Post by bigbluebandit on Dec 6, 2021 2:50:14 GMT -5
Offensive Line
Solder continues to not get a push in the run game and gets absolutely obliterated in the pass game. He often is on the ground or chasing a defender as the free run at the QB. He has no anchor, he isn't strong, quick or fast and his knee bend is amazingly bad. You would figure a guy with his length could at least be a speed bump by simply winning the engage in a hand fight. You would be wrong.
Hernandez has regressed to a pitiful level. He changed his diet, workouts and whole regime and he went from a guy who pass blocked poorly and run blocked well to a guy who doesn't get any push in the run game and is now bull-rushed in the pass game.
Billy Price gets an OK push and does an OK job when blocking in scheme.... however his help blocking as a center is awful. The amount of times this guy blocks air is comedy gold. His zone blocking on interior runs is 'ok'.
Matt Skura has been the 2nd least bad guy on the line and is a quality backup player. Doesn't have the physical tools you would like but plays at a good level in regards to stuns, blitzes and double team shifts. He isn't quick or strong but usually has good footwork and is competent when called upon.
Andrew Thomas our only competent offensive lineman. Would still be 2nd or 3rd best on a good offensive line out there but if we get more Thomas's and less Solders then maybe, just maybe all these 'weapons' can get on the field and make some hay.
Player Health Priority
Before anyone repeats the injuries get everyone narrative, please remember the measurable metric is that of missed starts by the projected starter. Very few teams are at their 3rd or 4th guy at multiple positions. This is the NFL and you need to have a next man up mentality. What I worry is that the Giants don't have many 'men' to call up. A lot of boys faking it out there.
A) Coaching the players to not be content after the whistle. Tears, pulls, breaks and violent encounters have happened to the Giants post whistle this year or simply by players not paying attention. Saquan landing awkwardly is a prime example of this. He was just getting his legs back then he lands awkwardly and here we go again. These types of injuries are a problem and need to be addressed as an accountability to the player and not just written off as a freak injury.
B) Training staff... when multiple players have multiple iterations of the same injury there is generally a pattern. 4 different hamstring injuries and 3 different players suffered quad injuries comes to mind. This has to do with hydration, scope of movement and recovery. Again, I don't want to hear plenty of teams deal with this. I want to know how we can be one of the plenty of teams that don't.
C) Fast twitch players get injured more often and generally aggravate injuries more often. Either stop signing\drafting\trading for this type of player who has an injury history or adjust your philosophy to fix it. A guy that runs a 4.2 or has an insanely good cone time puts more stress on his body than that of a similar player who is slower. This is basic... We need different training concepts for these types of guys. If you want Ross, Toney, Shepard, Saquan, Odell, etc. They need to be managed as such.
D) Footwear and Field Surface are bigger than we let on. Mara was asked about the surface and said something along the lines of 'There are just as many injuries on grass as the field turf'. This may be true but as someone that tore an ACL due to excessive traction I can tell you the 'sprinter' footwear nowadays does not engage the foot to protect itself. And when you stop and start and there is no give on the field you are bound to have more of those injuries.
Scheme Fits
We seem to have round peg, square hole syndrome in this place.
Example:
Lorenzo Carter is a guy with decent gap integrity and poor pass rush ability to set the edge hasn't been given meaningful reps at inside linebacker.
Evan Engram has been used the passed few seasons as a stop, read, set Tight End. He's faster than most WRs and doesn't have a great feel for zone shifts, so why do we try to use him like Tony Gonzlez or Jason Witten. He is a Vernon Davis clone, use him that way.
If we go up and down the roster, we have examples of this. Coaches need to adjust their game plan to what the players can do well, not adjust the players to the game plan the coaches are comfortable running.
QB, RB, EDGE
Quarterback is a polarizing topic for Giants fans, especially when the team is losing.
I think Jones is above average talent that might be drifting towards David Carr territory. He has every measurable tool you want as a QB but has gotten to the point where he's taken a lot of hits without a lot of success. If the things we addressed before this topic were somewhat fixed I think a lot of people would see Jones differently.
WE CANNOT GET AN EXPENSIVE PROVEN VET QB... if you think Russel Wilson, Aaron Rogers or insert other expensive QB here, then you need to go and analyze the reality you are living in. We can't allocate MORE of the cap than we are and not have guys who can block for them. To get one of these players we would likely have to trade capital we need to build our Offensive Line. Aaron Rogers an all time great likely gets 1 or 2 more wins here, Wilson with the way he's been playing behind a porous line likely gets none.
RB needs to be treated like other teams treat it. Get a guy that does one or two things REALLY well and scheme his production. Get multiple specialty guys that are cheap and if a transcendent guy falls into your lap that can take most of the carries then so be it. A guy like Saquan has the ceiling of Barry Sanders with the floor of Kijana Carter. Without at least adequate blocking we can't get the guy to his ceiling so what is the point of allocating the cap and draft capital for him.
Edge rusher... whether its DE\OLB we haven't had THE guy here. People need to be led by example. Strahan and Taylor made the other guys on defense better because when their teammates are put in a similar position they can lean on what the star did and try it themselves. These guys have a feel for the game that is a bridge from the coach to the player. Guys that can figure out what rush move or when to attack a player with speed versus power is important. Knowing that you can setup a guy with your hands to then attack his feet and bend is really important. Expose a weakness then let everyone attack it. Leonard Williams is more Richard Seymour than he is Michael Strahan. Which is fine... in our defense a guy like him is really important. However, there hasn't been many guys in the entire history of the NFL that can wreak havoc from the inside of a DL. Maybe a handful of REALLY SPECIAL dudes that have done it. We need to find a Demarcus Ware \ Taylor \ Thomas \ Someone who can at least scare an offense into shifting the line.
Solder continues to not get a push in the run game and gets absolutely obliterated in the pass game. He often is on the ground or chasing a defender as the free run at the QB. He has no anchor, he isn't strong, quick or fast and his knee bend is amazingly bad. You would figure a guy with his length could at least be a speed bump by simply winning the engage in a hand fight. You would be wrong.
Hernandez has regressed to a pitiful level. He changed his diet, workouts and whole regime and he went from a guy who pass blocked poorly and run blocked well to a guy who doesn't get any push in the run game and is now bull-rushed in the pass game.
Billy Price gets an OK push and does an OK job when blocking in scheme.... however his help blocking as a center is awful. The amount of times this guy blocks air is comedy gold. His zone blocking on interior runs is 'ok'.
Matt Skura has been the 2nd least bad guy on the line and is a quality backup player. Doesn't have the physical tools you would like but plays at a good level in regards to stuns, blitzes and double team shifts. He isn't quick or strong but usually has good footwork and is competent when called upon.
Andrew Thomas our only competent offensive lineman. Would still be 2nd or 3rd best on a good offensive line out there but if we get more Thomas's and less Solders then maybe, just maybe all these 'weapons' can get on the field and make some hay.
Player Health Priority
Before anyone repeats the injuries get everyone narrative, please remember the measurable metric is that of missed starts by the projected starter. Very few teams are at their 3rd or 4th guy at multiple positions. This is the NFL and you need to have a next man up mentality. What I worry is that the Giants don't have many 'men' to call up. A lot of boys faking it out there.
A) Coaching the players to not be content after the whistle. Tears, pulls, breaks and violent encounters have happened to the Giants post whistle this year or simply by players not paying attention. Saquan landing awkwardly is a prime example of this. He was just getting his legs back then he lands awkwardly and here we go again. These types of injuries are a problem and need to be addressed as an accountability to the player and not just written off as a freak injury.
B) Training staff... when multiple players have multiple iterations of the same injury there is generally a pattern. 4 different hamstring injuries and 3 different players suffered quad injuries comes to mind. This has to do with hydration, scope of movement and recovery. Again, I don't want to hear plenty of teams deal with this. I want to know how we can be one of the plenty of teams that don't.
C) Fast twitch players get injured more often and generally aggravate injuries more often. Either stop signing\drafting\trading for this type of player who has an injury history or adjust your philosophy to fix it. A guy that runs a 4.2 or has an insanely good cone time puts more stress on his body than that of a similar player who is slower. This is basic... We need different training concepts for these types of guys. If you want Ross, Toney, Shepard, Saquan, Odell, etc. They need to be managed as such.
D) Footwear and Field Surface are bigger than we let on. Mara was asked about the surface and said something along the lines of 'There are just as many injuries on grass as the field turf'. This may be true but as someone that tore an ACL due to excessive traction I can tell you the 'sprinter' footwear nowadays does not engage the foot to protect itself. And when you stop and start and there is no give on the field you are bound to have more of those injuries.
Scheme Fits
We seem to have round peg, square hole syndrome in this place.
Example:
Lorenzo Carter is a guy with decent gap integrity and poor pass rush ability to set the edge hasn't been given meaningful reps at inside linebacker.
Evan Engram has been used the passed few seasons as a stop, read, set Tight End. He's faster than most WRs and doesn't have a great feel for zone shifts, so why do we try to use him like Tony Gonzlez or Jason Witten. He is a Vernon Davis clone, use him that way.
If we go up and down the roster, we have examples of this. Coaches need to adjust their game plan to what the players can do well, not adjust the players to the game plan the coaches are comfortable running.
QB, RB, EDGE
Quarterback is a polarizing topic for Giants fans, especially when the team is losing.
I think Jones is above average talent that might be drifting towards David Carr territory. He has every measurable tool you want as a QB but has gotten to the point where he's taken a lot of hits without a lot of success. If the things we addressed before this topic were somewhat fixed I think a lot of people would see Jones differently.
WE CANNOT GET AN EXPENSIVE PROVEN VET QB... if you think Russel Wilson, Aaron Rogers or insert other expensive QB here, then you need to go and analyze the reality you are living in. We can't allocate MORE of the cap than we are and not have guys who can block for them. To get one of these players we would likely have to trade capital we need to build our Offensive Line. Aaron Rogers an all time great likely gets 1 or 2 more wins here, Wilson with the way he's been playing behind a porous line likely gets none.
RB needs to be treated like other teams treat it. Get a guy that does one or two things REALLY well and scheme his production. Get multiple specialty guys that are cheap and if a transcendent guy falls into your lap that can take most of the carries then so be it. A guy like Saquan has the ceiling of Barry Sanders with the floor of Kijana Carter. Without at least adequate blocking we can't get the guy to his ceiling so what is the point of allocating the cap and draft capital for him.
Edge rusher... whether its DE\OLB we haven't had THE guy here. People need to be led by example. Strahan and Taylor made the other guys on defense better because when their teammates are put in a similar position they can lean on what the star did and try it themselves. These guys have a feel for the game that is a bridge from the coach to the player. Guys that can figure out what rush move or when to attack a player with speed versus power is important. Knowing that you can setup a guy with your hands to then attack his feet and bend is really important. Expose a weakness then let everyone attack it. Leonard Williams is more Richard Seymour than he is Michael Strahan. Which is fine... in our defense a guy like him is really important. However, there hasn't been many guys in the entire history of the NFL that can wreak havoc from the inside of a DL. Maybe a handful of REALLY SPECIAL dudes that have done it. We need to find a Demarcus Ware \ Taylor \ Thomas \ Someone who can at least scare an offense into shifting the line.
