Big Blue Huddle

I know he's not young, but man, I was not expecting this at all.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/39281202/alabama-crimson-tide-football-coach-nick-saban-retiring

Not very competitive so far in the first half. Michigan can run at will.

Penix has not been impressive at all to this point. Had a wide open Odunze which would have been a touchdown but just flat out missed him. Wasn't even that long of a throw. Can't tell if it's nerves or if this is just the first time he has had to face a real defense this year.

Still time for him to get something going but as of right now I don't see him as helping his draft status versus where he was right before the start of this game. People like to see highly touted players make big plays in big games. We haven't seen that yet from him tonight. And it's not like he doesn't have weapons around him.

From day one of his being hired to right now, what grade does Schoen deserve for his job performance as GM? Why?

Plenty of meaningful NFL games today. There are no play-in games (where both opponents face the same situation), but there are plenty of games that matter. The Jax game should be interesting as far as the 1pm games go, and I'm definitely going to be watching Jets/Pats (rooting hard for the Pats for Giants draft purposes).

Do you want the Giants to beat the Eagles on Sunday?

He seems to be hinting that it will be:


https://twitter.com/NYPost_Schwartz/status/1742896229585981502

Madden posted on X this afternoon that a source told him, "Pickett 100 percent refused to be the backup."


https://steelerswire.usatoday.com/2024/01/01/pittsburgh-steelers-kenny-pickett-refused-backup-mason-rudolph-nfl/


If true, I think this is a terrible look for Pickett.

I guess this is what happens when someone who is used to being treated like a Roman emperor encounters some adversity.

https://twitter.com/barstoolsports/status/1741587442237419566


https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39218610/panthers-owner-david-tepper-appears-toss-drink-fans

This popped up on my Twitter feed. I had to share it. So great.


https://twitter.com/NYGiantsFilms/status/1740790463429329078

Not that any of this impacted the outcome of the season, but I'm just curious: how does a medical/training staff get what I would have thought was a fairly routine diagnosis this wrong? Any ideas?


https://twitter.com/PLeonardNYDN/status/1740806349368267217

Unintentional backhanded swat at Daboll?

https://twitter.com/PLeonardNYDN/status/1740422526566592723

Plenty of action the next few days starting today. Lots of playoff implications. Might as well get a thread going.

https://twitter.com/TalkinGiants/status/1738310085883953455

Which player on the team is the most underrated right now?

Please explain your answer.

Derrick Ward, part of the famed "Earth, Wind, and Fire" RB trio of the 2007 SB team, has been charged with a string of robberies.

https://nypost.com/2023/12/19/sports/ex-giant-derrick-ward-arrested-after-string-of-alleged-robberies/

Do you want to see Mike Kafka fired at the end of this season and replaced with a new OC?

Please vote for what you WANT the Giants to do. Not for what you think they actually WILL do.


Some quick facts:

Saquon turns 27 right after the season in February.

This year, Saquon is:

11th in rushing yards
15th in yards per carry
has 3 rushing TDS (technically tied for 39th)

Has 31 catches for 183 receiving yards and 4 receiving TDs.

Franchise tag for Barkley next year would be approximately $12mm, fully guaranteed and you take the full hit in 2024.

Has missed multiple games in 4 out of his 6 NFL seasons.


What would you like to see the Giants do with him in the offseason?

We are 5th overall in the draft as of now.


https://www.tankathon.com/nfl

This is The Athletic's Dan Duggan's response to a reader question on this topic:

FWIW I think his explanation is as fair as any, mainly because he has solid facts and data to support what he is saying.


How come with the same offensive line and the same receivers, Taylor and DeVito can throw downfield, but Jones can't (or doesn't)? — Jeff B.

Let's start with some qualifiers since there surely will be objections to the "same offensive line and the same receivers" aspect of your question. Jones didn't have left tackle Andrew Thomas for most of his six starts, and running back Saquon Barkley was missing for three games. But Taylor also didn't have Thomas, while DeVito hasn't had tight end Darren Waller. Jones had the worst protection of the trio, but the offensive line is still not a good unit despite some recent improvement. The bottom line is it's not a great sign if a bunch of qualifiers are necessary to compare the performance of a $160 million quarterback to a journeyman backup and an undrafted rookie.

Now, to the crux of your question, it's an alarming point. Just 8.1 percent of Jones' passes this season traveled 20-plus yards in the air. That would be tied with Panthers rookie Bryce Young for the lowest rate in the league if Jones had enough attempts to qualify. By comparison, DeVito is at 10.5 percent, and Taylor is at 12.6 percent.

DeVito (12) and Taylor (10) have more completions of 20-plus yards than Jones (9), despite Jones having 55 more attempts than DeVito and 73 more attempts than Taylor. And this isn't an aberration. Jones ranked 32rd out of 33 qualifying passers last season with a 5.9 percent rate of 20-plus air-yard passes and tied for 30th of 30 qualifying passers in 2021 with a 7.5 percent rate. From 2020-23, his 7.5 percent rate of attempts 20-plus yards in the air ranks last among 44 qualifying quarterbacks. He was at 11.8 percent as a rookie in 2019.

Jones has become gun-shy, and that's a problem. Daboll wants a quarterback who lets it rip. He highlighted the "high-level" hole shot against Cover-2 DeVito threw to wide receiver Jalin Hyatt against the Patriots in Week 12. Those throws are there every game, and the backups have been willing to take those shots. For some reason, Jones hasn't pulled the trigger as often.

I'm curious:

Assume you're the owner and sole final decision maker for the Giants:

If Schoen decides to draft a QB in the first round of the upcoming draft, and said QB starts most or all of the year and struggles somewhat and the team finishes with a record of something like 6-11 or 5-12 (assume the D was so-so and it was mostly the offense that struggled), are you cleaning house and firing Schoen and Daboll after 2024? Or would you give them at least two seasons with the new QB, no matter what the 2024 record looked like (provided it wasn't something worse than 4-5 wins)?

We obviously had a very good game last night with a somewhat surprising outcome. There is plenty more action today:

Texas -14.5 vs Oklahoma St:

What Ok St managed to do this year despite a big exodus of talent was pretty impressive, and you can't rule out an upset here completely, but I think it's pretty unlikely. Texas also needs to win this game convincingly to maintain any sort of shot of making the playoffs. if they just win in a squeaker it will be much harder (if not impossible) and they know it. Good chance to get eyes on Ewers in this game.


UGA -4 vs Bama:

Heavyweight battle here between the two SEC powers. Plenty of NFL prospects to look at in this game, although neither QB is on the radar for 2024. Could be a great game. Bama has had a bit of a mixed year and has looked shaky in some wins (along with losing at home to Texas), so I like Georgia here, but it's far from a foregone conclusion. Georgia hasn't always looked dominant themselves and is definitely not as good as the Georgia teams from the previous couple years. Brock Bowers is a sick talent, and I'm looking forward to watching him.


Tulane -3 vs SMU:


Both of these have had nice years playing largely lesser competition. Neither has a shot at the playoffs though, so no huge interest in this one.


Michigan -22 vs Iowa:

Michigan is the best or second best team in the country. Nobody is giving Iowa a chance in this game, and I concur with the masses. Should be a rout. It's still a big game though, so it's worth watching McCarthy in this. Iowa did go 10-2 this year but they beat nobody of any sort of note, and they got wrecked 31-0 in their only game against a very good team (PSU). Should be a blowout.


FSU -1.5 vs Louisville


Very interesting game here. Louisville is more than capable of beating FSU. With that said, FSU is undefeated, and regardless of whether people think they're a bona fide top four team in the country, if they win this game the CFP committee is not going to leave them out. With that in mind, I sort of hope they lose, because I want the committee to have the ability to make interesting decisions and not just be bound by record. Louisville is a more than worthy foe though, so if FSU does prevail, you have to give them credit, and they'll be deserving of the playoffs even though I suspect they're probably more like the 8th-12th best team in the country.


Should be a pretty interesting day. I am definitely going to check some of it out.

I see that Banks has a 48.5 PFF grade for the season. That seems way low to me. Can anyone with an account explain that breakdown?

Please, can we spare the "PFF is a joke" and "the PFF graders don't know what they're doing" posts for this thread. I know many people think that, and they may or may not be right. That is not the point of the thread. All I'm curious about is how this player's breakdown gets him to that total grade. Where are they saying his game has been bad? A sub-50 grade seems incredibly low for what he has done on the field.

I'm including guests (as I do all my polls). I'm curious to see how Giants fans feel about this game.

Very simply, do you want the Giants to beat New England this week? Yes or no?

No doubt OSU/Michigan is the big one, and that starts right now. I can't wait. Huge showdown of two of the nation's absolute elite. The 3.5 point line (Michigan favored) shows the betting public views these two teams as basically dead even.

Giants fans will get a nice opportunity to get live eyes on JJ McCarthy against a legit opponent. I wouldn't be surprised if the Giants have scouts (including possibly Schoen) at this game.

Alabama at Auburn (a place where they have struggled) and FSU at Florida are two other big games today with potential playoff implications.

All eyes on the Big House now though. This is huge.

Just signed with the Steelers.


https://twitter.com/jasrifootball/status/1727027265010319796

The Athletic surveyed 85 players over the past month, asking them what are the best and worst stadiums to play in.

Met Life rated as by far the worst. Here is the segment of the article that discusses that.

Regarding MetLife Stadium, a player said that the "turf sucks and the whole place is lame." Another agreed about the turf, adding that the "fans are horrible. Everything about that place is horrible."

https://twitter.com/WFAN660/status/1726993954518810879


Here is the link to the article for those who have a subscription:

https://theathletic.com/5077965/2023/11/21/worst-best-nfl-stadium-to-play/

Based on what you know today, what do you see DeVito doing for the Giants next year, if anything?

We were second last week, but this big win, which gets us to 3-8 on the season, now puts us at 5th overall if we were drafting today.

At 5th overall you can't even get Harrison Jr.

https://www.tankathon.com/nfl

Pats fans are rejoicing tonight.

He was tremendous all game. Kid took a beating and still made big plays throughout. Zero turnovers and just kept his wits about him all afternoon. Very impressive stuff.

If we end up with the number one overall pick, and Buffalo offered us Josh Allen for the pick, would you do it?

Curious as to people's thoughts. Obviously just pure hypotheticals and speculation here by Tiki and Evan.

https://twitter.com/EvanRobertsWFAN/status/1725297986253582372