OTA Highlights

[Jclayton92]

https://bsky.app/profile/edvalentine.bsky.social/post/3lqagkrbbfc2p

Love the 1 on 1 time Dart is getting with Daboll.

[DragonSoul]

https://x.com/BobbySkinner_/status/1927743586277179446?t=hRKeb4rPvq0XKCAWLmGX7g&s=19

2 years ago when he was calling plays it seems stale and not tailor made for the qb, a lot of the same thing. Reason Brian took over last year, then again, another bad offensive year.

[Jclayton92]

2 years ago when he was calling plays it seems stale and not tailor made for the qb, a lot of the same thing. Reason Brian took over last year, then again, another bad offensive year.

2023 they had Hodgins, Slayton, rookie Wandale, and a broken Waller. Thomas was injured so it was Ezeudu, Brederson, rookie JMS, Mckethan, Neal with Jones... At the beginning of that season if you remember everyone had solved Jones, and his half field reads, the offense broke because of the line and Jones, there was nothing Kafka could do after a masterful first season squeezing everything he could out of Jones.

[Ed Vette]

2023 they had Hodgins, Slayton, rookie Wandale, and a broken Waller. Thomas was injured so it was Ezeudu, Brederson, rookie JMS, Mckethan, Neal with Jones... At the beginning of that season if you remember everyone had solved Jones, and his half field reads, the offense broke because of the line and Jones, there was nothing Kafka could do after a masterful first season squeezing everything he could out of Jones.

I'd like to see him calling the plays on the field.

In honor of @Doc16LT56

**Calling Plays on the Field:**

**Pros:**
- **Real-Time Read:** The play caller can see the defense's alignment and adjustments directly, allowing for immediate responses.
- **Immediate Communication:** Can quickly relay corrections or adjustments based on the physical presence and motions of players.
- **Personal Connection:** Easier to communicate with players directly, which can enhance clarity and confidence.

**Cons:**
- **Distractions:** Being on the field means dealing with more noise, chaos, and distractions that can impair focus.
- **Limited View:** The play caller's perspective is narrower; they might miss the full defensive scheme or formations.
- **Physical Demands:** Being on the sideline can be physically demanding and less comfortable during game flow.

**Calling Plays Upstairs (in the Booth):**

**Pros:**
- **Better Perspective:** Elevated view provides a comprehensive look at formations, coverage, and defensive shifts.
- **Communication Tools:** Modern headsets and technology facilitate clear, efficient communication with the quarterback and sidelines.
- **Less Distraction:** Less noise and chaos allow for better concentration and strategic thinking.

**Cons:**
- **Latency:** Slight delays in communication can occur, leading to potential misunderstandings or slower adjustments.
- **Less Immediate Feedback:** Misses some real-time body language or subtle cues from players on the field.
- **Dependency on Technology:** Reliance on communication systems, which can sometimes malfunction.

**Summary:** 
Calling plays on the field offers immediacy and directness but can be hampered by chaos and limited views. Calling from upstairs provides a broader perspective and clearer visuals but may introduce communication delays. Many teams prefer a hybrid approach, using upstairs for strategic oversight and on-field for quick decision-making when necessary.

[MightyGiants]

https://x.com/art_stapleton/status/1928086948029030623

[MightyGiants]

PRACTICE NOTES...
Some snippets from various media sources:

• Players were in helmets, light pads, and shorts.
• It appeared that Offensive Coordinator Mike Kafka was calling the offensive plays.
• In red-zone, 7-on-7 drills, QB Russell Wilson was 1-of-4, with one drop by TE Theo Johnson and a touchdown to RB Eric Gray. Providing good pass defense in this series was CB Deonte Banks, ILB Micah McFadden, and S Jevon Holland.
• In the same drills, QB Jameis Winston was picked off by S Dane Belton after it was bobbled by WR Zach Pascal, which would have been returned for a touchdown. Winston was 1-of-3.
• In the same drills, QB Jaxson Dart was 1-of-3 with a touchdown to WR Antwane Wells. QB Tommy DeVito threw a touchdown on his one attempt to WR Jordan Bly.
• The starting offensive line was LT James Hudson, LG Aaron Stinnie, OC John Michael Schmitz, RG Greg Van Roten, and RT Jermaine Eluemunor.
• The second-team offensive line was LT Josh Ezeudu, LG Evan Neal, OC Austin Schlottmann, RG Jake Kubas, and RB Marcus Mbow.
• The starting wideouts were Darius Slayton, Jalin Hyatt, and Wan'Dale Robinson.
• Devin Singletary started at running back.
• The starting defensive tackles were Jordan Riley, Rakeem Nunez-Roches, and Elijah Chatman.
• The starting outside linebackers were Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux.
• The starting corners were Tae Banks, Paulson Adebo, and Andru Phillips; the starting safeties were Tyler Nubin and Jevon Holland.
• In 11-on-11, red-zone drills, Russell Wilson was 5-of-7 with three touchdowns. Wilson threw a touchdown pass to WR Darius Slayton on a perfectly-placed fade over CB Andru Phillips.
• In the same drills, Jameis Winston was 5-of-10 with four touchdowns, including to wideouts Darius Slayton, Jalin Hyatt, and Montrell Washington as well as tight end Greg Dulcich.
• In the same drills, Jaxson Dart was 2-of-3. His first throw was with the starting offense and was a rollout touchdown pass to a leaping WR Jalin Hyatt at the back of the end zone over OLB Bobby Okereke. He threw another touchdown to RB Dante Miller and ran for two more, but he was also picked off by ILB Micah McFadden on the last play of practice (possible pick-6).
• In the same drills, Tommy DeVito was 2-of-3 with two touchdown passes, both to WR Jordan Bly.
• Abdul Carter played both ILB and OLB during the same 11-on-11 goal-line series.
• While three of Jaxson Dart's 14 reps were with the starters, all of Russell Wilson's 15 reps were with the first unit. Jameis Winston's 15 reps came with the second unit. Tommy DeVito only received four reps.
• OLB Brian Burns chased down a quarterback for a "sack."
• S Dane Belton made a tackle for a loss on a quarterback run.

https://bigblueinteractive.com/2025/05/28/may-28-2025-new-york-giants-ota-practice-report/

[DragonSoul]

2023 they had Hodgins, Slayton, rookie Wandale, and a broken Waller. Thomas was injured so it was Ezeudu, Brederson, rookie JMS, Mckethan, Neal with Jones... At the beginning of that season if you remember everyone had solved Jones, and his half field reads, the offense broke because of the line and Jones, there was nothing Kafka could do after a masterful first season squeezing everything he could out of Jones.

It seemed that year he didn't tailor it to jones strengths as he did the year before, it was more of copy and paste. And as we talked about with Dart and other qbs recently. They said it fine and generally what most qbs do is read half the field for progressions, the major factor is if you are reading the correct part of the field. Then again as you mentioned with all those issues above, it would be tough for any qb to over come.

Moving forward I want tailored plays for the qb and vs the teams they are going for. Not the same copy and paste like we had with Ben coaching and all we did was 3 wide nearly 98% of the time.

[MightyGiants]

It seemed that year he didn't tailor it to jones strengths as he did the year before, it was more of copy and paste. And as we talked about with Dart and other qbs recently. They said it fine and generally what most qbs do is read half the field for progressions, the major factor is if you are reading the correct part of the field. Then again as you mentioned with all those issues above, it would be tough for any qb to over come.

Moving forward I want tailored plays for the qb and vs the teams they are going for. Not the same copy and paste like we had with Ben coaching and all we did was 3 wide nearly 98% of the time.

I was listening to Bobby Skinner's Giants Nation Show podcast.   He had Ryan Dunleavy on.  They were discussing the differences between Daboll calling plays and Kafka.  They felt that with Kafka, the offense was more customized to the team they were facing, while Daboll's game plans tended to be more generic.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

I was listening to Bobby Skinner's Giants Nation Show podcast.   He had Ryan Dunleavy on.  They were discussing the differences between Daboll calling plays and Kafka.  They felt that with Kafka, the offense was more customized to the team they were facing, while Daboll's game plans tended to be more generic.

I'm not sure "generic" is a good choice of words. More (probably) a better term would be that he game planned around the team's strengths (which there were precious few). Being able to game plan around the opposition's weaknesses assumes you have a team that can actually do so...competent in all the plays available. We're getting there...knock on wood...so maybe we can play Kafka style football and get some wins

[Ed Vette]

PRACTICE NOTES...
Some snippets from various media sources:

• Players were in helmets, light pads, and shorts.
• It appeared that Offensive Coordinator Mike Kafka was calling the offensive plays.
• In red-zone, 7-on-7 drills, QB Russell Wilson was 1-of-4, with one drop by TE Theo Johnson and a touchdown to RB Eric Gray. Providing good pass defense in this series was CB Deonte Banks, ILB Micah McFadden, and S Jevon Holland.
• In the same drills, QB Jameis Winston was picked off by S Dane Belton after it was bobbled by WR Zach Pascal, which would have been returned for a touchdown. Winston was 1-of-3.
• In the same drills, QB Jaxson Dart was 1-of-3 with a touchdown to WR Antwane Wells. QB Tommy DeVito threw a touchdown on his one attempt to WR Jordan Bly.
• The starting offensive line was LT James Hudson, LG Aaron Stinnie, OC John Michael Schmitz, RG Greg Van Roten, and RT Jermaine Eluemunor.
• The second-team offensive line was LT Josh Ezeudu, LG Evan Neal, OC Austin Schlottmann, RG Jake Kubas, and RB Marcus Mbow.
• The starting wideouts were Darius Slayton, Jalin Hyatt, and Wan'Dale Robinson.
• Devin Singletary started at running back.
• The starting defensive tackles were Jordan Riley, Rakeem Nunez-Roches, and Elijah Chatman.
• The starting outside linebackers were Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux.
• The starting corners were Tae Banks, Paulson Adebo, and Andru Phillips; the starting safeties were Tyler Nubin and Jevon Holland.
• In 11-on-11, red-zone drills, Russell Wilson was 5-of-7 with three touchdowns. Wilson threw a touchdown pass to WR Darius Slayton on a perfectly-placed fade over CB Andru Phillips.
• In the same drills, Jameis Winston was 5-of-10 with four touchdowns, including to wideouts Darius Slayton, Jalin Hyatt, and Montrell Washington as well as tight end Greg Dulcich.
• In the same drills, Jaxson Dart was 2-of-3. His first throw was with the starting offense and was a rollout touchdown pass to a leaping WR Jalin Hyatt at the back of the end zone over OLB Bobby Okereke. He threw another touchdown to RB Dante Miller and ran for two more, but he was also picked off by ILB Micah McFadden on the last play of practice (possible pick-6).
• In the same drills, Tommy DeVito was 2-of-3 with two touchdown passes, both to WR Jordan Bly.
• Abdul Carter played both ILB and OLB during the same 11-on-11 goal-line series.
• While three of Jaxson Dart's 14 reps were with the starters, all of Russell Wilson's 15 reps were with the first unit. Jameis Winston's 15 reps came with the second unit. Tommy DeVito only received four reps.
• OLB Brian Burns chased down a quarterback for a "sack."
• S Dane Belton made a tackle for a loss on a quarterback run.

https://bigblueinteractive.com/2025/05/28/may-28-2025-new-york-giants-ota-practice-report/

I'm wondering how long all these TD passes were. That's a lot of TD passes. Winston had a couple of passes picked because the Receiver bobbled the throw, and wondering if this has to do with him again rifling in passes or is it passes off the mark. Dart had a couple of picks that may have been in Zone coverage and I'm wondering if he was fooled by disguise.

I also think there is one QB too many in these 7/7 and 11/11s, but it's an asset in the other drills.

They are giving Dart some good opportunities with the ones.

I also wonder if the Defense is being held back to give some confidence that the Offense.

Not a lot of detailed information by these reporters. Formation, motion, routes????

Have you read into anything, Rich?

[MightyGiants]

I'm wondering how long all these TD passes were. That's a lot of TD passes. Winston had a couple of passes picked because the Receiver bobbled the throw, and wondering if this has to do with him again rifling in passes or is it passes off the mark. Dart had a couple of picks that may have been in Zone coverage and I'm wondering if he was fooled by disguise.

I also think there is one QB too many in these 7/7 and 11/11s, but it's an asset in the other drills.

They are giving Dart some good opportunities with the ones.

I also wonder if the Defense is being held back to give some confidence that the Offense.

Not a lot of detailed information by these reporters. Formation, motion, routes????

Have you read into anything, Rich?

As you know from camp, Daboll likes to start his practices close to the goal line and work out.  That way guys get acclimated before they start to run deep routes (or cover deeper routes)

[Ed Vette]

As you know from camp, Daboll likes to start his practices close to the goal line and work out.  That way guys get acclimated before they start to run deep routes (or cover deeper routes)

Good point and that's what the limited films showed. Too bad they keep the media in that same corner but change the direction. Art did a film clip 80 yards away.

[MightyGiants]

Good point and that's what the limited films showed. Too bad they keep the media in that same corner but change the direction. Art did a film clip 80 yards away.

According to reports from Ryan Dunleavy and others, the squad was split into two.  For most of the snaps, the starters and top backups worked with Wilson and Winston, while the remainder of the squad worked with Dart and DeVito.

[Ed Vette]

According to reports from Ryan Dunleavy and others, the squad was split into two.  For most of the snaps, the starters and top backups worked with Wilson and Winston, while the remainder of the squad worked with Dart and DeVito.

Ahh... so they worked both endzones.

[Jclayton92]

Ahh... so they worked both endzones.

I think 7 on 7 were all together and 11 on 11 was split into two sides of the field.

Frustrates me a little that Singletary is still getting the 1s reps when Tracey clearly showed significantly more and you have a Heisman finalist you just drafted.

I do like that they are moving Mbow around to see where he best fits. I could see a scenario were Kubas takes over RG next year and Mbow takes over RT so they don't have to pay Elemunor, though I'd like him back because I am enjoying the depth rn. If Mbow takes off like we all hope he can, Eluemunor could be the best swing lineman in the NFL being able to play LT, RG, and RT at a high level.

I understand RNR, Riley, and Chatman know the system but I'd rather all our FAs get those 1 reps Golston, Robertson-Harris, and Ledbetter.

Despite Okereke being on the outs for the organization, I think he could be a huge deciding factor on how well the D does.

I almost feel bad for Micah McFadden because he played his ass off last year, but I am all on board with Carter getting Off ball linebacker reps spying these mobile qbs or trailing elite TEs on early downs. Do you know what the typical breakdown is for 1st team/2nd team edges in a live game? Will all 3 of our elite edges get enough snaps to warrant having all 3 or will we be wasting them?

First prediction of the season- Nubin is going to be elite in the SS role, and with Manuel being the coach that he is, I could see us being a top 10 secondary by seasons end if we have no injuries.