Big Blue Kickoff Live 5/22 | Previewing Giants OTAs

Lance Medow and Matt Citak discuss the NFL rule changes, preview the Giants OTAs coming up next week, and take calls from fans.

:00 - Rule changes

15:40 - NFL announcements

26:50 - Calls

47:40 - Giants 2025 season

58:00 - OTA preview

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

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Speaker 2 (00:24):
The Crazy Dogs has a fun Welcome to Thursdays edition
a big Blue kickoff live here on Giants dot Com
as well as the mobile app. He's Matt Sidetech, I'm
Lance Medal with you for the next sixty minutes. It
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(00:45):
nine three nine four five one three. You can also
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He's at Matt Sidetech one word, I'm Atlance Metal one
word as well. Last name emmydow And we appreciate everybody
tuning in and joining us from the Giants Podcast Studio
presented by Hackensack Mearidian health keep getting better. So a
busy show, Matt, for the two of us. We want
to cover a wealth of material as we gear up,

(01:07):
obviously for OTAs that are going to start next week,
and this is going to be our last show before
Memorial Day weekends. So Matt and I are going to
go through what to look forward to as OTAs get
underway next week. So we'll tackle that. But I want
to start with some news and notes around the league,
because around this time of the year, the NFL the
owners get together and they have an opportunity with the

(01:28):
Competition Committee of course, to pass through a number of rules.
And I know you and Paul covered a little bit
of this in recent days. I just wanted to throw
in my two cents given that we got the official
word yesterday that the Tush push is going to stay.
It will be alive and well at least continuing into
next season. They did not get twenty four of the

(01:49):
thirty two votes that's what's needed for a proposal to
be ratified. They felt too shy of that, which I
guess goes to show you, Matt that you know it's
still a little divisive across the league. Right there, there
are a number of teams that want to keep it
headed by the Eagles, of course, and then there's a
bunch of other teams that say, hey, maybe we should
rethink this. But I'm not surprised at all by the result,

(02:10):
and I side with I thought Dan Campbell, the Lion's
head coach, and Mike Rabel, who now has returned to
be the Patriots head coach, said it best, and they're
both of the mindset that the league overall, this is
not just a tush push. I don't like it when
rules are implemented simply because one team or two teams

(02:31):
do it effectively and the rest of the league can't
stop it. That to me, it's not an answer to simply,
all right, we're going to remove the play. Well, that
should then challenge the rest of the NFL to say, well,
what are other strategies that we can implement to counter that,
as opposed to let's just all of a sudden make
it evaporate from the face of the earth.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
No, no, I agree with you.

Speaker 5 (02:54):
I've said, you know, similar sentiments the last couple of
days with Paul on this matter. Paul seemed to think
that every team's response would just to be send the
missile linebacker flying over the line of scrimmage like the
Commanders did in the Shore in the playoffs. But yeah,
I mean, look everyone BBK listeners, they've they've heard me

(03:14):
speak a lot on this topic the last two days.
The one thing which I wish I had realized yesterday
on Yesterdays show but I did not, is Paul, you know,
was talking a lot about how the Eagles and Bills,
you know, run this play the most by far. Well,
I thought it was interesting I've found out.

Speaker 3 (03:30):
Last night Bills actually voted to.

Speaker 5 (03:32):
Ban the Toushbush. They were not one of the ten
teams that voted to keep it. The Eagles obviously were
leading the charge to keep it, but Buffalo wants to
play gone. So I just thought a little interesting tidbit
since Paul kept on bringing up how it was only
two teams that kept on running the play over and
over and over well.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
And the other part of this conversation centered around safety. Now,
the problem I have with that argument, Matt, is that,
first of all, the sample size is essentially minute at
this stage, right because the touch push has not been
around for x amount of.

Speaker 3 (04:05):
Years, three issuyears maybe in that part of four. No
more than four though.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
Yeah, So how are you then to determine or anyone
to run wild with that data over three to four
years and say that it's an unsafe play. I don't
think that information doesn't exist as it stands right now
to justify we have to remove the play for the
well being of NFL players. And I think NFL players
would be the first ones that would say there's got

(04:33):
to be more data to analyze before we run wild
with these narratives. And that was my issue with those
that were coming from the perspective of it's not a
safe play because to your point, you got defensive guys
coming at it like a missile and you have offensive
linemen going low for the leg area. And I get
all of that, but show me the high volume of

(04:56):
injuries that were recorded in the last three to four
years as a result of that specific play. If that
doesn't exist, then to me, that's a very weak argument.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (05:05):
So that was my biggest, you know point that I
guess kind of frustrated me with Paul the more so on.

Speaker 3 (05:12):
Getting frustrated talking to Paul. Welcome to the club. Yeah,
MATC got no support.

Speaker 5 (05:16):
Yeah, all the callers were agreeing with Paul too, and
it baffled me because my main thing, and I started
off the conversation Tuesday, my stance at least by saying,
I'm not going to sit up here and say the
toush push should be banned. I'm not going to sit
up here and say it needs to stay. I'm a
little indifferent. I kind of leave it. I left it
more up towards you know, the decision makers. It doesn't

(05:37):
make a difference to me truly, one way or the other.
But I had a strong problem and I made it
known to Paul that you can't go ahead shouting from
the mountaintop that it is a player health and safety
issue when you have zero evidence to support it.

Speaker 3 (05:53):
You no fact.

Speaker 5 (05:54):
Troy Vincent came out after the season and literally said
that there were zero injuries on and it was only
like one hundred and five touch pushes run this past season,
but there were no injuries on any of those plays.
That the medical professionals that studied each and every one
of those plays, they did not find a single injury
on those plays.

Speaker 3 (06:12):
So that was my biggest.

Speaker 5 (06:13):
Argument, because obviously player health and safety should be number
one priority when it comes to just about any issue
that comes when it comes to football.

Speaker 3 (06:22):
I think we can agree on that sure.

Speaker 5 (06:24):
And to me, it's sort of like there were some
people shouting player health and safety, this is a safety issue,
and to me it's you kind of getting into a
situation where it's like the Boy that Cried Wolf.

Speaker 3 (06:35):
If you just for.

Speaker 5 (06:35):
Every single possible issue or rule change, people just start
shouting this is a health and safety issue. You do
that enough times, people are gonna start tuning out when
people use that as a reasoning, and then there's gonna
be an issue that actually is a player health and
safety issue, and people aren't gonna support it as much
because they're gonna be like, we've heard this before, Like
this is the same argument you say every year about

(06:58):
every single rule proposal or whatsoever.

Speaker 3 (07:00):
So I had a big issue with that. I agree
with you on that.

Speaker 5 (07:04):
You know, I was saying, if you want to ban
the toush push because you think it's bad for the sport,
it goes against the integrity of the game. I can
understand that more, but don't call it a health and
safety issue when there's just zero evidence to support that.

Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yeah, and maybe in five years there will be the data.
But yeah, then let's have the conversation. Let's table it
for now, and then five years collect more information and
then we'll see. But to run wild with that now
is just absolutely ridiculous. You were alluding to the Buffalo
Bills being one of the teams that runs the play
yet wanted the Toush push eliminated. Just for audience to understand,

(07:38):
these were the ten teams met that voted against a
proposed ban on the Toush push, meaning they were okay
with leaving it as is. The Eagles, of course, the Ravens,
the Browns, the Lions, the Jaguars, the Dolphins, the Patriots,
the Saints, the Jets, and the Titans. Now, the reason
why I wanted to go through that ten, I don't
know if you looked at those closely. When you go

(07:59):
over that, to me, what jumps out immediately is a
lot of AFC teams. Right, we're fine with keeping it,
but every team that's in the NFC that has to
deal with the Eagles more often.

Speaker 3 (08:10):
Right, all of these teams, they don't have to see
the Eagles until.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
Probably the Super Bowl, though every four years or so
they'll play the Eagles. So it's once again it's an
art of convenience, I would argue when you look at
the voting, and that's another reason why I'm happy it's
going to stay put, because it just goes to show
you teams are going to vote based on does it
impact me or does it actually hurt the well being

(08:33):
in the league. And I think based on how the
vote played out, it was more of NFC teams looking
out for themselves than looking out for is the information
supporting the cause here to actually make sure that we
don't have the touch push here moving forward.

Speaker 3 (08:46):
Yeah, I thought that was interesting as well.

Speaker 5 (08:48):
Also does not surprise me that one of the only
NFC teams was the Detroit Lions with Dan Campbell like
obviously any sort of physicality to the sport, he's on
board with that.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
I had a great offensive line they have too, of course.

Speaker 5 (09:00):
But just one other thing that I thought was kind
of funny was months ago when I guess the conversation
got brought up again about a potential ban of the
toush push, Nick Sirianni said, you know, I better have
the support of Shane Stike in, Kellen Moore and who's
the third former Eagles coordinator Jonathan Jonathan from those three

(09:23):
coaches all have head coaching jobs because of the tushbush,
so I better have the support of all three of them. Well,
only Kellen.

Speaker 3 (09:29):
Moore voted, Yeah, that's right.

Speaker 5 (09:32):
The other two teams fite the touchhbush helping them get
their jobs, voted against it.

Speaker 3 (09:37):
I just thought that was kind of funny.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
Well, you know what's interesting, and I'm gonna have to
look more into this. I wonder if stich In and
let's say, gan And to your point, they were totally
fine with it. Is it in their hands or does
ownership surpass their feelings in emotions? See, that's the other
thing that I'd be curious because Cherryan, He's got an
excellent point. Those guys, right, they were elevated as a

(10:01):
result of the success of the Eagles and centering around
that play. But Stichen and Gannet they could have very
well campaigned right within their own organizations, and at the
end of the day, the owner said no, we want
to get rid of the toush push.

Speaker 3 (10:13):
That is true. The owners. I'd be curious final decisions, correct.

Speaker 2 (10:16):
So that's something that I think you got to take
it to consideration. Effirs, I should say, Sirianni, you should
take that into consideration before he runs wild. But it's
all in fun in terms of him publicly going after
his former assistance.

Speaker 3 (10:27):
Anyway.

Speaker 2 (10:28):
On a somewhat related note, the other thing that I
wanted to bring up with respect to rules, and this
was thankfully removed from even going to a vote, is
the Lions were campaigning for the playoff seeding to change,
right as you saw with respect to wild card teams
who have better records than division winners getting a higher
seeds and b being able to host early playoff games.

(10:52):
I'm thrilled, Matt. I don't know about you that they
did not even put this up to vote, because this
was my biggest issue, and I've talked about this in
previous years. If you remember, we had the NFC East
a few seasons back where you had everybody sub five hundred.
Washington ultimately won the division. Carolina won the division one year,
seven eight and one. And the reason why I didn't
get all worked up over that is a it's very

(11:15):
rare that that occurs. Number two, the minute you start
elevating wildcard teams over division winners and saying we just
look at everybody top to bottom, you're removing the incentive
of winning the division, and the structure of the schedule
is around divisional play. Right, you play everybody in your

(11:36):
division twice, and then your schedule, with the exception of
now three additional games because of the seventeenth game that
you play against the other conference, is all equally built
around everybody within the division. If you start now all
of a sudden, de incentivizing winning the division, then that
defeats the whole purpose of how the NFL is currently structured.

(11:57):
So I'm not for anything that eats away it rewarding
teams for winning the division.

Speaker 5 (12:04):
Well, it doesn't completely take it away because the tiebreaker
if there are two teams that in this proposed seeding
that obviously did not even go up to the vote,
sure the tie breaker between two teams that have the
same record would be if one of them is the
division winner, then that's the tiebreaker. Then they get the
higher seed. So it's not completely de incentivizing. I get

(12:26):
what you're saying, and it is a good point. You know,
we have six games on the schedules against your division,
the main reason being because the division winner obviously clinches
one of the spots in the playoffs, a home game
in the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (12:40):
I get that's huge for sure.

Speaker 5 (12:43):
But on the flip side, though, you get situations like
last year where you go into the last game of
the season and the two teams with the best records
in football are playing against each other for the division
title the one seed, and then the loser, who would
have the second best record in the conference, drops all
the way down.

Speaker 3 (12:59):
To the fifth seed.

Speaker 5 (13:01):
With situations like that that make me think, you know,
maybe this is not the worst idea.

Speaker 3 (13:08):
I don't know.

Speaker 5 (13:08):
I last year, I feel like it was the most
prominent example of the h that was an outlier of
Lions and Vikings.

Speaker 3 (13:14):
Obviously that does not happen every year.

Speaker 2 (13:16):
Well, Matt, you had a fifteen win team and a
fourteen win team in the same division. I mean, off
the top of my head, I would say you'd probably
have to go back a decade minimum, since we actually
saw the level of competition that way. And I didn't
mean to cut you off, but what I wanted to
jump in and say, based on what you were talking about,
is so if we use last year as an example,

(13:36):
and to your point, the Vikings dropped down as a
result of losing to the Lions, so they're a.

Speaker 3 (13:41):
Wild card team.

Speaker 2 (13:41):
But if we just look at records, so Minnesota was
better than the ten and seven Tampay Buccaneers and the
ten and seven LA Rams. So if we adopted the
Lions school of thought, the Vikings would be the third seed, right,
it would have been Detroit, Philadelphia Minnesota. So what I'm
saying is Tampa Bay and the Rams won their divisions.

(14:02):
I don't want Tampa Bay and the Rams to move down.
They should be rewarded as one of the top four
seeds for winning the division because of, once again the
structure of the league. And yes it stinks for the Vikings,
don't get me wrong, but that's the sacrifice you make.

Speaker 3 (14:18):
Some years.

Speaker 2 (14:19):
You're going to be in a division that's cutthroat, which
the Giants have experienced, and other teams are going to
experience it if they haven't, and that's the price you pay.
I would say the same thing. I don't like in
the NBA that they even tweaked. There's flexibility in the NBA.
If you're second, you know, you move up. I don't
like that you win the division that should give you
an advantage.

Speaker 5 (14:39):
So maybe I hear what you're saying, it's very valid points.
So maybe when this issue is revisited next year, because oh,
it's going to sure just get swept under the rug and.

Speaker 3 (14:49):
Disappear with yep.

Speaker 5 (14:51):
Maybe down the road, if this ever does get adopted,
maybe they also, you know, implement a new schedule format.
Maybe instead of gart you know, two games against each
division opponent, they only make it one guaranteed game. I
don't know, you'd have to get creative. I do hear
what you're saying, though, and I don't think I agree
with you that it doesn't make total sense to have

(15:13):
six division games that be a prominent part of your schedule,
but then not that much incentive to actually win your division.
So I don't know, maybe they come up with some
new scheduling format that makes more sense with the playoff receiving.

Speaker 2 (15:27):
And your last item. If that happens, then I could
start to come around. See the schedule formula has to
change for me to be open to all of a
sudden taking away in advantage from a division winner. Now
speaking of the division. That brings us to another announcement yesterday.
Right at the tail end of yesterday's show, HBO Max,

(15:47):
what whatever they're calling themselves in this day and age,
which I'm happy. I'm original guy, so I like the
fact that it went back to the original name. But anyway,
getting back to the point in hand, Buffalo Bills will
be the training camp version of and then the NFC
East is going to be showcased on the in season version. Now,
last year we saw them decide that they're going to

(16:07):
focus on divisions, and they did it with the AFC North.
We've seen the Arizona Cardinals and the Colts be the
focus of the in season Hard Knocks. So they came
around and I think they probably realized if some teams
mathematically that late in the season are not going to
be in it, it doesn't always make for great television.
So I like the idea of if you cover four teams,

(16:29):
you're gonna guarantee at least two of them are going
to be in the thickest things. And I thought the
way they presented the North. And I'm a huge fan
of Hard Knocks. I don't care who's on the show.
I love the fact that they peel the curtain back
and take you beyond the scenes, so I have no problem.
I mean, there's more of an incentive that the Giants
in the NFC East are going to be showcased. But
if anybody other division wise was on it, I'd have

(16:51):
no problem. And you know, for people to throw out
oh Man late in the season, now the team has
to worry about the cameras. The reason why I fight
back Matt against that argument is and I've talked to
the producers of Hard Knocks on many programs in the past.
They're of the belief, and I think there is validity
behind this. All of the teams in this day and

(17:12):
age have been exposed to what Hard Knocks is about.
They know what the producers need, the cameras, and even
individual teams like the Giants, right Giants life, they're exposed
to that, even when they're not on Hard Knocks, that
this idea that they've got to adjust. Then all of
a sudden make these changes and it could be a distraction.

(17:33):
I think that's a very weak argument and I don't
think it's as problematic as maybe some people make it
out today.

Speaker 5 (17:40):
Yeah, and look, I get how since this announcement there
have been many comments by Giants fans, jokes by other
people that are not you know, fans of the Giants
organization making light of the Hard Knocks show last year.

Speaker 3 (17:56):
I get that.

Speaker 5 (17:57):
Obviously the way that Hard Knocks played out last year
year did not, you know, end up the best for
the Giants.

Speaker 2 (18:04):
But that was also the off season a fairness, but
this is gonna be a completely different show, Like that
was the first and potentially only time we're gonna see
Hard Knocks follow a team in the offseason as they
make all of these very key roster decisions.

Speaker 5 (18:18):
Who decidned who to let go, who to draft that
obviously had never been done before, and based on how
last year went, may not happen again. But in season
Hard Knocks We've seen a couple of years now, we've
seen the training camp Hard Knocks for a while. We
know what those shows are about. It's more about the football,
like the exes and o's the players, the players, the

(18:38):
coaching staff, not the front office, not ownership. So it's
I feel like I understand some concerns just hearing Giants
are on Hard Knocks again, but it's gonna be a
completely different show. Like I don't think it's gonna be
a situation where you know, the Giants are gonna come
off not in the greatest Light, as some people say

(18:58):
they did last year.

Speaker 3 (18:59):
I don't think that's gonna be the case.

Speaker 5 (19:01):
I think we're just gonna get to see more behind
the scenes content of you know, the coaching staff interacting
with the players, which on a yearly basis when we
get hard knocks.

Speaker 3 (19:11):
Everyone loves it.

Speaker 5 (19:12):
Everyone loves seeing these cameras follow the players the coaches
around you, don't, I know, in today's day and age,
you do get to see behind the scenes definitely more
often than you used to, you know, back in the day.
But we all love getting more Giants content, I mean Giants' Life.
The first two episodes of Giant's Life that came out
a couple of weeks ago were huge hits.

Speaker 3 (19:32):
Everyone loved it.

Speaker 5 (19:33):
It's kind of gonna be more like that, I feel like,
but obviously in season and more, you know, x'es and
O centered.

Speaker 2 (19:40):
Yeah, if you've watched the structure of the show to
your point, you're gonna see Brian Dable and the rest
of the team's coaches address their teams during the week.
You're gonna see how they prepare for an upcoming opponent.
They'll do some feature esque stories on individual players and
their family interactions and so forth. It's not gonna be Honestly,
if you look back at last year, at the top

(20:02):
of my head, I don't even know if any of
the gms were showcased on the program because it was
so centered on players scheduling, coaches talking to them individually
positioned meeting rooms. I would be stunned if the gms
in the front office, because they don't have time in
a given episode. You got to recap. Think about it
some weeks when they're not playing divisional games. That's four games,

(20:24):
Matt that they have to account for. The producers will
tell you there's not enough time in a sixty minute
program to get into the nuts and bolts of front
office transactions. So it's going to be completely different subject
matter and so forth. One other item I wanted to
get before we open up the lines, and then obviously
later on we're going to get to some OTA preview

(20:44):
is they implemented a new award that they're going to
start handing out this coming season, and that is the
Protector of the Year Same it's got a nice spin take. Yeah,
So it is going to be obviously an award to
the best offensive lineman in football and it'll begin in

(21:05):
twenty twenty five. Dion Dawkins of the Bills was a
big proponent. And then they're gonna have a committee, Matt.
They're gonna have a bunch of former offensive linemen Charles Bentley,
Jason Kelcey, r Very Own, Sean O'Hara, Orlando Pace, Will Shields,
and Andrew Whitworth. They're going to be on a committee
slash panel. And then it seems as if every quarter

(21:25):
of this season they're gonna update the candidates and this
is what they're gonna utilize to determine the award. Skills, metrics, impact, leadership, durability,
and this is interesting strength of the opponent, which to
me is a very open ended statement. Does that mean

(21:46):
you're gonna look at the caliber of the defensive linemen
that they're going up against, the caliber of the overall
defense that they're playing. If injuries take a toll on
a defense that you go up against. I'd love to
get a little bit more clarerty, But listen, they give
out an award for just about anything in this day
and age, so I don't think anybody should make a

(22:07):
big fuss out of this, But I think offensive linemen
we talk about it at nauseam on this show. They
play a vital role. Anybody that knows a thing or
two about football will be the first to tell you
it's nice that they get in some lineline. I think
it's well deserved.

Speaker 3 (22:20):
I love this.

Speaker 5 (22:21):
I think it's about time that the big guys up
front gets some recognition because the way it's always been,
the only way an offensive lineman could get recognized is
Pro Bowl and All Pro, which, obviously any offensive lineman
would tell you those are great honors and they would
obviously love to achieve either of those both. But basically
every other position on the field, you at least have
the opportunity to potentially take home some other award, whether

(22:45):
it's Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the
Year MVP. Offensive linemen are never in the conversations for
those despite the fact that there are some offensive linemen
in the league, some tackles that are in the discussion
for being the best players in the NFL. It's not,
you know, a sexy position, so they don't really get
the praise that you know, a flashy wide receiver or

(23:06):
the star quarterback would get. But those flashy wide receivers
and star quarterbacks. They're not having this success that they
have without the help of their offensive Liney. That's why
every single year you see the starting quarterbacks by their
entire offensive line some huge, expensive gift because they know
they can't accomplish anything without the guys up front.

Speaker 3 (23:25):
And we've seen it with the Giants.

Speaker 5 (23:27):
The last two years when Andrew Thomas, who's clearly the
team's best offensive lineman, when he's gone down the last
two years, the line and the offense as a whole
kind of cratered. So it just goes to show how
important the protection is upfront. I am so on board
with them finally getting an award something to recognize the
hard work, the you know, leadership both on and off

(23:49):
the field.

Speaker 3 (23:50):
I am all for this. I think it's long overdue.

Speaker 2 (23:52):
Well, certain Lions offensive linemen have already thrown their name
in the Skill Position Award right because of how they're
utilized the outlier under those circumstances. The other thing though,
that it got me thinking about, Matt is how this
could impact perhaps this salary cap and offensive line contracts.
And the reason why I throw that out. You know,

(24:13):
when an individual wins an award, an agent can utilize
that right as a negotiating mechanism, and if individual offensive linemen,
now we're gonna win an award, especially if you're a guard.
And keep in mind the way the I'm gonna go
off a little topic somewhat related the franchise tag groups
offensive linemen altogether, there's no designation, doesn't make a hold,

(24:36):
It doesn't make sense. There's no center tag, guard tag,
tackle tag. And I'm sure even front office executives would
like the individualized delegation.

Speaker 5 (24:45):
That plus for fifty year options too, isn't it The
Raven leaves behind Tyler Linderbaum's fifth year option despite him
being an amazing center because it would have made him,
by far.

Speaker 3 (24:56):
And away, the highest paid center of the league. I
think you're accurate with that.

Speaker 2 (24:59):
So that's more of a reason why it got me thinking,
does this help the cause of offensive lineman from a
negotiating standpoint? Does it make perhaps the league rethink about
how the tags are delegated because of once again, if
guards can distinguish themselves, because once again, all offensive linemen

(25:20):
are going to be up for this award. This is
not well a tackle most likely win it, probably at
the early stages, but if look, there's a lot of guards.

Speaker 3 (25:30):
On this panel.

Speaker 2 (25:31):
There's not just tackles, there's center. Sean O'Harra is a center.
I'm sure those guy who are going to be watching
the interior offensive lineman closely and say, hey, you should
consider this guy, not necessarily the ones that always play
out on the edge.

Speaker 5 (25:43):
If this award had existed for the last let's just say, decade,
you can't tell me that Quenton Nelson wouldn't have won
it at least once, or Zach Martin or Martin Yeah,
so one hundred percent, will it? You know, I hope
it leads to a conversation about, you know, offensive lineman with
the franchise tag and fitth your option, because right now,

(26:03):
the way it's structured just doesn't make a whole lot
of sense. Every other position is differentiated between you know,
look at the defensive line. Defensive tackle and defensive end.
Those are two different designations in terms of the salary cap,
in terms of franchise tag fitthier options. It doesn't really
make sense why the offensive line wouldn't be exactly the same.

Speaker 2 (26:24):
So I'm in agreement with you. That's why I think
that's an extra layer that's not being brought up enough
about it.

Speaker 3 (26:29):
We just look at Oh it's another award, another trophy.

Speaker 2 (26:32):
You got to think about perhaps the financial ramifications that
could come into the conversation. I will tell you this,
every agent that represents an offensive lineman is smiling ear
to ear right now that there is just another item
that they could put up there when they're negotiating for
their respective clients. This is Thursday's Nation of Big Blue
Kickoff Live. It's presented by Cadillac, the official luxury vehicle

(26:53):
of the New York Football Giants. He's Matt SyTech on
Lance Meto. Thanks so much for tuning in. We're gonna
open up the phone lines, and then Matt and I
set and alf of the show. We'll get into OTAs
which will start up on Tuesday next week. Some of
the things that you should look for, given the fact
that we know there's no contact, the there's no padding,
but there are a few players in at least situations
that you should keep close tabs on as we look

(27:15):
past Memorial Day weekend. All right, let's head to the
phone lines. We got Eddie in Fort Lee. He gets
us started. What's happened to Eddie?

Speaker 3 (27:21):
What you got for us.

Speaker 6 (27:23):
Good morning. It's nice to talk to you guys. The
second time caller, and it's been a few years.

Speaker 7 (27:28):
Since I've called for going again.

Speaker 6 (27:30):
First I have a question and then I have a
comment to get off my chest. Which is worse Atlanta
blowing the super Bowl a few years back or the
Knicks under three minutes last night.

Speaker 5 (27:41):
I'm gonna have to go with Atlanta just because it
was the super Bowl and not Game one of a
conference finals.

Speaker 3 (27:48):
But yeah, last night was pretty brutal. Not gonna lie.

Speaker 2 (27:51):
Yeah, I would agree with.

Speaker 6 (27:51):
Matt can make a point more than get an answer.

Speaker 3 (27:55):
It was rough.

Speaker 2 (27:58):
Plus it's also not the first time Nicks have unraveled
in the playoffs too.

Speaker 3 (28:02):
Against the Pacers.

Speaker 6 (28:04):
Did you remember did you think of Reggie Miller?

Speaker 5 (28:06):
Without a doubt, I had to with Halliburton doing the
celebration that Reggie did.

Speaker 7 (28:13):
Had absolutely all right.

Speaker 6 (28:16):
You guys last week, and I know Paul was the
proponent of it, but we talked about tanking and I
want to get a few things off my chest, whether
it be the Colts game or any other game. We
know it's never going to come from up top, and
we know when our coach and general manager are on
the hot seat. They're never going to say lay down

(28:36):
so we lose. But I want to talk about player X.
And when you are a three win team, you have
a lot of player xes who are fighting for their
NFL lives. Something they've done, they've wanted to do, and
they've worked hard at since they were in grade school.
And when you hear people's talking about tanking, you're asking

(28:58):
one of those guys who is trying to make a
and you're asking him to lay down so you can
have a better draft pick. How ridiculous that is?

Speaker 2 (29:08):
Sure well, and that's why I mean, listen, Eddie. I've
brought this up on multiple shows. Players will never buy
into that philosophy because a they don't have guaranteed contracts
and b they may not even be on the team.

Speaker 3 (29:20):
The following year.

Speaker 2 (29:21):
So why would a player care about where a team
drafts next season if they're not guaranteed to have a
roster spot. The only item that you could bring up,
which is somewhat backed by rational thought, is if a
team decided to not put out their best players who
are healthy, you know, then you're going to obviously impact

(29:42):
the ability to match up with an opposing team. But
if you have all hands on deck, players are going
to compete regardless of what's on the line. The only
way you impact that is if you take your best
talent off the field that is unrelated to injury. That's
the only way you perhaps impact the outcome of a game.

Speaker 6 (30:02):
I think that's what I was trying to say. I
hope it came out that way.

Speaker 2 (30:05):
You got it, Eddie, No, listen, I would echo your sentiments.
Absolutely appreciate the foone call. Thanks for giving us a ring.

Speaker 3 (30:13):
Thanks that it.

Speaker 5 (30:13):
Yeah, I mean I think all of us that sit
in these chairs on a daily basis working on the
show would agree tanking is just not not something that
we will ever support, you know, as Atlanta, as you
just mentioned, as Eddie mentioned, the players on the team
are fighting for their livelihoods each and every week. As

(30:34):
we know, the average span of an NFL player's career
as what like three years, four.

Speaker 3 (30:40):
Years, not even for some not even for a lot
of guys.

Speaker 5 (30:43):
So they are never gonna pass up an opportunity to
put their best possible, you know, performance on tape, whether
it's to you know, stay with the team that they're
currently on or as sort of like an interview for
the next team that they're going to try to grab
a spot on. So you know, I feel like we've

(31:03):
spoken about this topic a lot, more so towards the
end of this past regular season, but tanking is just
not something that any of us are ever gonna support
in any sort of way. The only thing I will
say is if you have a situation where you have
your one of your best players who has been fighting
through some ailment for weeks, and you get to the

(31:25):
last game of the season and the game means absolutely nothing,
and you decide, you know what, he's fought through this enough,
we're gonna not risk him injuring it even further suffering
a serious injury.

Speaker 3 (31:36):
You want to sit him for.

Speaker 5 (31:37):
That that I can understand, But if you are, if
players are healthy, there's no reason for them to not
be on the field giving it there all.

Speaker 3 (31:46):
And every single player on this team would agree with
that sentiment.

Speaker 2 (31:49):
Well, and I'll even take it a step further. We
were talking about I guess to use the term some
of those fringe players right back into the roster, who
you know, they're not guaranteed anything. But even if you
look at it from the top, heavyness of a roster, Matt.
There are a lot of players, even if mathematically they
don't have anything at stake late in the season, that
have incentives in their contracts, and a lot of guys

(32:10):
are going to say, I'm gonna go out and play
because if I get to one thousand receiving yards or
a thousand rushing yards, all of a sudden, I take
home another million dollars and you're gonna hear a lot
of guys that are gonna say I'm gonna go out
and compete as a result of that. On top of that,
I've heard from coaches Todd Haley, who I did a
lot of shows with, the longtime NFL offensive coordinator on
Sirius XM. He told me once last game of the season,

(32:32):
they're playing. This was when he was with the Arizona Cardinals, Matt,
they're playing. I believe it was Mike Holmgrim and the
Seahawks last game of the season. Todd tells Kurt Warner
to run a play. I don't know if you remember
that year, and you can look this up those of
you listening and tuning in. The Arizona Cardinals had a
chance to have three wide receivers get to a thousand yards.

(32:54):
Think Steve Preston was the third guy in addition to
Ankwon Bolden and Larry Fitzgerald, so they knew they had
to run a play. I think it was for Breston.
So he tells in Kurt Warner's ear, you know, throw
this quick screen to Breston and they're winning, They're up comfortably,
and Kurt's like, why are we running that play? And
he goes, because we need to get Steve the incentive

(33:16):
to get to a thousand yards And they ran the play.
So you know, you have scenarios like that. And then
you know, he remembers walking to midfield and apologizing to
Mike Holmgren that he ran a meaningless plan and he
explained to him Mike had no issue with it. But
that just gives you an example of those conversations are
very much in the mix in giving top guys a
reason to go out and compete.

Speaker 3 (33:36):
Yeah, we've seen it. Even more recently.

Speaker 5 (33:39):
There was a situation, was it with Gronk I think
in his last season or one of his final seasons,
where they were up big at the end of a
game and everyone's like, why is Gronk still out there? Well,
they threw him, like I think it was like two
straight passes just for him to reach an incentive and
get however much money you know, added to his salary
and on top of that, taking the money aspect, incentive

(34:02):
aspect out of it for a second, when you have
a team, and especially a young team like the Giants,
do you really want to sort of show your young players,
We're not going to go out and try to win
every single week, you know, just because the season's over.
We're just gonna give up the last couple of games
of the season to help our draft pick for next year,

(34:23):
where half.

Speaker 3 (34:23):
Of you won't even be on the team.

Speaker 5 (34:25):
Like, that's not something that you want to show and
implement into your young guys at the beginning of their
career if you had tried the Giants coaching staff. I
don't know this for a fact, but I would assume
if they had tried to get Molik Neighbors to sit
the last couple of games of the season as he
was chasing the franchisee franchise reception record, the all time

(34:45):
rookie reception record, I don't think he would have been
very happy about that, and it also would have been
again installing not the greatest mindset into one of your
best players as a rookie.

Speaker 2 (34:57):
So, yeah, you don't want to develop bad habits is
pretty much what you're laying out. Yeah, but guys will
tell you they're put They're there to put the uniform
on incompete twenty four to seven. So regardless of the record,
anybody that argues that players just completely check out at
the end of the season, I'm not saying that they
are not exceptions, don't get me wrong, But the bulk

(35:19):
ninety nine point eight percent of NFL players will tell
you they've got to be all in because tomorrow's not
guaranteed in this league, and that has certainly been well documented.
Let's head back to the lines. Let's check it with
Max and new Brunswick here on BBKL.

Speaker 3 (35:34):
What's happened to Max? What do you got for us?

Speaker 4 (35:36):
Not much? Thanks for taking my call, lout. I just
want to talk about my expectation for the season, because
I know we have a rough schedule and this is
kind of like like you have certain fans calling in
and they say, and let's go make the playoffs. You know,
you got to fire everybody, and I have a different perspective,
there's a way for John Marra to feel better about

(35:59):
the team in this season, even if we don't make
the playoffs or have a winning schedule. What does the
team look like? We had nine games of one score
or less. I think we lost eight of those. Do
we have more games that come that get that close.
Do our stats look better than they did last year?

(36:21):
Does the offense look better? There's a lot of things
that go into the final more than just the final
score in the final schedule, how do we get there? Like,
we have a tough schedule, we will show out and
we win against San Francisco, but you know, we don't
make the playoffs. That's still a positive in my opinion,
even though the season itself may not turn turn out,

(36:42):
you know, with us going to the playoffs or even
have you know, our winning schedule. So that was just
my opinion I heard, you know, especially two people particularly
seem to always be Debbie downerds about the Giants or
if they don't make the playoffs, then you gotta fire everybody, restart.
I don't want another restart. I don't want to sit
through a new coaching staff with potentially a better schedule
and go through all the same stuff. So that's just

(37:04):
my opinion and I'll pick your comments out here.

Speaker 2 (37:07):
All right, Max, appreciate the phone call, thanks sir giving
us a ring. Yeah, well A, you don't want to
go through a merry go round no matter what organization
you are. I mean, you look around the league, teams
that change coaches left and right, and front office members
usually find it very hard to build stability. I think
that goes without saying. I think the last caller brought
up some valid points with respect to Yes, wins and

(37:29):
losses is clearly important because you know, Bill Parcells had
the famous line, you are what your record is. But
I think based on where the Giants were last season,
you want to see from an optic standpoint. Matt and
I brought this up year after year, you've got to
average over.

Speaker 3 (37:46):
Twenty points a game on offense.

Speaker 2 (37:48):
I mean, you can't hang around in the teams and
expect to be competitive. So you know, that's one statistic
that may not have anything to do with wins and losses,
but you want to see right the offensive overall production
leap frog. That's an item that I'll throw out, and
we've been talking about that many many years. In a
row here, and that once again is not necessarily synonymous

(38:10):
and tied into because right, you could get the offense up,
but you could win. To the Kohler's point, a lot
of close games, you're still showing improvement, it just may
not be reflected in the standings per se.

Speaker 5 (38:19):
Yeah, and I appreciate the sentiment from the last caller
because I feel like, I feel like a lot of
our fans do agree with that sentiment. There are some
that are saying, you know, we need to make the
playoffs this year, otherwise everyone should be gone. And I've
said this on the show. I think I said it
even this week.

Speaker 3 (38:37):
You got to have.

Speaker 5 (38:39):
Realistic expectations considering how last season went. I understand this
is now year four of the current regime, and you know,
in year four, you obviously, in general year four, you
would like to see the team be a playoff contender
on a consistent basis. But as you know, as we've
talked about on the show previous, over the last couple

(39:01):
off seasons, there were obviously some big decisions that were made,
especially at the quarterback position, that I think everyone admit
kind of set the.

Speaker 3 (39:09):
Timeline back a little bit.

Speaker 5 (39:11):
You know, the contract that was given to Daniel Jones
obviously did not play out how anyone would have wanted
after that great playoff run in twenty twenty two, and
that set the Giants back the last two years.

Speaker 3 (39:22):
Going into this.

Speaker 5 (39:23):
Year now, obviously the quarterback room is completely revamped, and
as I have said before, there are metrics that you
can take from this upcoming season that are not just
wins and losses, that will make you feel so much
better about the direction of this team. Come you know,
January tenth, twenty twenty six. One of them, As you mentioned,

(39:44):
the offense scoring more points. That has been such a
big issue, the biggest issue I would say for this
team for you know, go back however many years you want,
that has been the biggest issue. Now there are many
things that have led to that. It's not just one
person's fault, not one player. It's a group effort. But
the Giants offense now has pieces at just about every position.

(40:06):
There's you know, no more excuses that unit needs to
take a step this year. Likewise, for the defense, the defense,
this is probably the most talented defensive roster on paper
that the Giants have had in at least a decade.

Speaker 3 (40:21):
In my opinion.

Speaker 5 (40:24):
You know, there was it twenty sixteen season obviously, when
they made the playoffs, had a great defense that.

Speaker 3 (40:29):
Year too well, and that was the year Snacks you're
talking about.

Speaker 2 (40:32):
There were a lot of big Splash.

Speaker 5 (40:33):
And Jenkins, a lot of those big yeah, veteran signings,
which is somewhat how the Giants current defense is built,
but not all fully because there are a lot of
young players on rookie contracts that are going to play
very big parts of this def to the defense of
success this year. So as I've said, you can go,
you can win six or seven games this year. And

(40:53):
I know some people are may not like this, but
you can win six or seven games this year. And
I hate putting a number on it, but just to
give an example, which is double the amount of wins
you had last year.

Speaker 3 (41:04):
And in those games that you lose, if you are.

Speaker 5 (41:06):
Competitive in almost all of them, you're not getting blown
out on a weekly basis. You're gonna end the season
feeling a whole lot better about the direction of this team.
Without making the playoffs, obviously, we would all love a
playoff run, a deep playoff run. We'd love that every
single year, but you do have to kind of keep

(41:26):
things in perspective and keep expectations somewhat in check. Just
given how the last two seasons have gone. It's not
often that a team goes from three and fourteen to
you know, twelve and five in one season. Has it
happened for sure? Is it possible?

Speaker 3 (41:41):
Yeah? But I just don't want all the.

Speaker 5 (41:45):
Fans out there to have those expectations where they need to,
you know, win double digit games, because you know, again
just keeping realistic expectations in check, that may not happen
this year. That doesn't mean to say that, you know,
two years from now that that could not happen, because
it fully could. If the Giants take a step this year,
double their win counter, hit seven or eight wins this

(42:05):
upcoming season, then guess.

Speaker 3 (42:07):
What that following year?

Speaker 5 (42:09):
Then yeah, then I can say you can put some
expectations up for you know, that higher win total and
really be in that serious playoff contention, in that playoff hunt.

Speaker 2 (42:20):
The only thing that I'll add to that though, that
could make things interesting is hypothetically speaking, if they make
a transition to Jackson Dard, then you know, you got
to account for Matt and now all of a sudden
you got the learning curve with a younger quarterback. That's why.
And I'm not saying that you were insinuating this, but
this idea that you know, everything just follows upward movement
and we just ignore the changes. You know, there are changes.

(42:43):
You pointed out the quarterback changed over the course of
this regime. The other thing is Wink Martindale was the
defensive coordinator and then you move to Shane Bowen and
a new defensive coordinator comes in all of a sudden,
doesn't just walk in, put his legs up and say,
all right, guys, let's just roll out the defense you
played last season. No, he's gonna put in a new scheme.
And now Bowen's got new personnel this season. So you know,

(43:04):
there are things that don't stay in the same areas
and as is, even if the head coach and the
general manager and a number of key weapons provide stability.
Because the NFL, this is why I say I don't
believe in the whole rebuilding term, not to get off topic,
is because NFL rosters turnover more so Matt than any

(43:25):
other professional sport. You know, you get about twenty new
guys on the roster every single year, So you're retooling,
you're rebuilding, however you want to word it, on an
annual basis, regardless of what your record is, because you
never bring back everybody as is, or a coach changes
or whatever may happen, and the Giants are not immune

(43:45):
to these things. The other thing that statistically I've pointed
out more often than not, we're emphasizing the offense. But
keep in mind, Matt, it is very difficult if you
look historically in the NFL for a team to improve
by a touchdown from one year to the Yeah, now
think about this. Now, I know they had a merry
go around to quarter the Giants were at sixteen points
per game, So to expect that, oh, they're a lot

(44:07):
to get twenty three points per game this coming season
without any hesitation. Yes, you would say with the upgraded quarterback,
with the upgrade at some other positions, they were in
a good spot to do that. But that's no gimme
to go a touchdown up. It's very difficult. I mean,
you do the basic math. You know what it takes
to go from sixteen to twenty three points a game

(44:28):
in the span of one season. That is a lot
of formulas that have to be intertwined.

Speaker 5 (44:34):
Not only a result, not only that, but Paul and
I were discussing this the other day because the caller
called in and said, you know, I want the Giant
I think he said that the Giants offense to average.

Speaker 3 (44:43):
I think it was four points more per game, and
we looked at it.

Speaker 5 (44:47):
If the Giants were to score four points more per
game from where they were last year, they go from
one of the worst offenses to the top half of
the league in offense, which all of us would take,
you know, one, you know, going from one last year
to this, shar I think everyone would be happy with that.

Speaker 3 (45:02):
The other thing, which I should.

Speaker 5 (45:04):
Have mentioned when I was speaking just earlier, is that
part of that thing that if the Giants, let's just
again hypothetically, were to win six or seven games, that
could make you feel good.

Speaker 3 (45:14):
And you touched on this.

Speaker 5 (45:16):
If the Giants are in that win total that range,
chances are Jackson Darter is gonna see the field at
some point. I don't know, if you know, I'm not
gonna put any sort of number on what week that
might be. But if that's where the Giants are and
the playoffs are out of reach, chances are he will
see some action if the coaching staff thinks he's ready,
and if he does get on the field for however

(45:39):
long it is, and he looks good, he looks like, Okay,
he's granted small sample size, but he looks like he's
got it. That's gonna make you feel so good going
into next year, and that is gonna make people more
I guess a little bit more okay with another, you know,
maybe six or seven wins season, because it's gonna again

(46:02):
have you going into twenty twenty six feeling incredibly good
about the direction of this franchise.

Speaker 3 (46:08):
So that that is a very, very big part. I
should have mentioned that earlier.

Speaker 5 (46:12):
Obviously, in general, you six games is not going to
get anyone excited, but there are aspects of a six
or seven win season that could still make you feel
positive going into the following year.

Speaker 2 (46:23):
So it buys more patients, is what you're saying.

Speaker 5 (46:25):
It gets on the I understand plays when patience is
running a little low with fans, and I totally get it,
given how the last you want to call a decade
plus is gone.

Speaker 3 (46:35):
I totally get it.

Speaker 5 (46:36):
But building a consistent playoff contender is a process it
takes time, and I know we all would have hoped
that we would be there by now. But if it
takes another year or two to get to that point,
but then we have that perennial playoff contender, I think
we'll all, you know, be okay with having a little

(46:56):
more suffering to get to that level.

Speaker 2 (46:58):
That's why I always like to a value teams as
individuals and rookie classes and how that progresses, because you
want to look for the stabilizing forces, meaning the groups
that in all likelihood will stay together regardless of the
changes around them. That's why here's another rookie class they're
heading into the mix. They need to come in and

(47:19):
make a significant impact. The ones that, of course are
going to play in conjunction with the previous two years.
And now you start putting those groups together and you
have a core that you feel good that at least
can provide a strong nucleus. At that point last season
or even now, you know it's still a little bit

(47:39):
of the unknown because of guys that have been in
and out of the lineup and so forth. Let's head
back to the phone lines. We've got big ed in Maryland.

Speaker 3 (47:46):
With us here.

Speaker 2 (47:47):
What's happened to big Ed.

Speaker 7 (47:49):
Hey Lants, it is indeed.

Speaker 4 (47:53):
What's up? Lance?

Speaker 7 (47:54):
Oh my gosh, I talked to you and so long
I've been wondering what's going on with you? What you've
been doing.

Speaker 2 (47:59):
I been busy as you all doing my thing. So
what's happening with you? What's on your mind?

Speaker 7 (48:05):
I just got a Solomon a Giant T shirt with
Odell Beckham's number in the back. He's gonna be practicing
with it. I'm getting ready for this upcoming season and
we'll be at the first game. Jersey's on and everything
very nice. It's going to be a big Blue affair,

(48:27):
big time. I was hoping you guys will be down
there to be live with this broadcast for the first game.

Speaker 2 (48:34):
Would you well for big Blue kickoff live? Well, I
mean that's never happened, so that would be a first
big Head you'd be for things.

Speaker 7 (48:42):
There it goes happened.

Speaker 2 (48:44):
Push it in right, Well, I'll put it on my
item ice list behind seventy Yes.

Speaker 7 (48:51):
Look, please tell John John big Head is with you. Bro.
The Knicks are going to get through this. They fell asleep.
That's two minutes though. If they had the game one,
which they practically did, but they didn't finish it. So
the game two they shall finish it and it will
be fine going into Indiana. Are big right?

Speaker 3 (49:11):
Yep, appreciate the ball.

Speaker 7 (49:13):
Yell as the season goes far as we go with
the big blue I've sitting here been, I'll give it
the positive thought, not the negative start. And just for
everybody's understanding, let's understand this. The offense averages twenty to
twenty five points a game. As long as the defense
been doing what it's been doing for the last umpteen years,

(49:36):
we put ourselves in a very good position to do
something decent more than them five or six wins. Personally,
now this is a personal big head dream. You guys
will love this. We'll go nine to know the first games,
the first nine games. I don't give a dog on
who's on the schedule. As long as we got a

(49:56):
absolute dart at quarterback throwing darts.

Speaker 2 (50:00):
The funds are just free falling today.

Speaker 3 (50:02):
Yes, if the Giants are starting nine and look big ed.
If the Giants are starting nine and uh, because we've.

Speaker 7 (50:08):
Got a better defense, even better with those vets that's
needed in there. Now that offense is still that same season,
then it's still the line build, the quarterback, the wide receivers,
in the in the running backs are still fairly decent
enough to make moves enough to do something, but we

(50:28):
got to have proper game planning for each game. As
long as Darts shows than the others, he is capable
of doing it, and he should be starting in week one.

Speaker 2 (50:41):
I just I don't think that's gonna happen, and I
think he got to be realistic. I think they brought
in Russell Wilson a well. I mean, listen, you're mister optimistic,
so I mean it's it's nothing new from that stand,
but we'll let you go on that note. Appreciate the
phone call. I think you were going to jump in,
Matt right and say, if they're nine to zero, Dart's
not seeing the field.

Speaker 5 (50:58):
Yeah, I mean, look, Coach Stable the last time he
spoke to the media said Russell Wilson is a starting quarterback. Obviously,
he didn't say for the entire season from now until
the end of the twenty twenty five season, but right now,
Russell Wilson is the starting quarterback, and they clearly brought
in Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston with the intention of
letting those guys lead the room before ever considering putting

(51:21):
whatever rookie they ended up adding in the draft in
at the quarterback position. So if the Giants start nine
to zero, Jackson Dart does not sniffing the field. And
I've said this so many times on the show with Paul,
where I hope Jackson Dart doesn't see the field at
all this year, because if he doesn't see the field
at all, that means the Giants are having an incredible season.
They are in the playoff, winning games, the offense is

(51:44):
gelling all things that we would love to see. If
Jackson Dart doesn't take a meaningful snap until the twenty
twenty sixth season, you know, barring injuries, of course, that
can only.

Speaker 3 (51:55):
Mean good things for this Giants team. And I'm would
totally be on board that.

Speaker 5 (51:58):
As excited as I am to eventually see Jackson Dart
lead this offense, you don't want to rush him in
before he's ready. You want to give him time to develop, grow,
get accustomed to the speed and all of the complexities
of playing in the NFL, because playing the quarterback position
in the NFL probably the hardest position to play in
all of sports. That's why it's the most important position

(52:20):
in all of sports. You don't want to rush a
rookie quarterback out there before he's fully ready. Now, he
could look great in training camp that it's fully possible
within the realm of possibilities. But even if he does,
I don't want to put him out there week one. Again,
there is a reason why Russell Wilson and Jamis Witson
were brought in. Now, if he does look great all summer,

(52:42):
throughout training camp, in the preseason, maybe he ends up
going into a game earlier than we originally would have expected.
But I it shocked me if that would come all
the way in week one.

Speaker 2 (52:54):
Yeah, I mean, there's no need to put him on
the field. I mean that's the best way that I
would describe it. You have Russell Wilson, a Sea veteran,
atop the depth chart, so barring an injury, there once
again is no reason for him to play right out
of the gates. Now, depending on how the season plays out,
to your point, laid in a game that's lopsided, you
want to throw him out there just to gain some experience.

(53:15):
That's fine, but meaningful starting opportunities there's no need for
that to happen with Russell Wilson on the roster because
they have somebody that's capable of orchestrating the offense. Now,
the other thing that I wanted to respond to is
big at throughout twenty.

Speaker 3 (53:31):
Five points per game averaging on offense.

Speaker 2 (53:33):
If I heard that correctly, Matt so and I think
you were talking about this earlier with you and Paul
having a previous conversation. So if you go to twenty
five points a game last season, the Minnesota Vikings averaged
twenty five point four. Minnesota was ninth in the NFL
and scoring offense. I mean, just to once again be
real realistic and put things in perspective, you would be
talking about having the ninth best offense in the NFL

(53:55):
a year removed from being thirty first in that department.
Could you make jump like that. I'm not gonna say
it's impossible. Is it likely met though? I would say
probably not. And then Denver was twenty five on the nose,
right behind Minnesota, so they rounded out the top ten
scoring offenses in the National Football League. Now i'd be curious.

(54:17):
I'm just gonna do an exercise here, So Minnesota and Denver.
Let's see what they were in twenty twenty three, just
to get an idea of where.

Speaker 3 (54:24):
They Denver probably did make a big jump.

Speaker 2 (54:26):
Because of the rookie quarterback at the change and Russell
Wilson having a rough year of the previous year. So
I'm just going to look just out of curiosity. All right,
We'll start with Minnesota first, the Vikings in twenty twenty three.
They were at twenty point two. Okay, so that's I mean,
that's noticeable about five they jumped, but five is different
than seven. That's still two more points. We're talking about Denver.

(54:49):
Denver was at twenty one the previous season, so they
went up four. So I mean, that just goes to
show you even when you think about, oh, a quarterback
change or a new coach came in four points pretty
damn good. But now you're talking about seven and oh,
by the way, for them to get to twenty five,
that would take more than seven points. Okay, we're doing

(55:11):
I know hard math here on Big Blue Kekeoff Live.
Go from sixteen to twenty five, that's a nine point improvement, Matt.
I'm telling you right now, I would be blown away
if that happens.

Speaker 5 (55:22):
Yeah, that would certainly be one of the more surprising
things that could happen this season. I think we all
can agree that we do expect the offense to obviously improve. Obviously,
the quarterback position is incredibly more stable now between Russell
Wilson again, Jameis Winston as the backup, Jackson Dart even
right now Tommy DeVito. All four quarterbacks Jackson Darts obviously

(55:45):
the rookie, but all the other three quarterbacks have won
games in the NFL, have shown that they belong on
an NFL roster and can lead a team if thrust
into action. The offensive line, at least right now we're
going into training camp, should be healthy and obviously, as
we saw last year, when the offensive line was healthy,
the offense did not look nearly as poor as it

(56:07):
did once Andrew Thomas got hurt. When he got hurt
in the I think it was the Week six game
and then missed the rest of the season, it was noticeable.
Other than that Colts game, it was noticeable that Andrew
Thomas was not there. The whole line took a huge
step back. Other guys got injured as well, but with
stability at the quarterback position, a healthy offensive line, You

(56:28):
have Malik Neighbors now going into his second season, coming
off his record setting rookie year. You have an improved
running back room with again Tyrone Tracy going into year
two and only year three playing the running back position.
I think that is something that has overlooked. With Tracy's development,
along with Cam Scattabo Theo Johnson going into year two,

(56:50):
this offense should take a step and obviously the quarterback
position is the most important key to that. But to
expect them to go from what is it sixteen last
year to twenty five, I can't remember the last time
a team made that big.

Speaker 3 (57:06):
Of a jump.

Speaker 2 (57:07):
That'd be historical.

Speaker 3 (57:08):
Well, curious, what was Washington's just looked it up. There
was eighteen points, something up to twenty nine points somehow. Okay,
so that was one example then, But Wrington made that.

Speaker 5 (57:19):
But they obviously we're lucky to draft Jayden Daniels, who
looks like he could be a you know, franchise altering quarterback.
And while you know, obviously Russell Wilson is going to
be definitely a step up to the quarterback play.

Speaker 3 (57:33):
The Giants have had the last.

Speaker 5 (57:33):
Couple of years Jaden Daniels is twenty two years old
and already one of the best players in the NFL.

Speaker 3 (57:42):
Obviously not even into his prime years yet.

Speaker 5 (57:45):
Russell Wilson is in the latter stage of his career
and no one's gonna argue that. So to expect that
big of a jump from the Giants this year, again,
just trying to keep expectations somewhat in.

Speaker 2 (57:59):
Check well, and also keep in mind Washington completely changed
its coaching staff and schemes too. The Giants are not
in that boat. Not to say that you can't improve,
but there are slight differences. You know, when a new
coaches have a new scheme comes in, I mean you're
ripping everything to shreds. You're starting fresh, so it's possible, okay,
that could yield something. There is still cohesion on the

(58:22):
offensive side of things in terms of play calling, so
you know that can't be overlooked in terms of the
ins and outs when it comes to what happens on offense.
All right, before we wrap up shop here, let's look
ahead to OTAs that'll start on Tuesday, and this relates
to what you were talking about about. You know, the
development of the rookie class you know, those are things

(58:44):
that I look at in OTAs because see, to me,
OTAs is about certain individuals. It's not so much about what.

Speaker 3 (58:50):
The team's doing.

Speaker 2 (58:50):
The pads are not on, there's no contact to evaluate.
Guys in the trenches to me is getting way ahead
of things. How much are you truly gonna tell?

Speaker 5 (58:59):
You can't the guys in the trenches OTAs, there's nothing
you can really exactly from them.

Speaker 2 (59:04):
So I look for Matt specifically players that are getting
into year two, maybe year three. For example, if you
were to ask me one player that you're anxious to see,
my answer would be Jalen Hyatt.

Speaker 5 (59:18):
It's funny you say that, because in this week's Factor
of Fiction, which is coming out tomorrow, one of the
prompts was what basically what player has the most to
gain this spring?

Speaker 3 (59:26):
And that's exactly how I look at it.

Speaker 2 (59:29):
So that's more of a reason why it.

Speaker 3 (59:32):
Could not agree with you more.

Speaker 5 (59:33):
I think these next couple of weeks of spring practices
will be so huge for guys like Jalen Hyatt, but
especially Jalen Hyatt, because obviously last year didn't go how
he or anyone.

Speaker 3 (59:44):
Would have hoped.

Speaker 5 (59:44):
He only had eight receptions, didn't see the field that much,
you know, Blame it on whatever you want.

Speaker 3 (59:50):
It doesn't really matter at this point. But now he's
ent during year three.

Speaker 5 (59:54):
And this is going to be a very obviously big
off season leading into training camp and then training camp
in season for him to show that, hey, I'm an
NFL receiver.

Speaker 3 (01:00:04):
I belong here because.

Speaker 5 (01:00:05):
The guy won the Blittannikoff Award a couple of years
ago as the nation's best wide receiver. You don't just
you know, forget how to play the position, or go
from being the best player at your position in the
entire country to barely being able to, you know, stay
in the NFL like that typically does not happen too often.
So I cannot wait to see Jalen hyatte out there.

(01:00:27):
I think the addition of Russell Wilson is especially big
for him because one of Hyatt's best abilities is his
ability to stretch the field, and as we know, Russell
Wilson has made a career out of those moon balls. Yep,
Jalen Hyatt could be the biggest beneficiary of Russell Wilson
being the quarterback now with those deep balls him and
Darius Slayton. I should say, because they both do a

(01:00:49):
good job of taking the tops off the defense. But yeah,
starting next week, Jalen Hyatt will certainly be one of
the guys I've got my eye on the closest.

Speaker 2 (01:00:56):
Yeah, he's a top to list. And then I would say,
really the rest of the wide receiver position because I
think there's opportunity outside of the top three. Neighbor Slayden
and Robinson. Who is the fourth wide receiver? Is it
Jalen Hyatt, Bryce Ford Whedon? You know, is he going
to maybe move up the ladder? They brought in Jackson
Dart's college teammate Antoine Wells is one of the undrafted guys,

(01:01:18):
so Zach Pascal who was brought in the sear n
Humphrey well I thought he was let go. He was
brought back. Okay, I just wanted to get clarification on that.
But we also don't know is he going to get
to a tight end spot. You know, he's sort of
in that middle ground with respect to that, but certainly
I would throw him in. I would say anyone ranked
four through whatever number they go up to, that's the

(01:01:41):
position group. Those are the individuals I'm watching because it's
where there's opportunity for growth and development, and I think
you really want to see what they could bring to
the table, and you could tell a little bit about that.
They don't need to put the pads on. I think
the more activity that they get out of the field
during OTAs and you see them line up against corners
and you see how they run and whether or not

(01:02:02):
they can get open, whether the pants are on or not,
you can get a sense of what the guy brings
to the table. So my eyes, my focus is really
solely on that part of the field as opposed to
anything else going on, which I think is gonna be
limited in terms of your takeaways.

Speaker 5 (01:02:17):
Yeah, I'm glad you said that part of the field
because I think just as important as how the wide
receivers look the next couple of weeks. The same goes
for the defensive backfield, the secondary because you know the
team drills are I believe I don't know if this
for sure, I believe probably will be seven on seven drills.

Speaker 3 (01:02:35):
Last year.

Speaker 5 (01:02:35):
I don't think they ran eleven on eleven's during OTAs
if it's the same this year, Even if it's not,
as we said, there's no contact allowed, so the trenches
don't there's not much you can gain. It's really those
wide receiver and tight end matchups against the corners and
safeties that are the big things to watch. And obviously
Giants put some major asset allocation towards the secondary this offseason,

(01:02:59):
between Paul's and Adebo and Javon Holland. You have Tyler
Nuban going into year two YEP, coming off a season
ending foot injury that made him miss the last month
of the season. You have Drew Phillips going into year
two coming off a very promising rookie season. And you
have Deontay Banks, who, because of these other additions, seems
to be sort of the forgotten man in the secondary,

(01:03:19):
but obviously last year did not go quite as you
know Deontay probably would have hoped. But the guy who
was still a first round pick two years ago, the
talent is there, He's got the size. I think this
is a big couple of week stretch for all of
those guys, But almost as much as Jalen Hyatt, I'll
be looking at Deontay Banks. I will be keeping a

(01:03:40):
close eye on as well, because I think he has
the opportunity starting next week to show people, Hey, don't
forget I was a first round pick not too long ago.

Speaker 3 (01:03:50):
Don't sleep on me.

Speaker 5 (01:03:51):
Just because we got brought these other guys in doesn't
mean I like, just.

Speaker 3 (01:03:54):
Forget about me completely.

Speaker 5 (01:03:55):
So I'm excited to see what Deontay Banks can do
next week as well.

Speaker 2 (01:04:00):
With a veteran like pulse at a debo coming in,
you know that sometimes sends a message to a young
guy that hey, you know, everybody is replaceable, regardless of
where you were selected. I think, just in addition to
what you were saying, when guys are coming off injuries
like Nubin and a Debel, you also want to see
how much activity they're involved in the gates.

Speaker 3 (01:04:18):
We don't know.

Speaker 5 (01:04:18):
We don't know, but so those two, I mean, who
theo Johnson had the season, no idea how much. Obviously
we hope these guys are on the field doing all
these hills, but we don't really know for sure.

Speaker 2 (01:04:28):
Well, they may just be conservative and take it easy
on them. It will not be a sign that they
have a setback. It's just they don't want to overdo it.

Speaker 5 (01:04:34):
Yeah, even some of those guys you know in the
photo galleries that have been posted on the website from
phase two of the offseason, like some of those guys
have been out there. Just because they're not out here
potentially next week again, does not mean that there was
in some sort of setback. I mean, last year we
saw the Giants play it conservatively with a couple of
guys that were coming off injuries.

Speaker 3 (01:04:54):
There's just if a.

Speaker 5 (01:04:55):
Guy is even the slightest bit maybe not one hundred percent,
there's no need to rush him back now when training
camp is two months away. You'd rather obviously come into
training camp with everyone being one hundred percent healthy. So yeah,
we've been talking about some of these guys that are
coming off the serious injuries. We don't know for sure
if they will be out there for team drills. Obviously

(01:05:16):
would love to see it because I just want to
see best on best starting next week. But just wanted to,
you know, put that out there just because of it.
Just because a guy may not be out there next
week doesn't mean that there is some major cause for
concern about, you know, his injury status.

Speaker 2 (01:05:32):
Because they have plans for each player and depends on
the medical team and so forth. So I wouldn't read
too much into that, all right, that is going to
wrap up thursdays of thish of Big Blue Kickoff Live
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(01:05:54):
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Speaker 6 (01:06:29):
Have a go one