Hard Knocks Episode 5 Discussion Thread

[DaveBrown74]

I thought this was a middle of the road episode. Not bad, but not as interesting as one or two of the others. A few thoughts:

-I watched the episode with my wife. She said "he doesn't seem that psyched", referring to Malik Nabers when he was informed the Giants were picking him. I sort of couldn't disagree based on his initial reaction, but he seemed to warm up after that scene. I'm in no way concerned about this and couldn't be more bullish on this player.

-I liked the feeling I got about Andru Phillips in this episode. He's one of our picks that I haven't had a very strong feel one way or the other about, so I was happy to get a sense of how much work the team did on him, and I liked the part before the draft where Schoen said Phillips was the last corner they'd be really pumped about getting before the board got to developmental guys.

-It was interesting that the Colts and Jets called about the number six pick. Schoen seems receptive and polite on these calls even though it's clear he has no intention of moving down.

-There was definitely some more filler in this episode, which I know most members here are not fans of. I don't disagree. I guess the show is adding a human side to this but I don't think we need to be seeing young kids' birthday parties and stuff like that. I didn't mind the scene where the whole team was having drinks after the draft though. It's always nice to blow off a little steam with co-workers after a project is complete.


I don't really have many other observations from this episode. You sort of knew everything that was going to happen, so nothing was overly surprising or educational. I still enjoyed it though.

[AZGiantFan]

My biggest complaint is they completely ignored the post-draft udfa scramble.  I would have found that far more interesting than the girl cousins in the bar and the little girl's birthday cake.

Another thing is that I had understood that once a pick is in they tell the next team who it as they go on the clock.  How could you go on the clock without knowing who isn't available because he is just picked?  Yet twice the editing made it look like the Giants were on the clock but were still nervous about whether their guy was going to still be available.

On balance, I'm not anxious for the Giants to do any flavor of HK any time soon.

[DaveBrown74]

Fair point about the UDFAs and any discussion of them being completely absent. I agree that this would have been much more interesting to Giants fans than a birthday party and the like.

Overall I'd give the five episodes in their totality something like a B- or C+. I found the show dry at times, and the filler stuff was annoying (albeit I was not surprised by it given it's always in HK), but I did like being able to get a closer look at some of the front office people as well as Mara.

Also, whether we were happy with what we saw or not, we did a fairly up-close look (albeit edited and approved by the team) at how they interact with each other and do business internally. So while the show could have been better in a number of ways, I do think it revealed some things that were interesting.

[Ed Vette]

They went position of need with the first pick knowing the players would be close in grade. In the second round they were after a DB, period. They took the highest graded pick and went Safety. The TE pick may have been the BPA and a position of need but let's face it, other than QB and WR after the Nabors pick,  they had needs at all positions. Every pick priority was need over grade except for the first pick which happened to be both, but that was close with Alt. I might have picked the LT and moved Thomas to RT if SD picked Nabors. They were definitely going with Odunze if Nabors wasn't there.

In the later rounds Schoen asked his Scouts to endorse the pick.

I like that Schoen did a performance appraisal of his Scouts right after the draft while he had them all in the building.

Interesting how Tisch sat up front as an observer. I would have sat in the back corner to observe every person and interaction.

There was no overall consensus vote for any pick. Schoen and the top dogs set the direction and nobody advocated to the contrary.

[MightyGiants]

For me, this was my least favorite episode.  I gleened nothing new from the episode.  Much of it was footage seen during the draft.

To @DaveBrown74 point about Nabers not seeming to be excited.  I suspect if there was an issue with excitement, it had to do with the fact that he wasn't the first WR drafted, and he lasted until 6.  I am sure, in his mind, he was going to be drafted sooner than that.

[DaveBrown74]

For me, this was my least favorite episode.  I gleened nothing new from the episode.  Much of it was footage seen during the draft.

To @DaveBrown74 point about Nabers not seeming to be excited.  I suspect if there was an issue with excitement, it had to do with the fact that he wasn't the first WR drafted, and he lasted until 6.  I am sure, in his mind, he was going to be drafted sooner than that.

Rich,

Good point. This guy is an ultra-competitor with plenty of pride, and although MHJ was always the favorite to go first among wideouts, there were murmurings out there that Nabers could come off the board before him. No doubt he was aware of those, and so I'm sure there was some mild disappointment on his part.

Frankly, if it makes him play with that much more of a chip on his shoulder, I am good with that. This guy isn't going to be a warm and fuzzy personality, but I feel like we already have those types on our team. We need more alpha. Nabers provides exactly that. Along with an absolute boat-load of talent.

[Philosophers]

This has been a horrible Hard Knocks season.  Also why does it end now with draft over?  I remember Hard Knocks prior seasons going through training camps.  Did something change as on this episode they reference it is the final episode.

[DaveBrown74]

Did something change as on this episode they reference it is the final episode.

Yes. This is a new brand of Hard Knocks, where they focus specifically on the offseason process going through the draft. The other ones have always been camp and preseason. The Giants are the first team ever to be featured with this type of specific subject matter.

[MightyGiants]

This has been a horrible Hard Knocks season.  Also why does it end now with draft over?  I remember Hard Knocks prior seasons going through training camps.  Did something change as on this episode they reference it is the final episode.

HK started with a focus on training camp.  Then they added one that focused on in season.  This one was intended on focusing on the off-season

[Philosophers]

HK started with a focus on training camp.  Then they added one that focused on in season.  This one was intended on focusing on the off-season

Training camp is more interesting.

[MightyGiants]

https://x.com/jimnagy_sb/status/1818777712846389424?s=46&t=1vcQIN8GqF5J2oLdxEVEJQ

[LennG]

 My one take from watching this last episode was that the Giants never even considered JJ McCarthy as a possible #1 pick when so many here (you know, many of us minor GMs) were considering it.

I really got the impression that if they couldn't get Daniels, there wasn't any way they were drafting a QB.

I know teams probably feel this way after a draft, but they really made it seem as if all our picks were destined for the HOF, or at the very least, starters and stardom.

Hopefully they are correct. 

[EDjohnst1981]

My one take from watching this last episode was that the Giants never even considered JJ McCarthy as a possible #1 pick when so many here (you know, many of us minor GMs) were considering it.

I really got the impression that if they couldn't get Daniels, there wasn't any way they were drafting a QB.

I know teams probably feel this way after a draft, but they really made it seem as if all our picks were destined for the HOF, or at the very least, starters and stardom.

Hopefully they are correct. 

Agreed. I know a long thread ran on JJ but clearly, the Giants were not interested to replace Jones with him.

But they were absolutely looking to replace him.

It makes for an interesting season ahead

[President Rick]

what I liked best was Theo Johnson's comment to Daboll - - I'll give you everything I've got.

[DaveBrown74]

My one take from watching this last episode was that the Giants never even considered JJ McCarthy as a possible #1 pick when so many here (you know, many of us minor GMs) were considering it.

True.

The JJ McCarthy thread here was probably the longest BBH thread of 2024 (certainly one of them), and yet he wasn't even a vague consideration on draft day.