Big Blue Huddle

I'm cautiously optimistic that we can win 7–8 games, but instead of fretting whether we're a good team or not, I'm going to be more interested in watching the growth of last year's rookies (JMS, Hyatt, Gray, Hawkins III), and watching closely to see if bringing in Bricillo and a couple of veterans on the o-line will improve things (hopefully, a lot)...our new defensive scheme with a new coach...and of course, the newbies getting their first taste of NFL play and how they play, especially Nabers

I like that Schoen seems to have settled into building the team stick-by-stick. I think the worst thing that happened was a great first season with a low-talented team, that might have caused Schoen to think we're "almost there" and only required some tweaking. Season two was an in-yer-face reality check, an old-fashioned, "fist to the nose" wake-up call...especially out of the gate where the Cowboys utterly humiliated us because we didn't take offseason workouts seriously enough and came completely unprepared in game one. Stings just to talk about it   

So three things:

1) Schoen is forgetting about "win now", and building a foundation for the future instead of thinking we could make it to the playoffs with a few tweaks - that's a positive IMO

2) Daboll will NOT let this team have an easy offseason workout this summer and will come to game one ready to actually play like NFL players. I believe no one was more humiliated than Dabes in that Cowboy game

3) the addition of a stud ER across from Thibs will be exciting to watch and could have more of an impact on the defense than anything else

So I've got lower expectations, yet excited to see growth in players and overall play this season. If we only win 4 or 5 games, but they are close and we played well, I will be satisfied because I know we're still in building mode. We're not the Chiefs yet

Quote from: uconnjack8 on Today at 11:35:01 AMNot sure if he was exceptional,  but Hernandez was at least solid as a starting guard for one of the best running offenses in the NFL last year. 

Not just that but Evan Brown was a UDFA for us in 2019 that we didn't develop that just played really well for the seahawks last year and just got scooped up by said cardinals.

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on Today at 11:09:38 AMLooking at the games yesterday we saw two teams win who were down 3-0. So anyone who thinks the Caps will just lie down because they want to hit the golf course ASAP could be in for a surprise.

I hope the Rangers are motivated and bring their best today. It's easy to not quite have your A game going when you're up 3-0. Hopefully Lavvy has them fired up though. The fact that the Canes now have to play at least a game 5 is an opportunity for us to gain a bit of a competitive advantage by having a longer break and more time to practice, look at film, strategize, etc.

What I'm most curious to see is if the Caps, who are all whining about Rempe and his "dirty" hits, will retaliate today and try to hurt the Rangers' best players. Their fuses are about to fully blow anyway and, if the Rangers start pulling away in this one, it will be a subject of interest. I wouldn't be surprised if Rempe is given the green light to drop the gloves if it came to that.

But the game plan is clear: avoid being suckered into dumb penalties, despite what they've done on the penalty kill, stay aggressive and alert and play smart as they have all series. Take care of business and move forward.

But it will be a difficult endeavor today.

Peace!

Quote from: Just_jimmy on April 27, 2024, 05:06:51 PM1.

Didn't get a franchise QB.  Can't win without one.



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Seems pretty harsh to downgrade a draft for not taking the opportunity of doing something they never even had the opportunity to do.

Maybe the Giants felt differently than their fanbase about the need for a QB.  Maybe as simple as that.

Maybe think at best Maye or JJ could be 12th best QB in 2024 but they may get that with DJ.

Quote from: Uncle Mickey on Today at 11:52:27 AMMitch would have been somewhere between QB5 to QB7 of this draft

Crazy thing is Trubisky Best year trumps Jones best season. So using him as an example as a bust is both alarming and comical.

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on Today at 12:05:56 PMI often think fans somewhat overrate the importance of coaching (relative to the importance of the actual talent level on the roster), but with O line in particular I think coaching matters quite a bit. I don't know exactly how good Carmen Bricillo is or will be, but I am extremely confident that he is at least somewhat of an upgrade over Woody Johnson, and I am cautiously optimistic that he may be a very large upgrade over Woody Johnson. I'm eager to see what impact he is able to have.

Neal was a total disaster for us at RT last year as well as in his rookie year. That was a major source of the trouble (albeit far from the only one). Elumenor played at a respectable level last year at RT for Vegas, for Bricilo. I don't know if they're planning on giving Neal another shot at RT and using Elumenor as a guard, but either way I think it's safe to say that we'll have much better RT play this year. Either Neal suddenly gets much better, or Elumenor takes over. Either way, that side of the line will be a lot better than the last couple of years, where we were counting on Neal and Glowinski whereas now we have Runyan and either a much improved Neal or Elumenor, who is solid.

That alone is big IMO. If Thomas can stay healthy, and JMS can improve from his rookie season (not a huge stretch), this line can be quite decent actually. Runyan is going to be fine, Thomas is an all pro caliber guy when healthy, Elumenor was a 70ish PFF caliber RT under this coach last year, and JMS is a talented player who had a rough rookie year but figures to hopefully improve in year two. Left guard is a bit of a question mark but we have multiple options there, so hopefully the best (or least bad) of all of those options is good enough to not mess up the whole line.

I actually think this will be a league-average line this year.

You make good optimistic points; however, as fans we are hopeful that the product is good and ready. Last year I had this attitude and felt betrayed. My frustration is that most other teams have the ability to turn around their weak O lines fairly quickly; but for the Giants it is a huge puzzle!!

Quote from: AZGiantFan on Today at 12:46:12 PMEven better is to luck out and have Mr. Irrelevant turn out to be a player because you have an absolutely stacked offense and then bring in the best dual threat RB on top of that. 

As good as it gets, and he'll get even better as time goes on. Just a wonderful story that has captured my interest and enjoyment as a general NFL fan.

Peace!

Quote from: Jolly Blue Giant on Today at 10:49:50 AMThe 2024 Giants' draft should look like this, and THIS IS HOW OUR DRAFT SHOULD BE GRADED:

RD 1 WR Malik Nabers
RD 2 ER Brian Burns
RD 2 S Tyler Nubin
RD 3 CB Dru Phillips
RD 4 TE Theo Johnson
RD 5 RB Tyrone Tracy Jr.
RD 6 LB Darius Muasau

Brian Burns is only 25 yrs old and already has been to two Pro-Bowls at the NFL level. This MUST be taken into consideration when grading this year's draft class!!!

Yes and no.  One of the benefits of building through the draft is the fact that you can get quality players on very cost controlled contract.  I couldn't find a full list showing the rookie slotting for the #39 pick the Giants traded for him, but #32 gets around $12 million.  Burns signed for $141 million with $76 million.  So you really can't look at him as in any way comparable to a 2nd round drafted player.

John Jiles easily because if he hits like some evaluators think then he'd be the best value as a UDFA

Was one of the best safety prospects in the nation coming out of high school that could play Wr. Didn't take high school seriously but when he got to college took a year off to get his grades right and dominated D2 last year making it to the D2 Heisman showcase. Got recruited hard by D1 but the guy is a 6'3 215lb monster with speed and is a bully/contested catch guy which we all liked in Odunze. Turned down CFL after 2 years trying Wr at juco.

Full scouting and report on him

From the video
"Of all the D2 or FCS or IPP prospects, the likely UDFA or 7th-round (at best) type of prospects that I've watched tape on, on the offensive side of the ball, and there's probably 300-400+ of them (QB-RB-WR-TE and O-Line) and counting this year (as always), hunting for hidden gems...John Jiles might 'the one'...might be the 'best hidden gem of the draft year' candidate – and is the #1 among them right now, to me, but I'm still looking through prospect tape and data up to the draft, and beyond."

https://youtu.be/0hspo64kucY?si=cvyI1zXylufnaGnS

Highlights

https://youtu.be/bhFzMcvD-e4?si=RdnMuq9FcgGJhzMT