754471071961

From his spread sheet he posted (with has grades and scores)

Malik Nabers

Explosive, explosive, explosive. Can go from slow-playing at the start of his route to top gear in a flash and has the ability to sustain that speed down the field. So effortless off the line, serious acceleration. Bouncy athlete when needing to elevate. Plus wiggle off the line and can get on top of CBs quickly to stack them on vertical routes. Flashed some hand work too. Physicality can get the best of him in press but not a weak player. Works well fighting back to the football/finding it down the field and in the red zone. Natural mover with the ball in his hands. RB vision, plus quickness, and his supercharged burst all indicate him being a YAC weapon in the NFL. Doesn't appear to be elite burner but speed doesn't appear to be an issue whatsoever. My-ball menality in traffic but isn't a huge specimen. Far from small stature-wise though. Route running is good but could improve as he gets more experience running the full route tree. Didn't run a litany of routes in college. Has the athletic chops to be a star in that area eventually. In most classes, he'd be the clear WR1. Game is tailor-made for today's NFL.

Tyler Nubin

Large, lengthy, ballhawking FS prospect. Plenty of experience. Has seen every route concept imaginable, and made a play on many of them. Insane production comes from plus instincts, above-average quickness, and serious range + catch radius as the ball is arriving. Occasional flash against the run, but best deploy as a deep patrol man. Like a sizable net in the back end of a defense. Backpedal can be high, which slows him down a bit when needing to plant and drive. Fast but not a burner and not the most reliable tackler. Stops a lot of throws in his target area because of his positioning and how rapidly he can close a window. Not exceptionally versatile but rocks in his free safety role in coverage.

Andru Phillips

Silky smooth inside-outside CB with plus zone drops and awareness. Mirroring is quite good too when placed in man coverage. Mostly a fluid, calculated mover on the field -- not sudden/frantic -- but when he wants to click and close, it's special. Serious juice in his lower half. Smaller size (but good in the slot) and doesn't have premier length. Doesn't always play the ball naturally when its in his area but didn't see many targets in college. Teams stayed away. Will miss a lot of tackles but is one of the most willing and aggressive run-support CBs in the class. Played a lot at nickel and was rarely afraid to crash inside or throw his body around in hopes of making a shoestring tackle. And there are some impressive wins on the outside on WR screens or outside runs on his film. Speed is good, not amazing but the burst is elite. Capable relatively high floor CB prospect, although the tacklling and ball skills are a bit concerning.

Theo Johnson

Large, thick, highly athletic TE prospect. Good movement skills off the of scrimmage and his measured athleticism almost fully shows up on film. But more of an explosive specimen than a bendy one with plus short-area quickness. Speed in routes is there, and despite his huge frame, he has the springiness to eventually be a quality separator for the position at the next level. Despite his stature, he's oddly not a great blocker, especially for the run but holds his own as an extra blocker in passing situations. Not a make-you-miss type but speed and power through contact are there, and there's plus vision when he gets the ball underneath or on screens. Some easy drops on film but plays to his size in traffic. Will box out and catch away from his body. A bit of an older prospect. May have his best football in front of him because he was far from a focal point of the offense in college.

Tyrone Tracy

Former WR turned RB with incredible burst/bounce to leave defenders whiffing at air. While more of a straight-line burst RB, he has loose hips, so when he jukes it covers plenty of ground. For a player relatively new to the position, his vision between the tackles on zone plays is respectable. Not a ridiculous burner but plenty fast for the position. Exudes elusiveness as a smooth glider in space. Deploys tight spin when faced with defender in the hole and glides off. Shows ability to change speeds to allow blocks to materialize. Impressive contact balance and NFL-caliber frame. At times could hit the hole with a bit more authority. Much older prospect but minimal mileage on his legs. Of course as a former WR he has steady hands but wasn't a big part of the pass game in his final stop in college. While his rawness as a runner pops up occasionally, the upside is through the roof.


Darius Muasau

Shorter, limited length LB who wins with instincts and impressive quicks in the box. Quicker than he is fast. By a long shot. Very useful flipping hips in zone coverage just can't sustain speed to run with TEs in man and will be outphysicaled by most of them because of his size/length deficiency. One of the smartest football IQ LBs in the class. Reacts to PA quickly and will get to his depth in coverage assertively without any hestiation. Minimal hesitation to his game which does lead to missed tackles in space. While block-shedding won't be his speciality in the NFL, he does an admirable job either jolting blockers or avoidin them in the box, especially relative to his smaller stature. Relentless style makes him a decent asset as a blitzer. Ball skills are average at best. But very aware of his surroundings in coverage. Some athletic/size limitations to his game but this is a heady, reasonably twitchy second-level defender with a three-down game.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1O5yo3uN3pCnOPvM9zE4FSONwbIg6i68uJrdD7pb0CXo/edit#gid=324773575

The NFL is all about the matchups and the substitution packages.  The Giants added two players in this draft, which will make it tough for opposing defenses to have the right players on the field.

The first is TE Theo Johnson.  Combine him with TB Bellinger, and opposing DCs will dread seeing the Giants lined up in 12 (two TE) formations.   Opposing defenses will have to decide to go heavy to prevent the Giants from running them over with their two solid-blocking TEs and risk being in a tough spot to defend passes if the Giants put one or both TE out as receivers.   OR  The opposing defense goes lighter to handle the passing threat, which makes it easier for the Giants to power rush with the two extra solid blockers.


The second is RB Tyrone Tracy.  Tracy was a pretty good WR.  When Tracy is in the backfield teams will never know when Tracy could go in motion and split out wide in his old role as a WR, or if the Giants will simply play it straight up with a rush.  Again, it makes it very difficult for DCs to know how to play the GIants when Tracy is in the backfield.

Dan Schneier
@DanSchneierNFL
I get #Giants fan frustrations about no OL or DL, but maybe it's time to try a new approach at OL. They've relied so heavily on rookies/young players & to no surprise we've seen a lot of mental & communication errors. Missed stunts, etc.
The 2024 OL has veteran depth. You may not know/like them, but they've played in the NFL & offer a diff level of baseline.

Another example is the trade the Panthers made for Bryce Young


Adam Schefter
@AdamSchefter
Updated look at last year's Panthers-Bears trade:

Bears receive:
🏈 WR DJ Moore
🏈 2023 first-round pick (OT Darnell Wright)
🏈 2023 second-round pick (CB Tyrique Stevenson)
🏈 2024 first-round pick (QB Caleb Williams)
🏈 2025 second-round pick

Panthers receive:
🏈 2023 No. 1 pick (Bryce Young)

Quote from: TONKA56 on Today at 09:34:13 AMI agree with that, but I also think he was still the focal point of defenses. 

As a DC, why would I focus on an RB with one 100-yard plus rushing game?  Even that game was more volume than production, as he only averaged 3.6 yards a carry.

Quote from: sjones71 on Today at 07:49:13 AMAn effort made to get Maye. Clearly they did not have a high enough opinion on McCarthy or other options such as Nix, Penix. Given that, you get yourself what appears to be an incredibly talented WR who can turn routine plays into big gains. Sets us up for when we are able to address QB and gives Jones another no-excuses season.

That's it in a nutshell: the Giants needed an elite receiver on their offense, and now they have one.  The QB issue is a separate issue

https://x.com/BobbySkinner_/status/1784573103021937023

Quote from: Bob In PA on Today at 07:50:13 AMInjuries aside, it depends who is shown to have been correct. Two issues:

(A) Did we need a better QB than Jones? - If the "we need a new QB" people are correct, the Giants will continue to stink. If the "we need an elite weapon" people are correct, the Giants will make enough progress to get maybe nine wins. The schedule this year will be a bit easier and the offense will be able to either to keep the ball away from the opponent or attempt to outscore them (depending on which team we're playing).

(B) Is running back really a lot less important than it has been historically? - If the "yes" people are correct then the Giants have a good-enough answer to the absence of Saquon and we'll be ok because the offensive line has clearly been upgraded.  If the "no" people are correct, we will miss Saquon and teams won't have to game-plan to stop him, leaving them free to game-plan to stop either the upgraded receiving corps or spy Jones and keep him from running the ball.

Bob

PS. Defense will be about the same as last year, but don't forget we must have (a) someone step up as a viable replacement for Leonard Williams (IMO he was an unsung hero on defense and a good running partner for Dexter); and (b) we need a young veteran to become a "star" (maybe number five, maybe Burns, maybe Okereke) plus no 2nd-year player fall into a sophomore-year slump.  That may seem to be a lot to hope for, but IMO it's not only do-able.

To point B, there are also those who feel that Saquan has more reputation than production last season.  To those people, losing Barkley was not an issue.

I noticed two themes in the players taken


On the offensive side of the ball they looked for speed

On the defensive side of the ball they looked for smart players

Quote from: katkavage on Today at 08:31:19 AMI have no doubt that if Nabers was chosen before the Giants, they would have taken Odunze. They were never going to take McCarthy at 6.

I liked Odunze but he was more the safe pick (high floor/lower ceiling).  I think Odunze's ceiling is occasional Pro Bowls, while Naber's ceiling is perennial All Pro

Quote from: sjones71 on Today at 07:54:36 AMI'm as frustrated with the o line over the last decade as anybody, but I feel like they did do their best to address this in free agency. I was hoping for an IOL at some point and we could have grabbed Beebe instead of Nubin. We'll see how that turns out 2 times a year since the Cowboys got Beebe. I'm tired too of trying to feel hopeful about an o line that continually blows, but there's a long list of mistakes made over the past decade that got us here. At some point, we simply have to hit on the o line coach and the pieces we've brought in. No injuries would be nice too.

The Giants have not shown an ability to draft and develop rookie O-linemen so it makes sense to try and veteran free agent route

https://x.com/Tonyrazz03/status/1784555381802287153

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on Today at 07:52:14 AMHow would putting that smoke screen out there increase their chances of getting Nabers exactly?

Assuming 3 QBs go off 1-2-3, and the Cards took MHJ, that left a pick between Nabers and NYG.  As Gettleman how being a pick away from getting your desired WR (Devanta Smith) works out, when teams know you want him.