I was reading the BBI Game Preview (linked below) just now. I think these guys are the most sober of analysts around, especially considering they are effectively beat writers and fans. Their write-up paints a pretty dismal picture for Sunday night.
https://www.bigblueinteractive.com/2022/12/16/preview-new-york-giants-at-washington-commanders-december-11-2022/
As they lay it out, so many things need to go right for the Giants to win that it seems equivalent to asking for 3 cards and pulling an inside straight.
Lenny has to play and be effective
Moreau has to be something other than the awful player he has been the last 2 weeks
Thibs and Azeez have to be more impactful than they have been all season
A true middle linebacker needs to appear out of nowhere
The interior offensive line needs to elevate its play to a level yet seen this season
The receivers have to do more than nothing (they even spotlighted my thought yesterday viz. Golloday)
Jones and Barkley need to play like something better than a couple of guys taking up space
But more than anything, Daboll, Kafka and Martingale need to come up with a magic template that somehow some way catches Washington off guard and puts them and keeps them on their heels.
Feels like a tall order all around
In my humble opinion, the possibility of all these things happening is remote:
Thibs and Azeez having their best game yet -- although the last month has been brutal for we fans, what has been exciting is the tandem play of these two guys. They are showing us what they can become. Their ceiling is super high and they haven't begun to scratch it. It feels like they are on the precipice of a huge break-out game. If somehow, some way, the defense can shut down the run game, this could be that game for them. If it is, we have a formula for winning Sunday night and the balance of the season. Sacks, pressures and turnovers. We need a lot of them. The only bright spots in the last two weeks is when one of these two guys makes a play.
Lenny playing a full game and being effective. If there is going to be any shot at controlling the Washington run game, Dex needs some help. Only Lenny can really provide it. His season has been much like Ojulari's - he's been hurt most of it, but when he's played, he's played well, sometimes really well. The team needs the best Lenny has Sunday night. Get that, assuming the best is 85%+ of the snaps, and along with our 2 studs, there is a chance the defense can keep us in the game.
Moreau has turned in 2 atrocious games. But there was a time earlier this season when he looked not half bad. Of course that was when Jackson and McKinney were on the field and that won't be the case Sunday night. Washington has three quality WRs in McLaurin, Samuels and Dotson; McLaurin is a flat out stud and will be Moreau's primary responsibility. He has to elevate his play for the Giants to stay competitive. Love is probably going to have to spend most of the game helping Moreau out which relegates the back end safety net to Pinnock. And even if Moreau and Love can contain McLaurin, what about the other 2? Are we really going to have to rely on Gilbert again? McCloud? And what the hell is going on with Rodarius Williams? He looked like our best corner against Dallas and he hasn't sniffed the field the last 2 weeks. As bad as this outlook is, its the third most likely opportunity for improvement.
That's because we need the middle linebackers to actually play average football and we've seen throughout the season that there is not a single ILB on the roster capable of playing to that average level over the entirety of a game. Washington run's a ton of mis-direction and Smith and McFadden bite on every feint. So our hope is that in his final appearance as a 2022 NY Giant, Landon Collins, summons the ability to play super-safety/linebacker and shuts Robinson down. It's asking a lot, but at one time he was a terrific box safety. This is his third elevation and either he has a great game or he gets cut loose. Will motivation and muscle memory be enough? If the defense is to keep us in the game, we better hope so.
As unlikely as the latter two items are, they are more likely than any aspect of the offense performing above and beyond what we've seen this last month.
Can the interior offensive line be anything other than offensive? The only real hope is that 2 weeks ago they played their worst collective game of the season and so there is nowhere to go but up. Injuries to Glowinski and Feliciano were part of the story then, as well as Nick Gates' continuing slog to play himself back to the guy he once was. One can envision Gates playing somewhat better. Feliciano surprises from time to time with average play, but Glowinski playing anything other than this year's league-worst offensive lineman seems unlikely. Unless Glowinski's recent performance has really been more about his back than anything else, Allen and Payne are going to once again eat him alive. Somewhere in the depths of our imagination we see Ben Brederson being activated today and slid into right tackle (where he has never played) and being better than Glowinski despite a 7 week absence. Fantasy, fantasy, fantasy. More likely he is not activated and his season is officially over. The only real depth is some guy named Jack Anderson. It is a shuddering thought.
If the middle of the o-line gets dominated again as it did 2 weeks ago, Barkley and Jones will not be effective in any meaningful way. Neither has displayed the ability to perform at a high level in something other than ideal circumstances. There may be a play here or there, but on the whole, in the absence of surprising o-line dominance, both will likely be what we have seen since the Detroit game -- completely, utterly and totally ineffective. In short, we are not scoring more than 7 to 13 points absent turnovers galore.
In some fantasy world, Daboll and Kafka come out of their gameplan laboratory with a scheme so magical and unexpected that they catch Washington completely unawares at the start of the game, strike quickly 2 to 3 times, and take the Commanders completely out of their safe zone. So, the fantasy magic is what? A featured Kenny Golloday? That would certainly surprise everyone, but most of all KG himself, who might just drop everything thrown his way due to disbelief. Maybe they put Jones on the move the entire game - roll right, bootleg left, RPO's. Those are some of the things we've done well with at points this year, but it has been a long time since we've really seen those plays work. How about some trick plays? Remember when Odell connected with Barkley on a 50 yard pass in the Dark Ages of 2018? Can't Breida throw a bomb? 8 offensive linemen in front of Barkley, Breida and Brightwell? B them to death?
That's all the waning. What about the waxing. Well, it is the team formerly know as the Deadskins. They did only tie us 2 weeks ago despite all their advantages then which look the same as now. And even though I think Heinicke possesses the particular skill that Jones lacks and which makes him a more dangerous QB than Jones -- his ability to scramble behind the LoS and keep his eyes downfield - he still is a middling product who can and often does make critical mistakes. So, there is a chance that Washington will do some of our work for us. Fingers crossed.
The brain knows we should just get on with it and lose out to improve our draft position, especially if Schoen has already decided that he needs to go get his QB of the future as soon as possible (which I believe is where his head must be at), but the heart wants what it wants. And the heart always wants a W; especially when the W actually has competitive meaning. It's December 17 and the game means an almost certain ticket to the post-season. That would be a huge accomplishment compared to losing out and finishing 7-9-1 (0-7-1 over the last 8) (Of course, if Zach Wilson surprises Sunday afternoon, the Jets along with Seattle will have given us a reprieve and another chance to rise from the ashes if Sunday night goes as feared). A win and we have a puncher's chance against Minnesota, whose boat looks to be leaking, an odds-on chance against Indy, and who knows against a Philly squad that may be snoozing.
So there we have it. the most important game since 2016. A chance at the playoffs. all the reasons in the world that Washington should eat our lunch. And it's prime time! And we all know what that means!!
Prediction: Giants 31 Washington 13
What?

I am attaching the BBI Seattle game review link here
Take a look at his assessment of Jones in this one.
https://www.bigblueinteractive.com/2022/11/01/game-review-seattle-seahawks-27-new-york-giants-13/
More grist for the "is he or isn't he" mill

pretty good I think
https://www.bigblueinteractive.com/2022/09/13/game-review-new-york-giants-21-tennessee-titans-20/

New York Giants

Hello everyone and welcome once again to the New York Giants Offseason Review. For those that don't know me, this is your warning that this post will be really really REALLY long. I will make a tl;dr version and put that in a comment and link to that <>.
Now with that out of the way, let's start off with a summary of what went down since last we spoke:

2021 Summary

Division: NFC East (4-13, 4th)
This time last year, Giants fans were excited to see what this team could do to build off of their 6-10 record (including a 5-3 record down the stretch) that Joe Judge and company put together in 2020. My exact quote was:

Overall, everyone involved with the Giants was pretty encouraged by what they saw in 2020, and I don't think I can remember a New York football coach having the kind of fan support that Joe Judge has in a long time. Hell, maybe New York sports in general (though Barry Trotz and now Tom Thibodeau might have something to say about that).

Let’s just say things didn’t exactly go to plan.
The Giants started the year 0-3, including heartbreaking losses to Washington and Atlanta, two teams that Giants fans felt should have been winnable but were lost on a small subset of individual plays. They bounced back to make a miraculous comeback against New Orleans to win it in overtime, and fans felt like maybe things were turning around. Then the Giants were blown out by Dallas and the Rams by a combined score of 82-31 and headed into the bye at 3-6.
The Giants came out of their bye week by getting absolutely demolished by the Bucs on Monday Night Football, leading Joe Judge to finally make a change that Giants fans had been wanting for ages: Firing offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. Too bad it meant basically nothing, as with interim OC Freddie Kitchens, the Giants only scored 13 points in their next game; though they did manage to pull out a win in that game against Philadelphia 13-7.
This is where the wheels started to really fall off on the season for the Giants. I know, I know, they were already 4-7. The back half of their schedule had winnable games though, Miami, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington. But news comes out after the first Eagles game that Daniel Jones, who wasn’t even really playing well, had suffered a neck injury. It would end up costing him the rest of the season, and the Giants would only top 10 points once the rest of the year, and that was in complete garbage time against the Chargers (37-7 became 37-21 with scores with less than 5 minutes left in the game).
The rest of the season was a blur pretty much. Fans turned against Joe Judge quickly, and things really came to a head in the last two games of the season. First, Judge embarrassed himself by going on an 11 minute diatribe attempting to defend the job he was doing. You can check that out in text here or here or in video for those who want to relive that.
And then the next week against Washington, he chose to run two QB sneaks in a row pinned deep in his own territory down 3-0 to Washington with 5 minutes left in the first half.
After those two events, pretty much everyone in New York (and probably everyone outside of New York) was thinking “that has to be it for Judge”. And indeed it was. Dave Gettleman “retired” and Joe Judge was fired, leaving the Giants to start their rebuild yet again.
Some other notes:
Positives:

• Andrew Thomas had an incredible breakout year. A year after being called unequivocally the worst of the top 4 OTs in the 2020 draft class, he had a stellar year that puts him much closer to the top than the bottom.
• Adoree’ Jackson and Xavier McKinney had really solid years.
• The first round pick the Giants got from the Bears ended up being 7th overall, so that was nice.

Negatives:

• Everything else?
• Daniel Jones before injury played a couple of good games (Washington Week 2 and New Orleans Week 4) but didn’t really elevate the team (4-7 in games he started). He was also injured twice running the ball, concussed in Week 5 and then the neck injury.
• Aside from Adoree’ Jackson, all the money the Giants spent went poorly. Kenny Golladay, Kyle Rudolph, the Logan Ryan extension, etc.

Coaching/FO Changes

The one upside of being horrible again is that finally the Giants learned their lesson and rid themselves of Dave Gettleman, and they were willing to move on from Joe Judge as well.
The GM search actually went well, with most of the big names getting interviewed. In the end, it pretty much came down to SF’s Adam Peters, KC’s Ryan Poles (later hired by the Bears, but rumor has it the Giants loved him and if he didn’t get a GM job, the Giants were trying to sell him on an AGM job), and their pick: Buffalo Bills Assistant GM Joe Schoen.
Schoen was instrumental in the Bills becoming what they are today. He was one of Brandon Beane’s first hires and was very hands on in building the scouting staff that the Bills have today. He has experience in every facet of the organization, he’s not just a scout/film grinder. He was involved in everything in Buffalo, from contract negotiation to helping build the analytics staff to directing the scouting staff.
It was very important for the Giants to bring in a GM who will oversee the whole project. No more scouts masquerading as managers, the Giants needed to acknowledge that “The Giants Way” wasn’t working anymore and be humble enough to bring in someone who will touch the whole organization. And with Joe Schoen, I believe they did that.
Along with a new GM, the Giants needed a new head coach. Luckily, Schoen was very familiar with a couple of quality candidates: Buffalo OC Brian Daboll and Buffalo DC Leslie Frazier. The Giants also interviewed ex-Dolphins HC Brian Flores, Cowboys DC Dan Quinn, Bengals DC Lou Anarumo, and Giants DC/AHC Patrick Graham.
It seemed like it really came down to two candidates: Flores and Daboll. Rumor had it that Giants ownership preferred Flores, but Schoen won out and Brian Daboll became the next head coach of the New York Giants. And once again, most fans were pretty happy about that.
We’d just watched 6 years of bad offenses, only being in the top half of the league in scoring once (and that year, 2018, they were 16th in scoring), and Flores had had issues creating an offensive identity in Miami. Daboll also was coming off of helping Josh Allen develop into a top QB in the league.
I’m not really confident that Daboll is going to make Daniel Jones that much better, but his offense will be run much better than Jason Garrett’s and if Jones fails and Daboll (and Schoen) are looking for a new QB, I have faith that they can find a guy and develop them.
Final Coaching Staff

Title	Old Coach	New Coach (2021 Position)
Head Coach	Joe Judge	Brian Daboll (BUF OC)
Offensive Coordinator	Jason Garrett/Freddie Kitchens	Mike Kafka (KC QBC/PGC)
Defensive Coordinator	Patrick Graham	Wink Martindale (BAL DC)
Special Teams Coordinator	Thomas McGaughey	Thomas McGaughey
QB Coach	Jerry Schuplinski	Shea Tierney (BUF AQB)
RB Coach	Burton Burns	DeAndre Smith (TTU RBC)
WR Coach	Tyke Tolbert	Mike Groh (IND WRC)
TE Coach	Derek Dooley	Andy Bischoff (HOU TEC)
OL Coach	Rob Sale	Bobby Johnson (BUF OLC)
DL Coach	Sean Spencer	Andre Patterson (MIN DLC/AHC/co-DC)
OLB Coach		Drew Wilkins (BAL OLBC)
LB Coach	Kevin Sherrer	John Egorugwu (Vanderbilt LBC)
DB Coach	Jerome Henderson	Jerome Henderson

I’m really excited about some of this staff and very underwhelmed by other parts. Let’s start with the positives:
I love the coordinators. Mike Kafka bringing his experience from KC and being with Andy Reid for so long (both as a player and as a coach), bringing his QB coach experience working with Patrick Mahomes, is really exciting. He and Daboll together can build a really diverse offense off the bones of two of the most dynamic and effective offenses the league has had in recent years.
Wink Martindale is also an exciting hire, he’s had a lot of success in Baltimore before a poor year last year where the Ravens DB room was struggling to stay healthy. There’s definitely risk involved in his blitz heavy defense, especially with the Giants’ weak DB room. The Giants were originally going to stick with Patrick Graham before he left to join Josh McDaniels in Vegas, but I’m excited to see an aggressive defense more focused on creating explosive plays in favor of the defense than sitting back and preventing the explosive play. The Giants struggled to get off the field in recent years, often employing a more “bend but don’t break” style of defense that was somewhat contributing to their field position/offensive woes. I’m excited to see what Martindale can bring to the table to help our defense beat people instead of just preventing the opposing offense from beating us.
TMac makes his return with the 3rd coaching staff, he was Shurmur’s STC first, then Judge’s and he’ll be back. The Giants’ special teams units have been good under TMac and everyone in the building raves about him as a leader and teacher.
One underrated hire I love: Andre Patterson. Patterson has a long history of helping develop defensive linemen in Minnesota, where they were never short on pass rushers. If Patterson can help develop Kayvon Thibodeaux, Azeez Ojulari, and Dexter Lawrence, that would be huge for this defense.
I’m a little worried about Mike Groh and Bobby Johnson though, if I’m being honest. Groh’s tenure in Philadelphia didn’t end too well and I haven’t been too impressed with his resume as a WR coach. The Giants WR room is one of its most stacked talent-wise, but we have some injury question marks and we need Groh to help this group unlock as much potential as possible to grow from 2020.
The OL has been a huge sore spot for the Giants for years, and Johnson’s track record for developing offensive linemen isn’t really that great. They didn’t give him the kind of talent that he’ll have with Andrew Thomas and Evan Neal, but it’s mildly concerning that he was never really able to get a guy to truly break out there. We’ll settle for helping guys like Shane Lemieux become middling starters for now, but I’m hoping for a dominant unit at some point.

Roster Changes

Players Lost/Cut

Player	Position	New Team (Contract Details; Click to go to OverTheCap)
James Bradberry	CB	Philadelphia Eagles (1 yr, 7.25m)
Logan Ryan	S	Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1 yr, 1.12m)
Austin Johnson	DL	Los Angeles Chargers (2 yr, 14m)
Evan Engram	TE	Jacksonville Jaguars (1 yr, 9m)
Jabrill Peppers	S	New England Patriots (1 yr, 1.725m)
Will Hernandez	OG	Arizona Cardinals (1 yr, 1.05m)
Lorenzo Carter	EDGE	Atlanta Falcons (2 yr, 3.5m)
Keion Crossen	CB	Miami Dolphins (3 yr, 9.45m)

The Giants knew this year was going to be tough for them cap-wise; Gettleman and Judge, in their attempt to buy safety for their future, paid for a number of their moves the previous offseason by backloading contracts like Leonard Williams, Kenny Golladay, and Adoree’ Jackson and restructuring others. That left Joe Schoen to pick up the pieces, with him saying early in his tenure that he wanted to free up 40m in cap space.
That goal led to the release of Riley Dixon, Kaden Smith, Kyle Rudolph, and James Bradberry, as well as pay cuts for Blake Martinez and Sterling Shepard (both coming off major injuries). Bradberry and Ryan are the two players that will hurt the most losing them. Both were quality players for the Giants in 2021, but Bradberry’s release freed up much needed cap space to sign the Giants’ rookie class. Ryan’s release did almost nothing for the Giants’ salary cap, but concerns over scheme fit with Wink Martindale and a general decline in play in 2021 from his 2020 season had some people (myself included) worried.
The rest of the bunch really wasn’t that important to keep. Austin Johnson was a quality piece up front for the Giants last year with Dalvin Tomlinson leaving, but a nose tackle wasn’t a key need. Crossen was just a special teamer. And the rest of the list was basically just a who’s who of highly drafted players who just didn’t really work out. Maybe except Peppers, who is trying to come back off a major injury as well.
Players Acquired

Player	Position	2021 Team (Contract Details; Click to go to OverTheCap)
Mark Glowinski	OG	Indianapolis Colts (3 yr, 18.3m)
Tyrod Taylor	QB	Houston Texans (2 yr, 11m)
Jon Feliciano	OL	Buffalo Bills(1 yr, 3m)
Matt Breida	RB	Buffalo Bills (1 yr, 1.05m)
Ricky Seals-Jones	TE	Washington Commanders (1 yr, 1.05m)
Matt Gono	OT	Atlanta Falcons (1 yr, 995k)
Jamil Douglas	OL	Washington Commanders(1 yr, 1.05m)
Jihad Ward	DL/EDGE	Jacksonville Jaguars (1 yr, 1.05m)
Justin Ellis	DL	Baltimore Ravens (1 yr, 1.05m)
Richie James	WR	San Francisco 49ers (1 yr, 1.07m)

You’ll notice that only two of the players above got more than a Veteran Salary Benefit contract (which Schoen used a TON this offseason). The Giants had very very little cap space to spend, so Schoen had to use it wisely. The players I’ve listed above are the most interesting ones so far through the offseason program; most of them are competing for depth spots on the roster.
The highlights are Mark Glowinski and Tyrod Taylor. Glowinski is a former 4th round pick of the Seahawks who made his name with the Colts. Glowinski overlapped with Bobby Johnson with the Colts in 2018. He’s a more effective run blocker than pass blocker (you can hear more about that from Bobby Skinner at Talkin’ Giants) but he’s a veteran presence to try to help stabilize this offensive line. 3/5 of the Giants most common starters on the OL in 2021 are currently unsigned, and 1 of them (Hernandez) only got a 1 yr, 1m deal. Glowinski will step in as the starter at RG to give the floor of this OL a little bit of a boost.
Taylor is pretty well-known around the league at this point. He was the bridge QB for 3 teams in the last 4 years (CLE, LAC, and HOU). Everyone around the league saw how the Giants offense completely fell apart (going from bottom 5 in the league to the absolute worst without a doubt) when Daniel Jones got hurt and Mike Glennon and Jake Fromm filled in. Schoen decided he couldn’t afford to have that again, so he gave Taylor a backloaded 2 year deal.
This deal also protects the Giants well if Jones doesn’t step it up this year; they can let Jones walk and have Taylor be the startebridge QB for whoever they draft in the 2023 class.

2021 NFL Draft

If you want explanations on the players drafted, I wrote the Defending the Draft post for the Giants again this year over at NFL_Draft. I'm going to just leave the link to that for the analysis to keep this shorter.
Primary Needs Entering the Draft:

1. EDGE, OL, CB
2. TE, LB, S
3. DL, WR, RB

Pick	Player	Position	College
1.5	Kayvon Thibodeaux	EDGE	Oregon
1.7	Evan Neal	OT	Alabama
2.43	Wan'Dale Robinson	WR	Kentucky
3.67	Joshua Ezeudu	OL	North Carolina
3.81	Cordale Flott	CB	LSU
4.112	Daniel Bellinger	TE	San Diego State
4.114	Dane Belton	S	Iowa
5.146	Micah McFadden	LB	Indiana
5.147	DJ Davidson	DL	Arizona State
5.173	Marcus McKethan	OL	North Carolina
6.181	Darrian Beavers	LB	Cincinnati

Cliff Notes: Schoen used the draft capital Gettleman left for him well, and traded down twice himself in the 2nd round. The emphasis was primarily on young, high upside talents that this coaching staff can really build this team’s identity around. It’s clear that they want to be an explosive and dynamic offense and they want to affect the QB on defense.

Projected 53 Man Roster

Starters are BOLD
QB (3): Daniel Jones, Tyrod Taylor, Davis Webb
RB (4): Saquon Barkley, Matt Breida, Antonio Williams, Jashaun Corbin
WR (6): Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney, Sterling Shepard, Wan'Dale Robinson, CJ Board, Darius Slayton*
TE (3): Daniel Bellinger, Ricky Seals-Jones, Austin Allen
OL (9): Andrew Thomas, Shane Lemieux, Jon Feliciano, Mark Glowinski, Evan Neal, Josh Ezeudu, Marcus McKethan, Jamil Douglas, Matt Gono
DL (5): Leonard Williams, Dexter Lawrence, Justin Ellis, DJ Davidson, Chris Hinton
EDGE (5): Kayvon Thibodeaxu, Azeez Ojulari, Jihad Ward, Elerson Smith, Quincy Roche
LB (5): Blake Martinez, Tae Crowder, Micah McFadden, Darrian Beavers, Cam Brown
CB (6): Adoree' Jackson, Aaron Robinson, Darnay Holmes, Cor'Dale Flott, Michael Jacquet, Zyon Gilbert
S (4): Xavier McKinney, Julian Love, Dane Belton, Jarren Williams
ST (3): Graham Gano, Jamie Gillan, Casey Kreiter

Training Camp Battles

Notes:

1. On Darius Slayton: I am probably one of the biggest Darius Slayton defenders overall, so maybe my take is showing a bit here, but I really don’t think they’re going to just cut him. Cutting him saves very little money (~1.5m once he’s replaced on the roster) and the guys in front of him are not exactly reliable health-wise. Toney, Golladay, and Shepard all dealt with injuries last year at various times. I think he’ll be a guy they take a lot of calls on in training camp and they’re going to see if they can trade him on cut day. If they can trade him, then Richie James will take his spot.
2. 3 QBs seems kind of weird, but I sort of had an extra roster spot when I first did the exercise. Webb basically turned down a coaching gig (I think he was going to be Buffalo’s QB coach) to come to New York; I’d be surprised if he was willing to do that just to get cut/be on the practice squad.
3. There’s no fullback on this roster which feels a little bit weird, but the Giants don’t really have one on the roster. Maybe UDFA H-Back Jeremiah Hall makes the roster? I have no idea.
4. Jamil Douglas and Matt Gono are the veteran depth pieces; Douglas is essentially the backup center, since the Giants don’t really have any true centers on the roster. Nick Gates and Matt Peart would be the ones invested in those roster spots, but I believe both will start the year on PUP, if not spend the full year on IR.
5. Clear weakness here is the DB rooms, and especially the CB room. Aaron Robinson and Darnay Holmes really have not proven anything, and behind them it’s a lot of random bodies. That’s a risk in this blitz heavy system, but I am glad that the Giants didn’t make space to sign a bad old vet.

First guys out: Michael Jacquet, Zyon Gilbert, Chris Hinton, Austin Allen, Jashaun Corbin, Antonio Williams, Matt Gono
First guys in: Richie James, Korey Cunningham, Jordan Akins, David Moa, Jeremiah Hall, Carter Coughlin, Rodarius Williams, Yusuf Corker

Storylines to Watch

These are the key storylines that will help define the Giants’ season in 2022.

• Is Daniel Jones Good?

I feel like a broken record since I’ve basically said this for 3 straight years now. Jones didn’t really do anything to change our perspective of him during the 2021 season, and that feels like a big loss for the Giants; they needed this guy to ball out, and as the entrenched starter, they still need that. It also hurts that he’s continued to have an injury issue.
Schoen and Daboll decided not to pick up his option, bring in a competent backup in Tyrod Taylor, and opted not to dip their toe into the 2022 draft class in which a lot of players went a lot later than anticipated. I’m personally one to believe that this has less to do with Jones and more to do with them having their eye on some guys, similarly to how Buffalo had been eyeing Allen a year out as well.
So my expectations for Jones are very very low; I don’t expect him to light it up and cement himself as a great starter. At best I am expecting something in the Jared Goff/Jimmy Garoppolo/2021 Ryan Tannehill/2021 Carson Wentz territory. Guys who aren’t hurting your team, but aren’t exactly helping. A trailer and not a truck, if you’ll indulge that analogy again this year.
I also don’t think that he’s going to be so bad that the coaching staff turns to Taylor. I think they feel pretty confident in Jones outplaying Taylor and I think they want to give him as much leash as possible. They’ll score more points because Daboll+Kafka will have a much more difficult system to stop and a much easier one to execute. But for the Giants to be a playoff team, they absolutely need more from the signal-caller.

• Saquon Barkley

Saquon had a poor year in 2021. No two ways about it. He looked tentative and sluggish, he lacked the explosiveness we’re used to. He also missed some time/played hurt after an ankle injury knocked him out in week 5.
At his best, Saquon is a dynamic weapon that can be used in all phases. Daboll and Kafka have him lining up out wide on some plays so far this offseason, and those creative uses will only help his production. But is he going to be fully healthy all year, and how good will that healthy Saquon be? Did he lose something with his injuries?
The other factor of this is: Saquon’s contact is up after this year. Would the Giants re-sign him? How much would it cost? Would they tag him? That’s a tough question to answer this far out.

• Overall Health

The Giants were a very banged up team last year, especially in the skill position groups. So far this offseason a number of players have already been limited with injuries, including 3 of the last 4 first round picks: Andrew Thomas, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Kadarius Toney. This team doesn’t have the depth to succeed through a litany of injuries.

• Impact of Coaching Changes

If you were trying to build a coaching staff as different as possible from Joe Judge’s, it might look a lot like what Brian Daboll has put together. And the differences start with Daboll, who has given off a much more laid back and personable vibe than Judge, who very much put on a face for the media and tried to be different in the locker room.
Then you get into the OC/DC changes; Daboll and Kafka have talked at length on team content about creating explosive plays and getting the ball into the hands of their most dangerous playmakers and letting them go to work. That’s a huge contrast from Jason Garrett’s safe quick game offense. It’s not just about throwing the ball down the field, it’s also about different route combinations and blocking systems post-snap. Daboll’s offense is going to leverage more crossing routes and route combinations, compared to Garrett’s “on rails” offense, which hindered the Giants significantly.
Full disclosure: I’m a big fan of Patrick Graham. He’s a very adaptable DC who understands how to use the personnel he has and not overplay his hand. The Raiders got a very good DC who will be a head coach within a couple of years.
But Wink Martindale adds a new dynamic to the room. I love Wink, he was one of the HC candidates I wanted before Judge was hired. I really like the idea of having an aggressive defense that is imposing their will on the offense and trying to create plays for themselves instead of trying to take away the whole field like Graham did. I think it’ll be good to give that unit some identity. And Wink fits Daboll’s personality and vibe as well.
It’s not a guarantee this coaching staff will be a success, though, so it’s still an important thing to watch.

Scheme Description

Schedule Prediction

• Week 1: @ TEN, 09/11, 4:25 PM EST

The Giants’ #1 priority has to be taking away the ground game. A lot of the Titans offense revolves around Derrick Henry and building the passing game off the run in my opinion. It’s a pretty small stable of skill position players, so take away the run game and take away Burks and you probably are off to a good start.
The Titans defense looks pretty strong to me; I don’t see a lot of weaknesses to exploit. It’ll be important for the Giants bookend tackles to take on Dupree and Landry and win. It’s a good thing this is week 1 because hopefully the Giants will have their full stable of weapons to help spread Tennessee’s defense out and maybe take advantage of the young DBs.
I’ll chalk this one up as a loss.

• Week 2: vs CAR, 09/18, 1:00 PM EST

There’s two big questions for me in this game about the Panthers’ offense: who will be the starting QB? Sam Darnold? Matt Corral? Baker Mayfield? Do I need to be scared of them (Corral is my personal favorite of the group at this stage)? And then how will the IOL group of Brady Christensen, Bradley Bozeman, and Austin Corbett hold up against Leonard Williams and Dexter Lawrence? To me, that’s where the matchup really needs to be won for the Giants.If they can rattle the QB with well-timed blitzes, and control the line of scrimmage and take the game out of CMC’s hands, that’ll lay a good groundwork.
As or the Panthers’ defense, it looks like a really strong unit. I’m a huge Brian Burns fan, and they’ve surrounded him with a lot of solid young defenders. If there is a weakness on this Panthers defense, it’s probably the LB room; if the Giants can get their RPO game and deep crossers going, that’s probably the way to attack this Panthers defense.
I think this is a game that, like the Falcons in 2021, the Giants would be unhappy to lose.

• Week 3: vs DAL, 09/26, 8:15 PM EST

I absolutely hate playing against the Cowboys offense. They’ve got a ton of quality weapons and they are effective in both phases. The upside is: no more Amari Cooper. But the Cowboys have plenty more weapons. Frankly, I’m not sure how to really break this offense. Maybe you can take advantage of Terence Steele, Tyler Smith, and Tyler Biadasz? But I’m not sold.
On the flip side, there might be some room to work for the Giants offense. The Cowboys front 4 is not super threatening, Tank Lawrence is always a threat, but the rest of the group I’m not exactly worried about yet, with a lot of recent draft picks who haven’t really gone anywhere yet. And while Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs certainly pose a threat, I’m not really scared of anyone else back there.
I can’t sit here and tell you I expect to win this game, though. It’s a loss to me.

• Week 4: vs CHI, 10/02, 1:00 PM EST

The Bears' offensive personnel is extremely underwhelming, from their OL to their WR group. This is a game Wink Martindale’s defense can really create chaos in and rattle Justin Fields.
On the other side of the ball, the Bears look pretty weak too. They invested in their DBs this offseason, adding Jaquan Brisker and Kyler Gordon, but the front 7 looks weak as well, with Robert Quinn and Roquan Smith not having much support.
This is a game the Giants should be looking to make a statement and say “yeah we are a better team than that this year.” And I do expect them to win this one.

• Week 5: vs GB, 10/09, 9:30 AM EST

The Packers had 2 first round picks this year after trading Davante Adams, and they invested both on defense. Frankly, this Packers team looks really really good. Not having Adams definitely hurts the Packers, but I’m not counting out Aaron Rodgers.
I feel like this one is definitely a loss.

• Week 6: vs BAL, 10/16, 1:00 PM EST

I worry about such a blitz heavy scheme against such a dynamic and mobile QB like Lamar. Especially since Lamar has experience going up against Wink in practice. Their OL is really solid and despite having generally weaker skill position players, Lamar can create a lot of space with his legs that would definitely scare me.
Defensively, I’m not entirely sure what to make of the Ravens. Their new DC is coming from the college ranks, and while I’m very confident they have a ton of talent, I have no idea what it’ll actually look like put together. So I don’t know how to best threaten this unit.
I don’t expect to win this game either

• Week 7: @ JAX, 10/23, 1:00 PM EST

This is another opportunity for Wink Martindale to rattle a young QB. Lawrence will be in his first year in this new offense, and most of the positions on that offense are manned by pretty uninspiring (but not outright bad) players. There isn’t really a guy on this offense I fear will take over the game.
The Jags invested a ton into their defense this offseason as well, in both free agency and the draft. It honestly looks like a pretty strong unit, and I’m not sure there’s a lot of weakness there. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was not a lot of scoring in this game.
I think Giants fans want to chalk this up as a win, and so do I, but I don’t know, something smells. It’s a tossup for me right now.

• Week 8: @ SEA, 10/30, 4:25 PM EST

To be honest with you, I just am not scared of Geno Smith or Drew Lock. Old Takes Exposed me when one of them goes for 400/4 on us in this game, and I am in no place to talk with Daniel Jones as my team’s QB, but that just seems extra problematic. It feels like Carroll wants to go back to only passing when necessary and winning on defense, but I just don’t think it’s going to work here. Their defense isn’t horrible, there’s some good players, but it’s far from a finished product.
I think this is a win.

So the Giants go into the bye week with a record of 3-5 or 4-4, depending on that Jags game. Not bad at all for Daboll’s first year!

• Week 10: vs HOU, 11/13, 1:00 PM EST

The Texans are yet another team more or less undergoing a full scale rebuild.
Davis Mills is still a relative unknown and that defense still has some serious holes in it. I think it’ll take a little bit longer for that team to really blossom, so it’s a win in my book for now.

• Week 11: vs DET, 11/20, 1:00 PM EST

The obvious problem for the Lions offensively now is Jared Goff, who finds himself firmly in the “doesn’t suck but isn’t actively good” tier of QBs. They have a really solid OL and while their skill position players aren’t incredible, it's an okay group in my eyes. We’ll see just how healthy Williams is, this will be about 10 months post-ACL tear for him, but I think this team could go as far as Goff is capable of taking them. That might not be that far though.
Defensively, I like a lot of what they’ve done, but there’s still a lot of work to do. They have a solid stable of pass rushers and I am personally pretty high on their corners.
All that said, it’s hard for me to really go all in, just like it’s probably hard for all of you guys to be all in on the Giants. This is another game I think Giants fans expect to win, and I do as well.

• Week 12: @ DAL, 11/24, 4:30 PM EST

Our annual trip to JerryWorld is on Thanksgiving this year! I still expect to lose this game for the same reasons I thought we’d lose the first meeting.

• Week 13: vs WAS, 12/4, 1:00 PM EST

Despite adding Carson Wentz and upgrading their QB spot, I don’t think that the Commanders have gotten better proportionally to the rest of the league, though. They are returning a lot of production, their FA was mostly focused around replacing any outgoing starters like Brandon Scherff, and their draft was really underwhelming for me, I didn't love the value they got with Dotson, Mathis, and Robinson.
I think they’re mostly the same team as they were last year (especially on defense) and it’s really up to Wentz to elevate that team. He’s 0/2 on his last couple attempts, so I feel pretty okay with this matchup. Overall I think we’ll split with Washington on the season.

• Week 14: vs PHI, 12/11, 1:00 PM EST

The Eagles were a much better team than they were expected to be in 2021 and I think they got a hell of a lot better this offseason. Acquiring AJ Brown and James Bradberry is huge for them, and then drafting Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean as potentially day 1 impact players is a huge gain for them.
The Giants struggled both times against Philly last year to stop the run game. In fact, if the Eagles had stuck to the ground game more in the first matchup of 2021, they would have won that game in my opinion. And there’s no real indication that that’ll change. Jalen Hurts is still a running threat, their OL is still just as good if not better, and their stable of RBs only lost Jordan Howard. Stopping the run and forcing Jalen Hurts to beat them worked last year, so that should be the gameplan.
On the other side of the ball, the Eagles have continued to build through the trenches, adding Jordan Davis and Haason Reddick. Their safeties and LBs are a weakness, so trying to take advantage over the middle of the field is probably the way to go.
I don’t really expect to win this game at this stage.

• Week 15: @ WAS, 12/18, TBA

Two games in three weeks against Washington. Date/Time pending, might be a Saturday apparently? Refer to previous WFT game writeup.

• Week 16: @ MIN, 12/24, 1 PM EST

This will be a tough offense to stop, with Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen through the air and Dalvin Cook on the ground. Again the plan will have to be to stop the run, have Adoree’ Jackson trail Justin Jefferson, and hope we can throw Kirk Cousins off his game with constant pressure.
This Vikings defense should be no slouch either. They have pass rushers, they have good linebackers, they have a fine secondary, especially if Cam Dantzler continues to grow and Andrew Booth can be healthy and ready to go. And with Ed Donatell bringing a more Vic Fangio-like defense to town, this is going to be a tough one for the Giants.
I expect another loss on the board.

• Week 17: vs IND, 01/01, 1 PM EST

First off, I don’t know just how good Matt Ryan still is. I thought he looked noticeably weaker last year. Second, there is still a glaring hole at LT, with either Matt Pryor or Bernhard Raimann looking like they’re in line for the gig. Raimann is a raw prospect who needs a lot of seasoning in my opinion, and Pryor has played most of his career’s snaps at guard, if PFR is to be believed. For the second week in a row, the priority will be to shut down the superstar RB on the other side and force the Colts to win through the air.
The Colts defense has a lot of familiar faces on it, but they also added a few big names. If there’s one weakness on this Colts defense for me, it’s whoever their 3rd CB will be. Gilmore and Moore make a solid duo, but I don’t think there’s a quality 3rd CB on that roster. If the Giants can spread the defense out and get the ball out into space, they can probably look to put up some points.
I’m going to assume this will be a loss, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a lock.

• Week 18: @ PHI, 01/08, TBA

The Giants have only beaten the Eagles in Philly ONCE since Super Bowl XLVI. That was in 2013. EIGHT straight losses in Philly, and only 3 total wins against Philly since that 2013 win.
I’ll believe the Giants win in Philly when I see it.

So putting this all together, I’m ballparking the Giants win total at 6 or 7. 5 or 8 wouldn’t surprise me either. And a lot of that has to do with some pretty soft opponents (that could very easily beat us too, if I’m being honest).
Look, this is a team that is very clearly in the first stages of rebuilding. It’s not going to be easy, it’s not going to be fun losing for another year. But honestly, I don’t care how many wins the team gets this year. I mean, I do, but their win total this year isn’t necessarily indicative of where this team is going.
As long as the young players that this regime is investing in show up and start to build a foundation of core young players, then I’m good. I don’t care if we lose games because of Daniel Jones, or because Blake Martinez lost a step, or if Aaron Robinson isn’t good enough to claim the CB2 job. Those things can be fixed. As long as guys like Andrew Thomas, Evan Neal, Kadarius Toney, Xavier McKinney, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Azeez Ojulari are taking the reins and making me believe that they can be Giants for life, I’m set.
This roster is going to turn over a lot, that’s just how it goes with bad teams and new regimes. We’re hopefully laying the groundwork this year so that next year and the year after, we can really start to rebound out of the dark times we’ve been in the last 5 years.
If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading and for sticking with me through this behemoth monstrosity of a post. This is always really fun to do and I'm glad I get the opportunity to write it. If you have any comments, questions, or anything like that, please let me know!

https://www.bigblueinteractive.com/information-pages/new-york-giants-coaching-staff/
"Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports and The Athletic is reporting that the New York Giants are expected to hire Vanderbilt linebackers coach John Egorugwu."
... also unofficially ...
New York Giants 2022 assistant coaches
[NOTE: These are reported and have not been confirmed by the Giants]
Offensive coordinator — Mike Kafka
Quarterbacks — Shea Tierney
Running backs —
Offensive line — Bobby Johnson
Assistant offensive line — Tony Sparano Jr.
Tight ends — Andy Bischoff
Wide receivers — Mike Groh
Defensive coordinator — Don ‘Wink’ Martindale
Defensive line — Andre Patterson
Linebackers — John Egorugwu
Secondary — Jerome Henderson
Assistant defensive backs — Mike Treier
Special teams coordinator — Thomas McGaughey
Assistant special teams coordinator — Anthony Blevins
Director of coaching operations — Laura Young

I know you guys beat the "Diet Pepsi" announcement to death yesterday, but take a look at our friends at BBI. It has not escaped their notice.
http://www.bigblueinteractive.com/2021/12/17/preview-dallas-cowboys-at-new-york-giants-december-19-2021/
But more importantly, look at the injury/illness list. This game is going to be special. And because it is against the Cowboys, I am wondering if this is the game that will become the first in NFL history where one team scores 100 points. That's 14 TDs and a FG. A big task but it could happen.
In the first half, there is a pretty good chance that with no pass rush and no actual secondary, the Cowboys put up 35-42 offensive points. Should they do that, they will likely just play back-ups and run the ball in the second half which will limit their scoring to 14-21 points. That tallies to something between 49-63 offensive points. That leaves a lot of wood to chop to get to 100.
In steps Freddie Kitchens and Micah Parsons. In the first half, with Dallas scoring at will, the Giants will certainly try to score themselves. Since we cannot run the ball we will certainly have to throw it. Problem is, we have no QB who can throw the ball, at least not with any accuracy; and he'll have to do it under extreme duress from the aforementioned Parsons, amongst many others. Glennon will certainly be sacked more than once in the first half and he will definitely throw multiple picks and maybe even add a fumble or two. The question is whether the Dallas D will score itself. If they do, by the half the score could cross 50 points.
Trailing 40-something plus to nothing in the second half, and playing against second and third string players, does Kitchens try to run a so-called balanced offense where he tries to score, or does he simply hand the ball off to Booker and Brightwell and essentially take a 30 minute knee?
In that latter scenario, can the Dallas D dislodge the ball and score itself 7 times in a half?
That may be too big of an order so 100-0 is probably out of the question. But 50-0 definitely feels possible. Will a 50-0 humiliation do anything to motivate ownership to behave differently? Considering they thought that their Diet Pepsi offer would do anything other than create even more derision tells you no. There is some whacky shit going on in this team's C-Suite, and none of it points positively towards building a winning program.
I'm out of patience and seriously considering just quitting football altogether (can I quit the habit?). I can't become a fan of another team and it is certainly no fun watching or thinking or reading about this team. This Board is the only thing that makes any given season bearable. And there are no apparent solutions.
The one thing I would be on board with is a fund-raiser that was designed to raise enough money to pay for a full page ad in the New York Times where we could post an angry-fan screed that we collectively write. It would have to be edited heavily as the first draft would likely be 17 pages long. But after deleting the curse words, I'm confident we could get it down to 2 pages and then work from there. A full one pager telling the world (and John Mara) why he sucks and why the fans are going to desert him, would at least feel good and might even cause Mara to offer us a half-price Coors Light.
I don't know; just a thought. Seeking some sort of catharsis.

http://www.bigblueinteractive.com/2021/12/10/preview-new-york-giants-at-los-angeles-chargers-december-12-2021/

The current state of team affairs has me rather incensed (aren't we all) and wanting someone to again fly a banner over the stadium (during a game), demanding change ("15 Years of lousy football, we've had enough" and 1978 - a cold dark era ended by a hot fire).
While looking for an archived photo of that plane's banner (very hard to find for some reason), I realized...
(1) The 43rd anniversary of that 1st banner is... in two days (ironic)
(2) The 40th anniversay of our "return to relevance" season is 2021 (1981: A favorite year (of mine) in Giants history) - 4 decades is a real long time.
(3) Five SBs over 40 years averages once every eight seasons
(4) If we have "good fortune" (DG leaves the Org, Mara replaces him with a "George Young" type football man, and we luck-out in the draft), the 2030 SB is reasonable, isn't it?
I'd like to see a return to glory with my grandchildren at my side, so one day they can be Giants football devotees and maybe even pen a rambling post like this one.
Thanks for reading this and Happy Holidays to all of you.

Take a look at this week's "preview" write-up from BBI; it tells you all you need to know about the meaning of this game and every one to follow from here on out:
http://www.bigblueinteractive.com/2021/10/15/preview-los-angeles-rams-at-new-york-giants-october-17-2021/
At least the Lincoln quote is worth a chuckle
But Kennedy has hit on something that ought to be taken seriously inside The Swamp - the Team has passed beyond excuses and platitudes - they are no fun to watch - and other than certain diehards who will remain nameless, they will lose the future generation of fans.
Not only have the Giants been terrible for the past decade, but they seem to get worse by the season. Each management decision turns out worse than the one before it.
Firing Coughlin after the 2015 season was the right move, but Ben MacAdoo was a worse choice.
Not firing Reese after 2015 and allowing him to go on a ridiculous spending spree were 2 terrible coupled decisions, but Dave Gettleman has proven worse in both regards.
Shurmur was at least as poor a HC as MacAdoo, but Judge has already proven to be worse than both combined. But for firing fatigue, Judge wouldn't survive the season.
Now, knowing that 1-16 might put his tit squarely in the ringer, Judge is recklessly taking his starting QB and throwing him into the meat grinder in the vain hope that Jones can generate a victory all on his own, something he has really never done, other than perhaps his first action against Tampa and 2 weeks ago against New Orleans. But now he is asked to do it without Golloday and Barkley, with an o-line that changes by the game due to injury, and paired with a defense that has been terrible in every facet of the game and is now slowly losing the war of attrition.
And still Dave Gettleman persists.
There is no reason to continue to watch this team other than morbid curiosity.
The one thing that baffles me is Mara's seeming indifference to being a laughingstock. I get it is his team, his life. I get there are other family members who like to dabble. But every day they have to awaken to ridicule at their handling of affairs. One would think making tens of millions annually and fielding a competitive product would be enormously more enjoyable than making tens of millions of dollars and not only being thought the fool, but being thought the fool "out loud", publicly. But I guess that is not how they feel. It must be more important to them to be the ones making key decisions even if they are disastrous, than presiding over a well respected and competitively successful franchise.

BBI's post game review is worth a read so I am posting it here
http://www.bigblueinteractive.com/2021/10/05/game-review-new-york-giants-27-new-orleans-saints-21-ot/
There is good and bad in it.
Starting with the bad - meaning bad for what we can take from the victory - the Saints had 6 starters out with injuries; I didn't realize at the time we were playing against so many back-ups. We have our own injury issues, but still, puts a little damper on the triumph.
As for the positive, the offensive body of work through 4 games is encouraging. Look at the stat categories at the bottom of the article. Very few turnovers, not too terrible for penalties, and respectable scoring % per drive (12th in the league).
Offensively, as much as anything, we need to work on red zone efficiency. We are not a good enough defensive team to settle for FGs by our offense. They better try some stuff like taking both Rudolph and Engram off the field inside the 20 and hucking the ball to Collin Johnson (or David Sills if they would only . . . .)
On the really positive side, the performances by Golloday, Toney and Ross all look better and better the more you analyze them. Speed (Toney, Ross), size and savvy (Golloday) are embodied in these three guys. Let's hope Garrett and Judge don't dilute that by working Shephard and Slayton back into the mix too heavily once healthy.
Finally, Saquon. Apparently a mixed bag. The moves he displayed in the open field look just as encouraging on review as they did real time. But at least according to the article he missed two running lanes that could have been significant plays. I can no longer remember whether 2018 left us concerned about his instinctiveness. All I remember from '18 is his high hurdles. The running game is still a net negative and it will be a real challenge if Barkley doesn't read the running opportunities on top of his innate love of dance.
At any rate, off to Dallas. Need to score 42. Can we do it? Rhetorical

Here ... look over this depth chart. Then tell me what sort of magical coach we could hire that would turn this bunch of scrubs and castoffs into a decent team. Subtract the injuries and it's even more tragic. This it what Mara/Tisch/Gettleman have assembled. It's crap ... utter crap. Comically inept. A joke. I don't blame our coaches ... I feel sorry for them.
http://www.bigblueinteractive.com/information-pages/new-york-giants-depth-chart/

http://www.bigblueinteractive.com/2002/08/13/preseason-game-review-new-england-patriots-new-york-giants-august-10-2002/
Gabe Lindstrom had one punt for 37 yards. On this play Darnell Dinkins obliterated Faulk for no gain. It was as good a specials hit as I’ve ever seen and had me jacked up.
https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/12/sports/pro-football-crushing-hit-draws-fassel-s-attention.html
Dinkins's crushing hit on punt returner Kevin Faulk in the third quarter of the Giants' 22-19 victory against New England stood out, on a night when Fassel was preoccupied with the failures of the special teams
I remember seeing this live when I was 10 years old and it's been swimming in my brain ever since. In my head he's basically a horizontal missile in mid-air and the millisecond the ball touches the returner he blows him up. I have not been able to find the clip, or the entire game video, on the internet over years of searching. Can anybody help me find my white whale? Thanks

Reasons for picking David Diehl- The definition of “versatile” is someone who is “able to adapt or be adapted to many different functions or activities.” Throughout David Diehl’s career, he fit the label “versatile” better than most players. At Illinois, he played at both guard and tackle as he helped the Illinois offense reach heights they hadn’t seen since the mid-1980s, including making the Sugar Bowl in 2001 and having both a RB and WR each gain over 1,000 yards in 2002. That same year, Diehl was named Second-team All-Big Ten and won Illinois’s Wright Commitment to Excellence Award for showing academic excellence while overcoming obstacles in college. Despite having great size and athleticism, Diehl fell to the 5th round of the 2003 Draft, where he was selected by the New York Giants and immediately praised by Giants GM Ernie Accorsi for his versatility.
Transitioning to the NFL is hard enough for many offensive linemen who are drafted in the 1st round, so the odds of a 5th-round offensive lineman being a Day 1 starter are often so astronomical they are hardly ever considered. However, Diehl went on to surprise Giants coaches and players alike as he beat out Tam Hopkins, the then-starting right guard on the team, to earn a starting spot on the Giants offensive line. He then became the first Giants rookie since Mark Bavaro in 1985 to start all 16 games, and started every game in which he was active for the next 9 seasons. Having been drafted as a versatile player, he lived up to his title and spent time at nearly every position on the offensive line in his career: 75 games at left tackle, 43 at left guard, 26 at right tackle and 27 at right guard. He also helped the Giants win two Super Bowls and was named to the Pro Bowl in 2009, while being a starter in 160 out of a possible 176 games for the Giants. Diehl retired after the 2013 season and currently works as a football analyst for FOX and CBS Sports.

BBI (bigblueinteractive) and this subreddit are my main sources for giants content. I wanted to pass along that the owner and editor in chief "Eric from BBI" was at the capitol.
It was posted on the forum there and I was able to find his facebook page with pictures of him right in the middle of the crowd.(thread has been deleted and facebook page hidden) I don't know if he was part of the mob. But I wanted to bring this to everyones attention because he solicits donations on his website. I've donated to him, and I feel betrayed.
I dont want to start a boycot or get the site taken down. He has a right to his beliefs. But I feel it's important that everyone is aware.
Mods, if this is breaking rules.. please delete.

Having just beaten Philadelphia for the first time in forever, and, as a result, being in contention for the division crown, it is easy to suddenly forget that we are still just 3-7 and that division crown will likely be very tarnished if grabbed. But in our bye week, resting and healing and hopefully quarantining (Gano WTF?), it's a good time to self-scout and ask -- could we really be improving?
Every team says they do it, especially during the bye-week, but with Judge, I actually believe it. I think the Columbo firing tells us who Judge is as a coach; and who I think he is is a guy who is analyzing his team every game, every practice, every play. He's a guy who can tell the difference between a weak talent and a bad play or game or multi-game slump. He's a guy who looks at everyone and everything, coaches and players alike. He's a guy who is decisive in diagnosing problems and conceiving creative responses to attempt to overcome such issues. Most of all he is a man in control of his team with one overriding mantra: park your ego at the door - you are either part of the solution or you are part of the problem. The Columbo example, if what we read is true, is an incident in which one man's ego led to resistance to getting better and to the I95 off-ramp somewhere south of New Jersey. I am ready to say it: Ladies and Gentlemen, the New York (football) Giants have themselves a coach. I have a strong feeling that he is going to be here for a long, long time (unless of course we have stupid ownership that does something ridiculous).
If you buy the above, and you also buy with it that most of the rest of the coaching staff is pulling capably with the same oar (watch for a Garrett departure at season's end - more on that later in a later post), then let's look at the players themselves, their current production, and what it portends for the future.
The weekly write-up by the boys at BBI focuses directly on the O-Line and it is a good read.
http://www.bigblueinteractive.com/2020/11/17/game-review-new-york-giants-27-philadelphia-eagles-17/
LeMieux, Gates and Thomas are all suddenly getting high grades in the run blocking game. All are getting significantly lower marks for pass blocking, and that is evident with the eye test. Way too much pressure on DJ, but at least there are moments of respite. Zeitler's play has returned to his historic levels of late which means good pass blocking, mediocre run blocking. Fleming remains a disaster and one wonders what is keeping Judge from going all in on Peart. For once, I trust the coach to be right on when to swap out a lousy veteran for a rookie with promise; and if Judge thinks the slow roll is the way to go, who am I? But I really hope when the team emerges from its bye it is with Peart at RT and Fleming at right-pine. If Peart gets the last 6 games and shows promise, come the off-season we will likely only be looking for a quality guard and quality depth to put this unit over the hump. The BBI article posits such acquisitions while simultaneously holding on to Zeitler and Solder. I don't see how that is financially feasible but we will see.
The improvement we are seeing in the O-Line is also happening exactly as you would want to see it: dreadful through the first 5 games; much better over the most recent 5. Now, a little tempering. The line was so awful over the first 5 games that the offense as a whole is still 31st in yards gained and points score. Even in the last 5 games (which by the way has resulted in a 3-2 record) we are still erratic and most concerning, mostly impotent in the second half after our opponents have taken our best shot and, with a 15 minute break, come back and figured out how to shut us down. To my eyes, the 2nd half futility is largely a product of other teams selling out more with blitzes and crowding the line, daring us to react quickly and beat them over the top. Historically we haven't been able to pull that off; the Philly victory is a peek at what happens when we do.
Turning to Daniel Jones. Two games without turnovers, two W's. It's not just that simple, but it's a helluva place to start. As poorly as Jones played in Tampa in what was still a game we should have won, he was that good against Philly, and he was as big a reason we won that game as anyone. As pretty and exciting as that TD run was (not to mention the TD run that got called back), the responding 3rd Q drive and the back-to-back deep balls to Shepard and Tate, is what got me personally excited. Big pressure, big-time throws, perfectly placed. DJ followed up with that late bomb to Slayton that sealed the deal and it too was a big-time, big-pressure throw; and maybe, for the first time all year, the offense actually took control late and put the W on its back. If Daniel can continue to play as he has these past 2 weeks (and of course build and grow off that), then he IS our quarterback.
The offense isn't good yet; it is still barely competitive. But it is definitely improving. 3-2 says so, even if it includes Washington 2x. Going forward, the unit needs a true No. 1 receiver (we all know that) who can be that guy that other teams fear and in the process allow Slayton to be harder to game plan around and Shepard to become the possession receiver out of the slot he is meant to be. The offense also needs a serious upgrade at TE. I know there are those who continue to hold out hope that Engram will one day match his football skills to his athletic ability, but after nearly 4 seasons, color me skeptical. He drops too many balls, he blocks with intermittent success at best, he commits too many penalties (the guy is a "pick route' disaster). Now, consistent with the above, if Judge believes then I'll have to trust; but if I had to choose between picking up his relatively expensive option in one last desperate hope that he finally succeeds, or move on immediately, I'm heading' down that long dusty highway. The rest of the TE's are JAGs of varying degrees. Upgrade at this position is sorely needed.
RB is suddenly a serious question mark. What will we have in Barkley when he returns? Will he have the same athleticism, and if he does, will he have it in '21? Is he an every down back in the NFL - 3 seasons and he has been injured for 17 of 48 possible contests. Is he even the right style runner for the offense the Giants are building? The last seems like a silly question; the pre-ACL Barkley was so gifted that one would think he'd be the "right" talent for any offense. But when you look at the recent running success, it has all been straight up the middle, quick-hitting power runs. Is that Barkley's game? Can this offense run to the outside? Can this offense block the backside and get to the second level to allow cut-back lanes? Next season will be interesting as we find out what we now have in Barkley. What we know we likely won't have is any obvious quality depth. None of Freeman, Morris or Lewis will be on the team, and Gallman may well walk in FA (if he finishes at least as strong over the final six and can put up two individual 100+ yard games I think it will be certain). We will need to add two capable backs some how, some way -- likely UDRFA's.
Flipping to the defensive side, much of what this defense has pulled off appears more smoke and mirrors than actual talent. Kudo's to Patrick Graham for building a carnival fun house. But there has been improvement, and it has come mostly in the secondary of all places. Like the 0-line, outside of Bradberry and occasionally Peppers, the rest of the guys are so bad there is nowhere to go but up. But last week against Philly was the first time I saw Love make positive plays all season - I'm thinking of 1 pursuit tackle at the LOS in particular. Holmes is on the cusp as our SCOTF (that's "slot corner of the future" for the acronym-impaired) and Yiadom, despite the strong-isn game against Philly, is almost certainly just a 2020 stop-gap. Still, without a serious pass rush, the secondary is showing signs of better overall play (after all, all those LW 5 seconds sacks and pressures don't happen in the absence of coverage). That likely is only meaningful for the last 6 games of 2020 and we'll be back in the market come the '21 offseason. We are all hoping to see McKinney before the season ends, but given that he has yet to be designated for return that looks less likely by the week.
Contract decisions along the D-Line, finding a true pass rushing threat and the endless search for quality LB'r talent, will dictate whether we have to remain a fun house in '21 or instead can play defense outside of the circus.
Then there is our already stellar special teams. Gano? WTF? Covid? You idiot!! Hernandez getting Covid was a blessing; you, it may be a disaster. What will we all be saying a week from Monday if we lose to Cincy on a last second FG miss by Santoso, his 3rd miss of the game!!! You better test negative all week and be back for Cincy or we may rescind your contract!! But seriously folks, between Gano, Riley (oh he of the 71 yard punt) and Peppers as a punt returner, we already have ourselves a serious unit.
To recap: we are 3-7; we sport the next to lowest scoring offense in the league; our defense is ephemeral; and we have the inside lane in the race to the division title this season. Crazy shit.
And yes, we need at least a half dozen big-time upgrades to move to the status of truly competitive (WR, G, TE, CB, LB, Edge), but the arrow is suddenly pointing up for the O-Line and our QB, and that alone is the kind of promise this community needs. And we have The Coach!!
Too bad there is no football this weekend. Think of that, ruing the bye!!

http://www.bigblueinteractive.com/2020/11/10/game-review-new-york-giants-23-washington-football-team-20/
Good read here.
Every week the love for Gates grows. It is looking like time to start believing in him which is terrific. He is the first O-Lineman we can seemingly really trust since the simultaneous decline of Suebert, O'Hara and Snee after 2010. Only a decade to find one lineman. Woo-hoo!!
But in other positive news, they are pointing out promising early returns on Peart and LeMieux, as well as a second straight more positive than not outing for Thomas. It's a little hard to reconcile those positive assessments with a stat line sporting 5 sacks, 9 hits and more pressures, but the group is starting from the lowest possible bar. Three rookies and a 2nd year guy with no pre-season and learning more over zoom than on the field creates room for hope.
I'm getting the sense that as much as Judge wants his team to win, he has a very specific plan for this o-line. To the outside observer it seems crazy to keep trotting Fleming out, and the thought of Hernandez returning to the line-up is depressing until proven otherwise. Why the rotation where Peart and LeMiex get only 30-40% of the snaps despite looking like upgrades in those opportunities? The only answer I come up with is that Judge is treating these kids like young pitchers - bringing them along slowly so as not to overwhelm them early and set them back. BBI speculates that this week will be Flemings last start. That will mean Peart at RT. The rotation this week seems like an audition for Hernandez to remain in the line-up at Zeitler's expense more than continued apprehension regarding LeMieux. Coming out of the bye, we may well see Thomas, Hernandez/LeMieux, Gates, LeMieux/Hernandez, Peart. That would be a line with < 8 collective years of NFL experience -- otherwise known as the o-line of the future. Fingers crossed Hernandez shows enough this week to deserve it, Thomas, Peart and LeMieux continue their recent trajectory, and the offense is poised to finally start improving.
FF will appreciate BBI's growing love for Lenny. They posit the idea that a true edge rusher could really set him free. I still don't see how the Giants afford LW, especially with Tomlinson hitting FA as well. Going to be a very tough negotiating season and one I've seen no evidence Gettleman is up for. And if the o-line continues to improve and Judge ekes out 3-5 more W's somehow, DG is likely to still be here (if he wants to be) and his ability to screw up veteran resigning can continue (LW given richest contract ever for DT; 75% guaranteed, then traded for a player to be named later who will really be like a No. 1 pick).
The rest of the write-up focuses on the impact of turnovers (or the lack thereof). Obvious point but one that is sometimes overlooked as we think about the Greats who can overcome such mistakes real time ( Favre, Peyton, Brees, etc.). If DJ is able to correct his turnover proclivity the rest of the way this year, we'll begin to hear comparison's with Coughlin's impact on Tiki's one-time fumbling woes.
All in all, an assessment that is more positive than not (avert your eyes from the secondary they suggest), but it was Washington after all and DJ and this team are still 1-16 against the rest of the league. Someday they have to start winning or all the "promise" is just rationalization to con sole ourselves with the losing.

Posting BBI's Game Review from last week. As I say every time I do this, I like these guys assessments because they are true-blue Giants' fans who I believe see the team clearly fir what it is at any given moment. Because we are 1-7 the assessment is more often than not a bit harsh (DJ - some talent but such a turnover machine that he has to go unless he suddenly agrees to a cease and desist order; Shepard - not terrible, but not a deep threat mostly do to the lack of another gear and poor ball skills; Engram - he sucks).
http://www.bigblueinteractive.com/2020/11/03/game-review-tampa-bay-buccaneers-25-new-york-giants-23-2/
They do throw this bone: for those who believe in the fantasy of a 2020 Covid-Inspired playoff appearance, the next two weeks are must wins!!
Enjoy and discuss

one of my favorite lyrics from Bob Dylan
always an appropriate one in assessing the week-to-week fate of the NY Giants.
this week we face the 1-3 Cowboys who have become the poster child for underperforming talent year-in year-out.
And as the gods would have it, the Cowboys strength is offense; their weakness, defense
And for the Giants, their "strength" (you knew strength had to be in quotes) and weakness matches perfectly with Dallas'.
So the argument goes: something has to give.
My guess is that this goes in Dallas' favor big time. I think this may well turn out to be the worst slaughter of the young season so far (Philly will of course be worse once we get there).
It seems to me that between a really bad defense and a league-worst offense, the defense has the edge. Here I think the Dallas D get's a big lift from the fact that the only thing they do well is rush the passer. Given how bad our WR's and TE's are, once Jones is under pressure the aerial portion of the offense will be grounded. There will be no downfield strikes - Dallas' big weakness - unless Slayton can prove he's capable of beating the press. If you accept that notion, then you say turn to the running game. But we all know that the running game no longer sports a quality running back, and the o-line has yet to prove that it can consistently run block (although the Rams game was an improvement). The Giants offense is averaging 11.7 points per game, no TD's in the last 8 quarters, no TD passes since Week 1, and near the league lead in turnovers committed. That gives Dallas a ton of wiggle room on defense.
On the flip side, the Giants defense, although it has been surprisingly effective thus far - other than against SF - despite the absence of a real pass rush, has zero wiggle room. And, the absence of that pass rush will likely bite them big time this week. Moreover, the Giants run defense has been weakest on the edges and you have to expect Zeke to go there often. And of course there is the proverbial screen and swing pass which remains an open invitation. Even if the Defense plays its best game of the season, that likely means Dallas scores a minimum of 14 points, and that's at least 2 points too many.
But in all likelihood Dallas scores early and often in this one and the Giants will find themselves on the bottom looking up at a 40-spot or worse.
When, at 11.7 points per game "you think that you've lost everything," you find out with a big fat 0 that "you can always lose a little more."
A shutout is coming one of these weeks very soon. I think it is this week. Dallas 45 Giants 0
For another take, see the link below from our friends over at BBI:
http://www.bigblueinteractive.com/2020/10/09/preview-new-york-giants-at-dallas-cowboys-october-11-2020/

I post again BBI's take on the latest loss:
​
https://www.bigblueinteractive.com/2020/10/06/game-review-los-angeles-rams-17-new-york-giants-9/
​
Music to FF's ears: can't worry about wins - only whether the Giants are finding players they can build upon.
What they come up with is Martinez, Fackrell, Lawrence, Bradberry. The skewers are out for Thomas (the bunny-hopper), Slayton (exposed), Engram ("he is not a good football player"), Zeitler (he is a shell of himself).
They say too soon to judge Jones and they compare his abysmal stats to Eli's abysmal stats over the same time period; but they do say if the team is in position to draft Trevor Lawrence at year's end, then it likely means Jones has played himself out of a job.
They give props to Gates for fighting with Darnold; not so much for his play, which they rank as improving to the degree that he one day might make a good depth player.
In short, the Giants are nowhere as a team; at least nowhere that anyone can see. Is Judge the right coach? Who can say when the team records 0 victories. Will Jones be able to develop into a quality NFL QB? 33 turnovers in 16 games suggests no, but there is little question that he has the worst supporting cast in the NFL. Is Andrew Thomas another wrong guess along the O-Line? Brian Baldinger is beginning to think yes; that's scary. Will all of these lower expectations for what constitutes progress mean that Gettleman survives another year despite the looming 0-16 record? Sadly, that appears the most certain outcome as the one thing we know about DG is that despite his incompetence he has a strong, assertive, wise-guy personality; and we know how that dynamic plays out in so many arenas aside from football. (As Friedrich Nietzche wrote over 140 years ago: "Men believe in the truth of all that is seen to be strongly believed in.")
Five of the next six games are against our NFC [L]East brethren. When we are 0-10 after that stretch at least most of us can stop lying to ourselves.

Eric Kennedy at BBI posted this screed against John Mara. Everything we've been saying for years.
It is at once a sadly funny read and an ominous warning for the future of this franchise.
https://www.bigblueinteractive.com/2020/10/02/preview-new-york-giants-at-los-angeles-rams-october-4-2020/

I am pasting here the game review article by the folks over at Big Blue Interactive --
https://www.bigblueinteractive.com/2020/09/21/game-review-chicago-bears-17-new-york-giants-13/
as I think they raise several important issues that could impact future direction. I like these guy's write-ups because, while they are clearly pro-Giants, they are not pollyanna about every player or team direction until the bitter end.
You will see from the article that despite the variety of player weaknesses they identify, they are still hopeful the Giants have enough this year to scrabble to 8-8 or 9-7 and maybe a one-night stand in the playoffs.
To me though, the biggest observation made concerns Daniel Jones and the potential ceiling on his talent. This will undoubtedly come as no revelation to anyone, but I at least find it difficult to assess these things while watching real time - I'm just a fan, and an old one at that.
But what the article points out is that Jones continues to be a dangerously slow and somewhat indecisive decision-maker (for Eli lovers, the exact opposite of what made Eli a top quality QB at his best moments). The article accuses Jones of not seeing an open Tate on the final play before throwing the game-ending incompletion. It also puts the 1st Q fumble directly on his tardy shoulders.
I don't know if they are right about this or not, or whether DJ will get quicker and more decisive with experience, but what if the tendency identified is close to spot on, and by season's end we are sitting with the top pick in the draft (or the second pick if the Bengals maintain their crown); do you draft Lawrence? To be in that position we'd have to end up around 2 wins or less and so a lot of ugly football will have transpired; but assuming DJ doesn't get hurt, continues to play with the toughness he clearly possesses, makes the occasional nice pass to someone and tosses in a little effective scrambling here and there, what do you do? Hopefully Judge will get this team further up the W column and the question will be mooted. More hopefully, DJ's play will dispel this observation. But if we find ourselves back where we've recently lived so frequently, would you? Could you?
There are a bunch of other observations that highlight the limitations of this roster: Peppers' continued poor Safety play; Tomlinson's lack of lateral speed and its impact on the run defense; the limitations of whoever is Martinez's ILB partner; the absence of a decent OLB to compliment Carter; Ballentine; Gates at center; WR generally. No surprises; just sad reinforcement. But all of that pales compared to the observation on Jones -- if they are correct, the franchise is back to square 1 come '21.

https://corner.bigblueinteractive.com/index.php?mode=2&thread=598027