Big Blue Huddle

This downward spiral to 1st round elimination must have them jumping off buildings and wanting to run Nick Sirianni out of the city.

Frankly, I really don't like Sirianni.  Walks like he built the team much like Ryan Day for Ohio St.

They are over 80 sacks in a season which is highest in my lifetime.  Yes they had injuries but they have not looked good at all.

How has management not pressed Dabs to make a coaching change midseason?  Judge did it and as I recalled, it helped a lot.

Do they possibly think he is not the reason for the OL's poor play?

https://houston.culturemap.com/news/society/ryan-leaf-menninger-clinic-annual-luncheon/

Please read this article as I am sure none of you have seen this.  Why do I suggest that?  The reason is twofold: 

First, fans focus too much on the physical attributes of a player.  Focus on the beginning of this article.

Second, fans like to say the teams have psych and background consultants who thoroughly dig up the necessary info on a player.  How did they miss this?

When you evaluate Williams and others, think about this article.

What if when it is time for the Giants to draft in round 1, the clearly best player prospect is an OT.  Do the Giants draft the OT?

In Eli's first season he started 7 games.  He completed 48% of his passes for 1,043 yards (149 yards per game) 6 TDs and 9 INTs.  He was sacked only 13 times.

I am reading from some folks here that DeVito is not it based in what several games?

Well look at Eli's stats after 7 games on a better team (much better OL) and ask yourself, "how did he ultimately work out?"

Let's give the kid a chance before making such strong conclusions.

Now, I have a hard time saying they are somehow 1-2 when Daniels won the Heisman.  He lit it up at the end.  Looks the part.

Williams' stats this year are actually a bit better than last year I think.

All I can say is what does this mean for the draft?

Bigger needs this offseason:

Edge opposite Thibs or DT to replace Leo?

CB to replace Adoree or a S?

Tall, big target with at least speed X WR to be WR1 or a 6'0" speedier X WR to be WR1?

RB who is better as an inside runner or outside runner?

Starting caliber OG or effective swing tackle as our OTs continue to miss time?

Let's take Schoen at his word that when DJ returns, he will be the starter (forget liking it or not).  If that's the case the beginning of next season they either have Taylor, Tommy or an inexpensive FA QB starting til DJ returns.  Let's also take him at his word that they still believe in Neal as the RT.  Let's assume the Giants finish with the 6th pick.

If all this happens and management/coaching still believe in DJ for the future, what do you do in FA and the Draft?

1) Fire Rob Johnson as OL coach and hire new top OL coach.

2) Sign a FA starting caliber RG or draft a RG like maybe Zak Zinter in the 4th round.

3) 1st round BPA - need a Day 1 starter who becomes a stud.  Any position.

4) 2nd round BPA with eye toward a high upside DT to replace Leo.  Maybe someone like Maason from LSU or Leonard from Miami or Kris Jenkins from Michigan.  Another option is Tuamalu from Ohio St. as edge rusher.

3) 3rd round - BPA with a look toward a top safety or an OT in case Neal fails or to build depth.  The player who intrigues me here is Guyton from Oklahoma.  He's a RT who played opposite Harrison.

4th - 5th round - BPA with eye toward a RB. 

Michigan - Ohio St.  Assistant GM Brandon Brown, Director of Player Personnel Tim McDonell and Area Scout Brendan Prophett

Oregon - Oregon St. GM Joe Schoen

Michigan - Penn State - Giants scouts

Texas - Texas Tech - Giants Scouts

Very surprised Joe Schoen was not at Michigan - Ohio St. game especially with the number of 1st round and mid-round picks to look at in what would be each team's most competitive game.  Who was Schoen looking at in Oregon - Oregon St.?  Bo Nix?  Bucky Irving?

Well Eli thinks DJ should stay.

By end of last year we thought we might be a +\- 0.500 team with a clear path to getting to the playoffs say in 2024.

Are we a full on reconstruction project now with virtually no pieces to build on and a management/coaching staff on a seat hearing up quickly?

It's one thing to lose but not quit but there seems to be no fight left with the team.  That's on the head coach.  Is Dabs too much of a player's coach?

Sorry to ask, but I didn't watch it but was curious about the following:

1) How did Evan Neal look?  Did you see him do anything better than say the first Dallas game?

2) How did our rookie CBs play?  I know it was a lot of points scored but did they play really badly?

3) I didn't see Thibs in the stats line.  Why did he not play?

4) Did Kafka open up the playbook at all in terms of calling some plays to slow down the pass rush?  Obviously I saw 5 sacks but wondered if there was any effort.

5) How did JMS look?

I like this kid.  Runs hard.  Seems to have a good NFL body. 

Jess - this is one of your guys.  Why are his 2022 and 2023 receptions so low?  Is he not a good pass catcher?

With the upcoming game against __th ranked Penn State tomorrow as well as #1 ranked OSU in 3 weeks, Giants fans will have two outstanding games to watch JJ McCarthy play.  I would not be surprised if the entire Giants scouting, personnel, coaching and management will be at one of those games.  As a Michigan fan and someone who has watched every game he has played in, I want to offer a few tips for you to pay attention to if you catch either or both games.  Please note that I am not yet 100% sold on JJ as the Giants solution.  There are a lot of things I really like about him but there are things I want to see more of between now and end of season and if they make it into the College Football Playoffs.

Mechanics - JJ has gorgeous mechanics.  He throws it using his large muscles in his legs, butt and hips and gets really nice hip rotation.  He holds it differently than John Elway did, but I see a lot of parallels to his mechanics.  That said, he engages his whole body in throws unlike say Warren Moon who just flicked his wrist and a perfectly thrown spiral with amazing touch left his arm.  Since JJ uses his entire body, I worry about his ability to consistently throw the short ball as well as it needs to be thrown.  In that case, it is a lighter grip and more of a flick than an entire body motion.  I want to see these short throws and the results.

Strength of arm versus getting air under long passes - JJ throws ropes.  Plain and simple.  If there is one criticism I had earlier in his career is that on long passes, he does not get enough air under his passes so his WRs can run under them.  Less touch and more howitzer.  He has gotten better this year but I want to see more of it.

Scrambling to pass versus scrambling to run - here is where JJ has really changed up his game.  He used to scramble to run, but now his head and eyes are always up scanning the field to make throws.  I think this is one of his greatest developments.  He scrambles really well to both his left and right.  One stat to remember is that I think this year, JJ has a completion rate of something 92% when throwing outside the pocket. 

Downfield Mentality - JJ is not a dump it off type of QB like DJ is.  He is looking downfield nearly all the time.  He is a big chunk yardage type of QB.  Against Ohio State last year, he was only 12-24 but he threw for something like 263 yards.  This year he is throwing for over 76% pass completions but he is still doing it with a downfield mindset.

Conclusion - When watching either game, I would look for these traits I mentioned rather than just look for overall stats.  He is still a work in progress.  Remember he is only 20 years old.  He still can return to Michigan for another season and right now he said he is 50-50.  I think he comes out, but who knows?  Also, I would not get too high or too low on him based in either or both games.  Just see if you are seeing these traits. 

Ok so Giants are near season halfway mark.  Have not been able to score or throw the ball so far this season.  Pass blocking has been abysmal.

The Defense looked mediocre initially but last few games has come on with play of Dex and Thibs.

What do you guys think the offseason priorities need to be at this point of the season?

What Giants players are playing better this year than last year?  I can't think of one.  That is also a huge reason for the disappointing season.

Phil Simms is the epitamy of a QB who for years was under siege, yet had a downfield thrower's mentality.  From 1984 - 1988, he was sacked 55, 52, 45, 35 and 53 times per season, yet his yards per completion was never under 12.8 YPC and was as high as 14.1 YPC.  The retort will be, "yeah but his completion % was only 53% - 57% during those seasons.  Well part of that reason was that he was under siege and threw under duress, HOWEVER, because he constantly looked downfield he forced defenses to play back.  Even if he threw incompletions downfield, the threat of throwing more intermediate/deeper routes forced safeties back.  Keep in mind he played without great WRs like Plax, Nicks and Cruz.  They were adequate/good but certainly not great.

Without the legit threat of having a QB who always looks downfield, the Giants offense is at the mercy of opponent's defense who simply play closer to the LOS and take away short passes.  How many times are we honestly going to see more of 3rd and 10 and a completion for 4 yards?

I love DJ as a person, but he simply lacks a downfield thrower's mentality.  The irony is that I think he might be the most accurate long ball throwing Giants QB in my lifetime but it is meaningless if he is not looking there.

We need that mentality from our QB and if it is not DJ, it needs to be somebody else.

All these folks say they respect DJ yet put little effort to preventing the rush.  Gutless OL players.  Defenders not playing through the offe sive player to tackle but throwing an arm out.  Coaches not getting more out of their posituon groups.

He needs to take a bold step to show consequences to poor play/coaching.

Bench key players.  Play more rookies or young players, bench the QB, fire a position coach, relieve Kafka from playcalling.  Something.

Too many people are too comfortable to look this ill prepared and being outplayed.

I feel like Kafka is operating within only a small subset of options in playcalling.  It seems like within this subset these are his only options to pick.  I don't understand that.  For example, if the OL cannot consistently protect DJ, why doesn't he roll out DJ to buy him more time?  That is just one example, but I really believe his playbook subset is not wide enough to encapsulate other options he can utilize.  Sorry that has been my beef for this 2023 season.

I am starting to think the Jets have more top end personnel as well as more average/above average players.  I also think they have better units.

At this point their GM has won the Draft battle.

I think Rodgers would have made two throws Wilson missed for TDs.

Sauce, Moseley, Wilson and Williams are better than any one in that respective Giants unit.

Through 3 games:

CJ - 78/121 (64.5%) 906 yds, 4 TDs/0 INTs, 7.5 Y/A, 11.6 Y/C, Rate 98, Sacks 11, Sack % 8.3%

DJ - 63/97 (64.9%) 562 yds, 2 TDs/4 INTs 5.8 Y/A, 8.9 Y/C, Rate 70, Sacks 12, Sack % 11%

CJ's WRs - Nico Collins, Robert Woods, Tank Dell + TE Dalton Schultz

CJ's OL - Laremy Tunsil, Josh Jones, Michael Deiter, Shaq Mason, George Fant

CJ's RB - Dameon Pierce

Texans Offense Ranking - 13th (Yards)
Texans Defense Ranking - 16th (Yards)

1st year QB who is throwing for about the same completion % but a lot more yards and has been sacked about the same amount.  CJ's Y/A and Y/C is much higher.  When I look at the players on offense for the Texans, I hardly say, "wow, so much more talent around CJ than what DJ has."

Houston played New England, Miami and the New Orleans Saints.

So what are the reasons the Texans have better passing results through 3 games with a 1st year QB?

In 2022, I won my ESPN PPR League.  I loved my team.  Drafted well and made some very good in season pick ups.

Now it's 2023 and time to start thinking about players on our lists to keep an eye on or avoid.  We draft with a $200 budget so production per dollar is important.

QB

I am struggling this year to find an undervalued QB who may be on the rise.  One criteria I must have is that he must be able to run.  To win in a fantasy league you need a top 5 QB.  Jalen Hurts is on everyone's radar.  I had Justin Fields last year and he rewarded me late season.  He did it witht his feet more than his arm.  Will addition of DJ Moore really elevate his passing game?

RB - last year I finally drafted Austin Ekeler along with Miles Sanders.  I got great production out of my RBs.  I believe Bijan Robinson will get over drafted as Atlanta is much too dependent on a rushing game.  Does Saquon have enough left to be a RB1 with top 5 production (assuming he does not holdnout)?  Devin Achane is someone I am eyeing as a breakout player as I think Miami's passing game will open up opps for their rushing and nobody else on their roster impresses me enough as a RB.  Late season I picked up Isaiah Pacheco from the Chiefs and he was solid.  Tempted to keep an eye on him.

WR - I did not fall prey to spending a ton on Justin Jefferson or Jamar Chase and instead got nice value with CeeDee Lamb and some up/down with Mike Evans and Garrett Wilson but scored huge with Christian Watson in season signing.  My prediction this season is that Garrett Wilson will be under drafted but will explode now that he has Rodgers throwing to him.

Who are you watching closely for 2023 fantasy season?

Figured to start a new Knicks thread for this offseason plus upcoming season.  So they traded Obi Toppin cor 2 second round picks.  Seems a little light for a guy that I rhink can be a legit starter especially on his new team which plays in transition a lot.  Empties the rotation a bit.  Just hope Randle keeps his play up.

Donnie D pick up is a good one as I like his outside shooting ability plus his D.   

If both are available who should we take?

Let's see Jenn.  At around 20 years of age, you are a college student but feel the need to get a boob job.  Did you think that would help you in your Spanish class?  Then, after you luckily are seen on a camera with the Brent Mustburger famous quote, you get some attention only for your looks and then you leverage that into photo shoots in Maxim and Playboy.

You use those looks to help you land a NY Jets gig as a "hostess".  In every shot, you're dress screams cleavage.  A famous football player sends you suggestive texts and voicemessages.

Now you can't get a job and all you want is to be taken seriously with the history of provocative dress. Got news Jenn.  Being taken seriously starts with your brain and goes to your mouth.  

Are you kidding?  Nice job parenting Mr. and Mrs. Sterger.