May 27, 2025 • 56 mins
Paul Dottino and Matt Citak discuss the most underrated players in the NFC East, chat about OTA’s, and take calls from fans.
:00 - OTA’s chat
8:30 - Most underrated players in the NFC East
28:50 - Calls
48:00 - More underrated NFC East players
53:55 - More on OTA’s
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
It's time for a Big Blue Kickoff line.
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Nobody can ever tell you that you couldn't do it
because you're.
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On Giants dot com.
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You know what I saw to York Giant.
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Prime and the Giants Mobile.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
At seventeen fourteen at the Finals one tundown.
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We are We're all Tampa.
Speaker 4 (00:21):
They didn't well.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Happen part of the Giants Podcast Network.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Let's go on.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Hello, the crazy dog hasn't hon Hello again, everybody, and
welcome to Tuesday's edition a Big Blue Kickoff Live presented
by Cadillac, the official luxury vehicle of the New York
Football Giants. So glad you could be with us for
the next hour. We'll talk Giants football at two oh one,
nine three, nine four five one three. He's Matt Sidetech
on Paul Tatino, and you know it's funny, folks. This
(00:47):
is the first week of the Phase three, which involves
OTAs and the mandatory mini camp, which actually won't be
coming up until the second week of June, in terms
of the mini camp, that is, but it's a little
bit of a dry period. Tomorrow, we're gonna have to
move the show. For those of you who listen to
the program, live at twelve thirty pm Eastern Time every weekday.
(01:10):
Tomorrow's program is gonna move to one thirty pm. That's
because of the Giants OTA schedule. They've got their first
media avail at their OTA sessions tomorrow morning. There's gonna
be a quick OTA practice, there's gonna be Coach Dable,
there's gonna be media sessions with some of the players.
So in order to bring you guys complete coverage of
(01:30):
what happened tomorrow, what was said, what's going on here,
We're gonna move the show back an hour and we
will start at one thirty pm Eastern Time tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
You're on the show tomorrow, yes, John and I.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Okay, So you guys are on tomorrow one thirty pm
to two thirty pm Eastern Time tomorrow. So let's get
that out of the way right away, so you guys
can kind of plan your lunch hours. I know a
bunch of you like the hold off eating until the
program starts. So one thirty pm tomorrow for the live
edition of Big Blue. Kickoff line And as always, if
you don't catch the show live, it's available on the
(02:03):
archive on podcast platforms everywhere. Giants dot Com, Slash podcasts
and the Giants mobile app. Okay, we got the business
out of the way. Now we talk about the question
of the day now. NFL dot Com just posted an
article within the last couple of days. We you know,
we were off over the weekend and we had the
(02:23):
Memorial Day and I hope everybody had a pleasant holiday
and don't forget to obviously remember those who were lost
in the military. In terms of our question today, the
NFL dot com article wanted to know in the NFC,
each of the teams have a most underappreciated player?
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Who is it? Well, Matt and I are going to go.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Over the NFC East for the purposes of this program.
We don't need to go through all the teams in
the NFC. They've also done an AFC article as well.
We don't need to do those. But I think the
NFC East is appropriate since that's where the Giants play
six of their games during the course of the year,
very very important games, and so we thought that we
would kind of go through this and perhaps you guys
(03:10):
have some thoughts, maybe you agree, maybe you disagree, Maybe
you have something else you'd like to talk about. We're
okay with that too, but that's our question of the day.
The most underrated or underappreciated I think is probably that's
the word that you used, appreciated, most underappreciated player on
each of the teams in the NFC East. Now, just
because I don't want you guys to listen to us
(03:32):
talk about the Giants and then click off the program,
we're gonna go an alphabetical on.
Speaker 5 (03:36):
Okay, before we just get into this just real quick.
Just got to acknowledge it that I think you might
have said this OTA's did begin today. There was a
practice this morning. It was the team's first day back
after a four day weekend. They also had Friday and
yesterday off for the holiday, and as a lot of
(03:56):
you may know, it is also the Giants Foundation golf
charity golf outing this afternoon.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
So it was a very very abbreviated practice. Not a
whole lot you know, happened.
Speaker 5 (04:08):
That's why we didn't, you know, start the show by
letting you know everything that happened in practice practice to contact.
There's no contact allowed at all during ots, but today
especially there was there's nothing that we could even report
team out about. What like it was more of a
I think just like a transition day. Get the whole
team or everyone that's here, get them back, get them
(04:30):
sort of ready to go. Tomorrow's when things will really
pick up. There's a full two hour practice. As Paul mentioned,
coach table will speak to the media before players will
speak to the media. After tomorrow. There'll be a lot
more going on. There really is just not a lot
to report. I didn't want you guys to think that
we just decided to, you know, forget about day one
of OTAs.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
There's just nothing, nothing we could tell you.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Guys of interest, well veteran listeners who already know what
OTAs are, that's fine, but you're right there are new
folks who may not understand the OTAs. And it's good
that you actually brought this up because that's known as
an organized team activity. Okay, you're gonna get a month
of these, but then in that third week you get
to have your veteran your veteran and mandatory mini camp
(05:16):
where everybody's supposed to be here otherwise they can be fined.
That's the only week of this month period before everybody
goes on summer vacation, where they will have full gear
on and they'll actually run through plays with full gear. Yes,
at this point, in all the other weeks of these
of this phase three of these OTAs, they got shirts
(05:40):
and shorts and helmets. The helmets look nice. Okay, they
look nice, but they don't serve a purpose because nobody
can hit anybody.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Yeah, there's there's no contact allowed.
Speaker 5 (05:50):
As you just mentioned, this is the start of Phase
three of the offseason workout program, which is.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
The final full phase.
Speaker 5 (05:57):
You know, we've had Phase one, began the week of
the draft, got through Phase one, through phase two.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Now it's phase three. The whole the team is altogether.
Speaker 5 (06:04):
The rookies are with the veterans, so you know, most
of the team is out on the practice field.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Over the next three weeks.
Speaker 5 (06:12):
This week, next week, in the following week, there will
be ten OTA days, ten days of practices, with today
obviously being the first one, and each of those three
weeks there'll be one day of media, so coach Dable
will speak before the practice on that day, players will
speak after. For this week's schedule, the media day is tomorrow,
(06:33):
and then I think the next two weeks it'll be
the next two Thursdays is when the media will be here.
There'll be sort of a lot more for us to
you know, talk about and report about what is going on.
But throughout these next three weeks and even following the
three week stretch is the mini camp that Paul was
just talking about. There is still no contact whatsoever allowed
(06:53):
throughout these next four weeks of practices. So you know,
you'll hear from us, you'll hear from the beat reporters
when they're here about you know, some one on one
matchups between receivers and cornerbacks tight ends.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
It's very primitive.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Take everything you hear over the next few weeks, including
from us, with a little bit of a grain assault.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Because there's zero contact allowed, there's really not much you
can gain from the offensive lineman or defensive linement at all.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
During this stretch.
Speaker 5 (07:21):
You like to see the guys just out there and
moving around, you know, looking agile and quick. But until
they especially those guys, until they can really start going
at it with pads on, which is not until the
start of training camp in about two months, there's not
a whole lot to gain. You will be able to
get a little bit more from you know, the receiver
tight end and defensive back matchup positions, but again you
(07:43):
gotta keep in mind that even those matchups, there's still
no contact allowed, so it's not like the corners can
you know, press the receiver at the line of scrimmage
before they run out.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
So just just take everything you hear over the next
couple of weeks a little bit of a grain assault.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
So we will actually be moving to show back on
those media available days to one thirty in each of
those cases. But don't worry about that now. We will
tell you about that as the excuse me, I'm sorry,
as the days come closer, we will let you know
for this week there's only one show that gets moved.
That one's going to be tomorrow. Yep. Okay, Now back
(08:17):
to the question in Man two one nine three, if
you'd like to give us a call, So we'll go alphabetically,
and the Dallas Cowboys, being that they're a d they
get to be first in this conversation, and the NFL
dot Com article selects wide receiver Jalen Tolbert. Now I
can appreciate that because CD LAMB gets all the ink right,
(08:41):
their wide receiver room has one true superstar, and then
everybody else is kind of a second level also ran
At least that's the perception whether they did just so,
I get it.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
George Picketts, they have hope to elevate that number two.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
I was just getting there. Sorry, that's okay, that's okay.
I was just getting there. They have since added George
Pickens from the Steelers, who now is going to be
part two of this sensational duo that the Cowboys hope
to deploy this season. I looked at it and I said, no, no, no, no, no,
no no no. For me, it's Jake Ferguson. Ferguson, in
(09:19):
my opinion, is one of the top all around full
service tight ends in the National Football League. I loved
them coming out of school. It does not surprise me
that he has produced well and wrestled the starting job
away in Dallas.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
He's a quality.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Player who's got terrific hands, runs really good routes, can
get yards after the catch, he blocks, He's not afraid
to get his nose dirty and do the dirty work. Okay,
So he's not Jason Witten. I get that. The standard
in Dallas for tight ends, going back to Billy Joe
Dupree and even Mike Dicka before that, is very, very high. Okay,
(10:03):
I totally understand that, and that's why I'm gonna go
Jake Ferguson as the most underappreciated Cowboy because, again, with
a high standard for tight ends in that organization, he
has not necessarily been an All Pro Bowl NFL guy,
And so I'm gonna say he's the one for me.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
Yeah, that, honestly, that is a good pick. He was
very solid last year. Honestly the last two years. Two
years ago he was even better than last year. You know,
last year he misses a little bit of time. I
forgot what injury he had, but it was Yeah, that
is a good pick. Just in terms of Jalen Tolbert,
that was actually my pick for the Cowboys breakout player
(10:43):
last year, and obviously that did not come to fruition.
He wasn't, you know, awful, but certainly did not come
close to breaking out. You know, maybe maybe this year,
now that he's the third receiver and potentially the fourth
option in the passing game, because I would put Ferguson
above him on the pecking order, maybe he has a
little bit more of a breakout. But I agree with you,
(11:05):
that's not the pick for most underappreciated player for me either.
There were a couple of players. I considered Jake Ferguson
was one. Since you went with him, I'm I'm gonna
steer away from that.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
There's another player who I do think is underappreciated, but.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
He's not gonna quite get this because he's not been
his normal self the last couple of years, and that's
Javonte Williams, the running back that they just signed for
the Broncos. He had a serious injury two years ago,
was coming back from it last year, still played the
whole season, but did not look as spry and you know,
as quick as he did.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
To start his career.
Speaker 5 (11:40):
I do think he's gonna have a much better season
this year than last year, but since he's had a
couple of down seasons, I'm not gonna go with him either.
I'm gonna go with Dante Fowler, who they just signed
to a one year deal this offseason. He has he
was with I want to say Washington before this.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
He's bounced around a bit and had some very good
seasons and some very quiet seasons.
Speaker 5 (12:04):
Yes, so he was with Washington last year, but was
with the Cowboys the two years before that, And the
reason I think he's been a little bit underappreciated is
his two years in Dallas.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
He had ten total sacks between the two seasons. Last
year with the Commanders double ten and a half sacks, yep.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
And this is a guy who has reached double digit
sacks in his career previously as well. He had one
season with the Rams he had eleven and a half.
And now that he's going to be on the opposite
end of the line from Micah Parsons, who will obviously
be garnering the most attention from opposing offensive lines, will
be getting double teamed, probably more passing.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Plays than not.
Speaker 5 (12:40):
Dante Fowler is going to just get himself a lot
of one on one situations and if he has a
season even close to what he had last year with
the Commanders, but now playing on the opposite end of
Michael Parsons, he'd easily be looking at another double double
digit sax season.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
And the rest of the league were not like that
very much.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
No, especially the Giants what not like that at all.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Yeah, he wound up, you know, coming back from him,
as you said, two subpar seasons and did some really
good things for Washington last year. Quite frankly, I thought
he was one of the bright spots and surprising spots
for the commander's defense.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
I'm with you, all right.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
So now we go to next up, and that would
be end for the New York Giants. And the article
suggests Jermaine a luminor, and I understand that. You know,
he's not a guy who gets a lot of headlines,
who gets a lot of attention, and yet his very
workman like just goes out there every single week and
does his job and he's very reliable. But for me,
(13:41):
I'm looking at a guy who I think has a
little more pop and a little bit more value and
a little bit more luster in terms of where he's
usually talked about and rated. And I'm gonna go with
Darius Slayton. I think that Slayton past offseason, and by
virtue of the contract that he got, you'd have to
(14:03):
say he was one of the more highly regarded wide
receivers around the league in free agency because he got
a pretty good deal to stay with the Giants. Most
people don't look at him that way. Most people look
at him like, oh, well, he'd be a number three
on many of the good teams in the league, or
(14:23):
maybe he'd.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Be a four.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
I hear that a lot from people. I look at
Darius Slayton and I say, look, he's got pretty good size,
he's got really good speed. He's a pros pro. Despite
the fact that the Giants passing game has not exactly
been prolific over the last several years, he still goes
out there as mister consistency and averages fifteen yards a
(14:47):
catch for his career. Now, I defy you to just
go out into any supermarket shelf and pick a fifteen
yard per catch receiver at will off of that shelf.
It does not happen every day. So I would say
I'm gonna go with Darius Slayton. Although I do think
(15:09):
there is a segment of Giants fans who do appreciate him,
So for those of you, he would not be a
good pick. But for those of you who do not
necessarily appreciate him and kind of see him kind of
buried underneath the rubble of the Giants passing attack, I
think he's a good pick.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Yeah, No, I think so too. And I know I
briefly mentioned this to you right before we came on air.
Speaker 5 (15:32):
But ESPN put an article out and they picked the
most underrated player at each position across the NFL, and
at the wide receiver position, they went with Darius Slayton
as the most underappreciated wide receiver in.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
The entire NFL.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
There was a word you used when describing when talking
about him, and I'm glad you chose that word, consistent,
because he has been the model of consistency since the
Giants drafted it in the fifth.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Round of the twenty nineteen draft.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Every year, year after year, he has proven to be,
you know, that that downfield option, the guy that could
stretch the top off the defense, take the top off
the defense. He's just been consistent ever since. I think
it was the rookie mini camp after he got drafted.
It was a huge storyline that he had a lot
of drops in that two day mini camp. Since then,
(16:21):
drops have not really been an issue. Obviously, he's had
a couple here and there, of course.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Easy in terms of his hands, but his playoverall has
been very consistent.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
His play has been very consistent. The drops I don't
think have been a big issue.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Not as much as with others receivers.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Yeah, so I do like that pick. I'm going to
go in a slightly different direction.
Speaker 5 (16:43):
I do think Jermaine and Luminor is underappreciated by many
people around the league because especially last year, whether it
was starting at right tackle where the first I know,
we've spoken a lot about the first six weeks of
the season, offensive line was healthy, Andrew Thomas was healthy.
They had the same offensive line for every single snap
(17:05):
over the first six weeks. Well, during those first six weeks,
Jermaina Lumnar did not give up a sack, did not
give up a single sack. Obviously, Andrew Thomas got hurt
in that Week six game, missed the rest of the
season and things started to crumble on the offensive line
from that moment. But Jermaina Lumnro was very solid even
after he got switched to play on the left side
(17:27):
with not too much time to like he spent all
offseason training first for guard, then for right tackle, and
then halfway through the year he got thrown to the
other side where he hadn't trained at.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
All, and left tackle spot for him.
Speaker 5 (17:40):
Yeah, and he was still very solid. So I can't,
you know, dismiss NFL dot Com for choosing him. That
is a very fair It's a very fair pick. I'm
gonna go with one that I know those watching you
and I, we certainly do.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Not underappreciate him.
Speaker 5 (17:59):
But the fact that he has not thought of as
one of the best at his position across the NFL
baffles me because when he's been on the field, he
has been nothing short of dominant.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
And that is Andrew Thomas.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Okay, I know.
Speaker 5 (18:15):
You and I both consider him to be one of
the best tackles when he's healthy in the NFL, sure,
and I know a lot of you watching at home
or wherever you're watching probably agree. Granted he's had injury issues,
he's missed some time, especially the last two years, He's
missed a lot of time. But in this stretches of
the last two years where he has been on the field,
(18:37):
he looked like that twenty twenty two Andrew Thomas, the
one that was a second team All Pro two years ago.
He missed basically the entire first half of the season,
took him a little bit of time to get going
once he came back, but the final month of the
season he was that dominant All Pro version that we
grew accustomed to in twenty twenty two. Last year, the
(18:57):
first six weeks at the season, really the first five
weeks because he got hurt at some point during that
Week six game and didn't quite look himself for the
rest of that game. But the first month plus of
last year looked like the normal Andrew Thomas. And now,
because he's had these two injury Riddle seasons in a row,
it seems like he is just being criminally underrated by
(19:17):
just about everyone across the media, across the I'm sure,
I'm sure teams are not, you know, undervaluing him because
they know what he can do when he's out there.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
I thought you were gonna go with Greg van Rotin.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
I do love Craig.
Speaker 5 (19:34):
I know I almost went with him, but then I realized,
I'm like, wait, I've literally you know, I look for
articles every day to write about Giants now just topics
about the Giants players being highlighted. No one ever talks
about Andrew Thomas in any of these media outlets, and
it is It annoys me because we know how good
(19:55):
he is and how dominant he is when he's on
the field. I think he just needs to have one
of those seasons where he just is able to stay
on the field, because we all know what he can
do when he stays out there. Hopefully, that will be
this year because, as we've come to learn, when he's
healthy and he's out there, the offensive line as a
whole place significantly better, which is no surprise because he's
our best line.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
So you're taking some of the philosophy also that I
use with Slayton in terms of where the guy should
be and where he's kind of talked about. Slayton should
be valued much higher, and I think people around the
league value him higher inside the league more than people
outside the league. Yep, And that perhaps is what you're
talking about with Thomas.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
Yeah, I mean, I think it was just after the
twenty twenty two season, which obviously he was an All Pro,
where the media was considering him one of the top
tackles in the league, just because he's had some injuries,
which the injuries he's had shouldn't, you know, alter the
rest of his career.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
You should be back healthy. We hope he should be
back healthy.
Speaker 5 (20:52):
At the very least for the start of training camp,
if not sooner. So there's no reason to see to think.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
That he can't return to his twenty twenty two version.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
All right, let's go to next up, the Philadelphia Eagles.
By the way, Dallas up at two oh one nine
three nine four five one three the Philadelphia Eagles UH
defensive tackle Moro or Jomo gets the pick from NFL
dot Com, and I understand that they wanted to go
with Milton Williams, who left because of free agency. And
(21:23):
you guys know, coming out of the draft, I was
a huge Milton Williams fan, so never underrated here. But
it doesn't matter now he's not on the Eagles anymore,
so he's not eligible for this particular column. So they
decided to go with a joemo talking about his efficiency
in terms of his pass rush snaps and how well
he did in those particular plays. I get that, But
(21:49):
for me, I'm looking at Nakobe Dean and Zach Bonn,
two of their starting linebackers who both got accolades this year,
but because they hadn't done much in the previous two
or three seasons in the NFL, I kind of think
that maybe their impact on this particular Eagles team, with
(22:10):
all of the superstars that they have up front and
with all of the superstars they have on offense, I
kind of thought that they were both underappreciated. And you
can pick either one of them. Because even though I believe,
if I'm not mistaken, wasn't a Dean one of the
comeback players of the year. And I think Bond made
(22:33):
first team Apole Pro? Did he not?
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Bond was first team All Pro? For sure?
Speaker 2 (22:37):
He was.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
He was probably the best linebacker in football last year. Yeah. Now,
even Fred Warner.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
If I said to twenty people out in the parking lot,
if I went out there and talked to the construction
workers who were doing the World Cup town set up
for the club soccer that's coming here, and I grabbed
twenty of those guys and I said, give me the
top five linebackers in the NFL. His name's not coming up.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
No, probably not.
Speaker 5 (23:02):
It's not.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
It should, but it's not.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
So by definition, does Bond become that guy for this category,
because until this breakout season where he had one hundred
and fifty plus tackles, he was nobody.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Yeah. And honestly, I was talking to a friend who
is a huge Eagles fan. I do have one of those.
I'm sorry, but I'm just surprised you let him live.
But I was talking to him about Zach Bond.
Speaker 5 (23:30):
I think it was during the playoffs, and he told
me that Zach Bond was signed basically to be a
special teams player that the Eagles when they first signed him,
did not really have much thought or consideration on him
starting at linebacker, let alone, you know, getting a lot
of snaps at that position. And it was Vic Fangio
that once he had him in the building, was like,
(23:52):
wait a second, I think we might have something here.
And sure enough, again was one of the best, if
not the best linebacker in football and got a new
contract this offseason where he's getting paid like one of
the top players at his position, and it is deserved.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
But you're right that you know, before this season, not
only would.
Speaker 5 (24:10):
He be nowhere in the ballpark of the conversation for
top linebackers, but he wouldn't even considered a starting linebacker.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Really well, I think if you went.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
To twenty people before this past season, they would have
had a hard time telling you if he was still
in the league. Yeah, after four years in New Orleans
and doing nothing one hundred so I think right now
you'd still have a hard time getting people telling you
that he was an all Pro. So I'm gonna go there,
and it's a twisted piece of logic, but that's where
(24:39):
I'm going to go that is totally fair.
Speaker 5 (24:42):
I would say, similar to how I imagine people actually
working in the NFL across other teams know the ability
of Andrew Thomas.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
I feel like in that sense, they would agree with
you on Zach Bond.
Speaker 5 (24:56):
But you're right that the media a lot of fans
definitely do not give Zach Baud the respect that he deserves.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
For me, I mean, where do you want to go?
Speaker 3 (25:06):
It's the reigning Super.
Speaker 5 (25:07):
Bowl champions, Like, it's hard, it's hard to say that
any of these guys are underrated. So I'm gonna go
with someone who has not played a single snap for
them yet. But who I'm just because I'm not really
sure what other direction to go on. Like I think
Jalen carter Is could easily become one of the top
defensive tackles.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
He's not quite there yet, but he could become that
this year. I don't want to go with him.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Though, you can't pick a rookie. You're not gonna pick
a rookie.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
I wanted to take a rookie. That is that kind
of cheating?
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Well, I think it is because if he's not in
the NFL, yet, how could he be appreciated or underappreciated.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
It just it seems like, all right, we want to
go ahead.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
I'll let your cheat go ahead, take the rookie.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
What do you want to cheat?
Speaker 5 (25:50):
I'm gonna go with the Eagles first round pick Gihad
Campbell because it seems like he's not being considered is
the favorite to be their starting middle linebacker going into
this season.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
And well, look at the two guys we just mentioned.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
Well, I think he might overcome then Kobe Dean. That's
why I wouldn't potentially go with him. Okay, and this
is nothing against n Kobe Dean. I just think Jihat
Campbell was extremely talented and skillful this past season playing
at Alabama. I think the only reason he dropped all
the way down to the Eagles at thirty one was
because he has some injury concerns.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
There's some you know, potential red flags.
Speaker 5 (26:28):
Some teams clearly flagged him as you know, an injury
risk moving down the road. But he was the best
linebacker in football last year, if not the best in
college football, if not the best, certainly top three. I
think he is just the perfect compliment to Zach Bond
in Vic Fangio's defense. And it scares me a little
(26:50):
bit as a Giants fan and employee thinking about Jiha
Campbell developing, coming into the league and developing next to
Zach Bond with Vic Fangio as the defensive coordinator. I mean,
obviously the defensive front is what gets all of the
attention in Philadelphia. But between those two guys and Ni
(27:11):
Kobe Dean, those are three very, very talented linebackers that
I feel like could start. Any of the three of
them could and would start for most teams around the NFL.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
And I've looked at their linebacking corps and I'm not
talking edge because the edge is a different position. Now,
I've looked at their linebacking corps and I have felt,
now for several years, that's been a weak link for
them in my opinion. They have not been very athletic,
making too many tackles after yardage gained, you know, not
making too many impact plays. And all of a sudden,
(27:44):
now last year they had two guys who really stepped up,
and now they had Campbell. All of a sudden, that
position isn't so weak anymore.
Speaker 5 (27:52):
No, it combined them with the defensive front that has
a very scary front seven right there. It is obviously
the secondary is no, there's no slouches back there either.
But yes, actually the two high picks last year that
alone transformed their secondary, Quinion Mitchell and Cooper Dejan who
were their first two picks last year. We knew when
(28:14):
they drafted them last year. We're like, oh, this, this
could be trouble for the rest of the NFC East.
And sure enough, that's exactly what happened.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
All right, two o one nine three nine four five
one three. We have a phone caller, so why don't
we go there before we go to the commanders and
we will take this phone call here and you are first, Chris,
Welcome to BBKL.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
Hello, Hey, PAULI Yeah, go ahead, Matt, Hey, what's going on?
Speaker 4 (28:40):
I just wanted to just start off and say that
you guys, I know I've been you guys know I've
been listening for a long time, and I just took
it for granted because of the info the calls, like
all the material that we get. Well, my old lady's
a Bills fan and she wanted some draft info and
so I looked up on the Bills app and it
(29:03):
is like two out of ten compared to where you
guys are like a nine point five out of ten
and I don't even know what suggestions make up the
point five. And that's how bad they were and how
good you guys were.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
Well, you're very kind, thank you. We appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (29:18):
And then so now that that said, Paullie John, I'm
kind of disappointed a little bit in you guys with
your guys' is like, it's not customism.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Well we got here with us today, okay, right, that's okay.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
I don't mention him.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
Well, I didn't get that thing for like Schmelky, Polly Dots,
mister Sidetak, Lance.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Pierson, you there, you go, the whole crew. Yeah, okay,
all right, all right, So you want to hit us
now with something negative, go ahead.
Speaker 4 (29:48):
Yes, I didn't mention site secking this because he seems
to have the optimism and actually feel it. And I
know you have it, Paulie. That's why I'm kind of disappointed.
And you and Schmelky, I think that you guys believe
and you feel it. But it's just a little bit
worried because the last couple of seasons, which leads me
into my third point, So early in Shane and Davos yees.
(30:13):
So early on in Shannon davos tenure, we didn't have
great depth, So the Thomas injury and all the rest
that derailed that season. And then the next season he
brings in Illuminori, he brings in running, had a great
offseason and draft, and then he gets Burns. He gets
Burns and then had the excellent drafts again, So what
(30:37):
was that? He's the The last two drafts were really good.
The third the first one there that was at the
Thomas and was that cave was that the cave On draft.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Is the.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
Drafted with cave On and Evan Neil was Joe Shane
and Brian Nables first drafted twenty twenty two.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
They had two first rounders that year.
Speaker 4 (31:01):
No, and that seems to be like the worst draft
that they've had so far. But anyways, we've had two
really good off seasons and then brings in a debo.
He brings in Holland, where the heck was I give
me one second, Well, I just.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Want to make sure we back up to point number
two for a second. You're accusing all of us except
for Matt, of being like Debbie Downers, like like not
not not that much Polly, what what?
Speaker 1 (31:26):
What?
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Here's what I would tell you, Okay, you, here's what
I would tell you. I've been around the game such
a long time that I know you can't start eating
the ice cream okay until you actually see the stuff
coming out of the freezer. And it's not coming out
of the freezer yet. Heck, they're not even in pads,
(31:49):
so you know, I can't. I can't start jumping for
joy and ordering you know, three whole double cheese pizzas
because they haven't even hit yet. I'm sorry, I can't.
I can't be too I can't be too glowing about this.
What I see on paper is good, is really good.
(32:12):
I think the improvement is going to be there. But
the point that I think John and I have often
tried to make is that this team could be much
better and the one loss record may not necessarily reflect
it as much as the team improves. That's the thing
to be wary about, you know, it really is.
Speaker 4 (32:34):
I'm just saying from I've been listen care abuys for years,
years and years, so I know, like your personalities and
your day to day Sometimes you guys, are you know,
have a bad day or whatever? You can tell the difference.
I just feel like you're not as optimic optimistic as
you feel insight. That's all I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
Okay, okay, okay, fine.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
All right here this one though, this is and then
I want to be optimist. Yeah, and I'm going to
give you reasons why we will win that. Okay, So
last year the league neighbors doesn't drop that pass in
the second game in the fourth quarter, with like what
a minute fifty left, I believe we win that game.
(33:15):
In Washington, the Cowboys have a rookie head coach, offensive coordinator,
and defensive coordinator, and plus they've got what is it
three or four either rookies or second year offensive lineman
that got attend with the Giants defensive line for a
year two against Golsend Dax, kt Burns, Alexander and now Carter.
(33:38):
So you know, we got depth, we got death. That's
a defensive line, and they're gonna be a problem. He's
gonna find the right mix with that. With that, with
those guys, I think that we're going to be top
three in fact, which will lead to top three in
turnover ratio. We've got Brian Dables been Assistant Coach of
(33:58):
the Year he's been head coach of the Year and
now he's got he's got Wilson, and I just think
Wilson and Neighbors are going to be a great match.
It wouldn't cast me at all if twenty touchdowns this
year quick.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Well, well, now, the only thing I'm going to ask
you to pump the brakes on a little bit here
is to give Neighbors twenty touchdown catches. That's kind of
like out of this world. But if you want to
go there, I'll go right ahead. I think that's rather
over zealous. But the one thing that you did say
that you really can't do is predict turnover ratio, no
(34:40):
matter how much pressure you think they're going to get
on the other team's quarterback. We know history tells us
in the National Football League that while you can force
other teams quarterbacks into making mistakes, it doesn't necessarily mean
you will convert those mistakes into turnovers every time.
Speaker 5 (34:56):
Yeah, I mean, all we gotta do is look at
last year the Giant We're the top team in the
league in sacks for like the first half of the season,
but had almost no turnovers, no interceptions, and only a
few forced fumbles. So despite the fact that they were
leading the league in sacks, the turnovers didn't necessarily follow.
Now that doesn't mean that's going to happen every time,
(35:18):
But just because they get more sacks does not necessarily
mean that a ton of more turnovers will come as well.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
So you've got to kind of pull that one back,
I think to be real well, and now I'm going
to push back.
Speaker 4 (35:30):
We got Holland, Paulson, Adeebo and newban Is in his
second year. That's three ballhops with the pressure that and
now we've got Abdull Carter with Alexander. The whole thing
is going to be if we stop the run, we
are going to be dominant. If we can stop the run,
we're going to be dominant. That's the key. And the
(35:50):
how Wilson is with I mean, he's got highat Slayton's
great trackers of the ball that he's got like his
perfect wide receiver corps for his type of passing, you know,
and then scantable with fo coming into his second year.
Maybe I'm too optimistic, but I actually had him breaking
(36:10):
Randy Moss's single season wide receiver touchdown with that Brady
and him, So it was over twenty Pauly even though
you didn't like the twenty.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
I got that. Wow, I mean wow, that is a
big number to not be covered.
Speaker 2 (36:27):
That is a big, big, big number. Twenty touchdown touches.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
In a season.
Speaker 4 (36:34):
I think it's twenty three.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
Ah, no, you do, but you just said twenty. You
just said neighbors for twenty.
Speaker 4 (36:41):
Yeah, neighbors. I got him breaking losses record this year.
I mean it's his stoppings. Oh that mixed with the
comeback with Russell Wilson, a guy that's accurate. DJ was
underthrowing everybody. He just is not the same.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
Okay, Hey, hey, look, I love what you're saying. And
if that happens, there's gonna be a lot of cheering
at the stadium right across the parking lot. Trust me,
that's gonna be awesome. I think that's being rather generous.
I mean, look, look at some of the quarterbacks and
some receivers who have played for this organization. You know
(37:18):
Amani Toomer, Plexico, Burris Homer Jones going back several decades,
who was one of the biggest, if not the greatest,
deep threat in the history of the National Football League.
None of these guys put up twenty touchdowns to the season.
Speaker 5 (37:31):
I mean again, going back to going back to last year,
the player that led the league in receiving touchdowns was
Jamar Chase, who had obviously Joe Burrow as his quarterback.
Jamar Chase one of, if not already the best receiver
in the NFL. He had seventeen touchdowns and that's with
and again, I do think Russell Wilson certainly raises the
(37:52):
floor for Malik and the rest of the Giants receivers.
But I don't think anyone's gonna confuse Russell Wilson out
there with in his prime right now, and again, Jamar
Chase only at seventeen.
Speaker 4 (38:05):
Let me ask you guys a question. Do you think
Russell Wilson is capable with Molie Neighbors to break the record.
Do you guys believe he's capable.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
I think Neighbors has the ability and the talent to
be incredibly explosive, and I do believe that Wilson still
has the arm and the accuracy to get the ball there.
But I also believe that the Giants are a team
that is not going to just feature those two guys.
They're going to try to spread the ball around. You
mentioned a couple of the other fellas, including Hyatt and Slayton,
(38:37):
who are also going to get their share. You mentioned Scataboo, Well,
if you want him to wind up running the ball
some and you want Tracy to run the ball some,
there's one ball, there's one ball, and you're talking about spreading.
Speaker 4 (38:51):
I'm going I really think the Giants are going to
People are grossly underestimating the coaching, the talent that's on
the team, and the depth.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
Now, the Giants would be best serve.
Speaker 4 (39:04):
Wilson triggered me last week. That's why I wrote, all right.
Speaker 2 (39:07):
But Chris, the Giants would be best served in all honesty,
if they're able to be a diverse offense that can
spread the ball around a lot to a number of
these talented players, and they allow dables creativity in conjunction
with Kafka and Tyranny and of course the veteran pulling
(39:27):
the trigger in Russell Wilson, They'd be so much better
off if they could be play action and diverse then
just featuring long balls, you know, every third play to
Elite Neighbors.
Speaker 4 (39:40):
No, no, that's I'm not saying, but Elite Neighbors is
more than that. I'm saying that the tandem of his
stop and go move with the comeback you know, is
going to give hit. Nobody's going to be able to cover.
Nobody can cover him. Now, I personally think he's the
best receiver. He does stuff that is incredible with his
(40:01):
whatever you call it, the balance in the air, keeping
his toes in.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
This is awareness, incredible athleticism. There's no doubt about that. Look, Chris,
I will say this, right, any Giants receiver who can
put up double digit touchdown catches in a season after
what we have watched for the last how many years, would.
Speaker 4 (40:23):
Be worth one hundred and nine catches.
Speaker 3 (40:24):
Oh yeah, and he's certainly capable of double digit touchdowns.
Speaker 5 (40:29):
And we're gonna not We're not gonna sit up here
and say, oh, that's unrealistic to think he can't reach
double digits.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
He's doubling that.
Speaker 3 (40:37):
He certainly can.
Speaker 5 (40:38):
He had seven last year with obviously some we'll call
it subpar quarterback play. With improved quarterback play, easily can
get ten or more. But to call to predict twenty,
to break to break like a record if it's just
and that's it's a tall task, Chris.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
If you called in and said fifteen. I would I
would even say that's probably a tad high, but I
could digest fifteen, it's possible. Twenty just seems way out
of whack.
Speaker 4 (41:08):
I just don't think he's gonna be covered. This is
his second year now, Okay, he was great in his
first year with just terribleness around him. Chris got injured.
Speaker 3 (41:19):
Thank you, Chris.
Speaker 2 (41:20):
We we got we got other people trying to get
into the into the call into the show. I appreciate it.
Please do call again.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Thank you, Chris.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
Wow. I hey wow.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
I appreciate optimism. Of course.
Speaker 5 (41:36):
The one thing, one thing I'm a little curious about
is he said that I have been the most optimistic,
which I try in general, especially this time of year,
to lean a little bit more towards the optimistic side
than the pessimistic side, because I do think the roster
(41:56):
is just significantly better this year.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
Than has been for years now. On paper, the roster
is better.
Speaker 5 (42:04):
Obviously, a big factor in the success of this team
will be health, as it is every year. Twenty twenty
two team was relatively healthy, and what happened They went
on this playoff run. The next two years we saw
various key players on both sides of the ball drop
like flies, and with them dropping like flies, this season
(42:24):
dropped like a fly, and it was over before we
knew it. It was you know, week six, and the
season's basically over already.
Speaker 3 (42:30):
So health will definitely play a big factor in that.
Speaker 5 (42:33):
But I feel like I have been pretty consistent with
my messaging on here saying that I do think along
with you and John, I think we all agree that
the Giants should be a lot better this year. But
as you said, they could be a lot better and
still only win six or seven games.
Speaker 3 (42:50):
Sure, I have said that.
Speaker 5 (42:51):
There's an outcome for this season where they only win
six or seven games, and yet at the end of
the season, all of us, including you and Home, are
still feeling optimistic about the way that the team is going,
correct because they only won three games last year. To
think just because of you know, a quarterback change, which
obviously most important position in football, and it will help
(43:14):
raise the floor of the offense, which in turn will
help raise the floor and just help the defense in general.
But even with that, to think that they're going to
go from three to you know, ten or more wins
in one offseason, that's going to be very difficult.
Speaker 3 (43:31):
That does not happen often. It happens sometimes.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
M hm.
Speaker 3 (43:34):
It's certainly possible, But I don't know.
Speaker 5 (43:37):
If you know Tuesday May twenty seventh, you can anyone
can sit up here and say with confidence that they
predict that will happen.
Speaker 2 (43:44):
Look, I think one of the reasons that they drafted
cam Skataboo is because they wanted to have a power
running back in that room to match with Tyrone Tracy,
so that they could be more diversified offensively, and they
want to improve the running game's production. Well, when you
(44:04):
get in the other team's red zone, if you've got
that running game to keep the defenses honest, and especially
when you get inside the ten or inside the five,
and you can prove to people that you can wun
the ball in. Well, I hate to say it, but
Malik Neighbors and those other receivers are going to get
some fewer chances to score if Scatterbu and Tracy are
(44:25):
running the ball in, by the way, is a good thing.
Speaker 3 (44:29):
Yeah, we'd all sign up for that in a heartbeat,
you know.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
So don't get caught up too much and like trying
to see Neighbors numbers reach for the stars. I don't
necessarily know that that is a productive way to think
in terms of the overall offensive scheme and picture.
Speaker 3 (44:48):
No, but don't get us wrong, Molite Neighbors.
Speaker 5 (44:51):
His numbers are gonna look good incredible time, assuming he
stays healthy and the quarterback play is just consistent and
I'm not even saying it has to be you know,
above average quarterback play, just solid consistent quarterback play with
Maliks staying healthy, and there's no reason to see what
to think why he couldn't have another season like he
did as a rookie, if not better, Because he's now
(45:12):
obviously has a full year of experience.
Speaker 2 (45:14):
In the NFL.
Speaker 3 (45:15):
I think he wonders. So the numbers will be there.
Speaker 5 (45:18):
Yeah, what Paul is saying, and I agree completely, is
just don't get caught up in saying twenty touchdowns for
Elik Neighbors.
Speaker 3 (45:24):
Milik Neighbors could end the season with six touchdowns.
Speaker 5 (45:27):
But if he has fifteen hundred yards and one hundred
and twenty receptions, is anyone really gonna complain and saying
that he had a bad season, especially if the offense
is still scoring. It's just maybe not necessarily going into
Malik's hands into the end zone. As long as the
offense is scoring points, who cares who's the one that crosses.
Speaker 3 (45:43):
The goal line with the ball?
Speaker 2 (45:44):
Exactly?
Speaker 5 (45:45):
All it matters is the offense is scoring more points
than it has the last win the games, win the game,
that is the most important.
Speaker 2 (45:51):
I think there's win the game.
Speaker 3 (45:52):
Scoring more points will help with the winning.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
I'm certainly not interested in fantasy football and fantasy football points.
I know you may be.
Speaker 5 (45:59):
I do like fantasy football, but as I tell my
friends all the time, anyone that asked me the Giants
come first, I will take you going ohen with thirteen in.
Speaker 3 (46:09):
My fantasy league in a heartbeat if it means the
Giants win more games, exactly, without a doubt.
Speaker 2 (46:14):
All right, back to our question of the day, are
number two O one nine three nine four five one three? Uh?
We are talking about the most underappreciated player on each
team in the NFC East. For the Washington Commanders, NFL
dot Com says Jeortavius Martin, they're young safety who has
you know, done yeoman work? And I would agree with
(46:35):
this because if I asked anybody out on the street
to name the starting safeties on the Washington Commanders. Nobody
is mentioning Martin now, nobody His name is totally going
to get lost. And yet when you look at his
stat line in nfl dot Com presents it very well
last year eighty seven tackles, three fource fumbles, three passes,
(46:56):
knocked down, an interception, and yeah, apparently two separate shoulders
that he played with as well. Hard for anybody to
distoote that call.
Speaker 3 (47:06):
Yeah, that's fair. That's that's who you're going with. I
will go with that.
Speaker 2 (47:10):
I agree with them. They sold me on that one.
Speaker 3 (47:13):
I could.
Speaker 2 (47:14):
I could not find a reason to go off the
road after they put him up further.
Speaker 3 (47:18):
Yeah, that's fair.
Speaker 5 (47:20):
I'm not even I can't even say I disagree, because
that is a great pick. I was considering three different
players I went with chose one, but real quick the
two I considered that it did not go with two
longtime NFL veterans, Zach Ertz and Bobby Wagner, who, despite
(47:40):
being pretty high up there in age, especially for their
respective positions, Ertz is thirty.
Speaker 3 (47:45):
Four, Wagner's thirty four.
Speaker 5 (47:48):
Yet Wagner is coming off the season in which he
was a second team All problem exactly and somehow is
the most. We talked about Darius Layton being consistent for
the last six seasons. Bobby Wagner's been doing it since
he got into the league in twenty twelve, basically every
single year.
Speaker 3 (48:06):
I don't know how he does it.
Speaker 2 (48:07):
We're tire already, Will you please go away?
Speaker 3 (48:10):
It doesn't matter what team he's on.
Speaker 5 (48:11):
He obviously had the long stretch with the Seahawks, spent
a year with the Rams, didn't miss a beat, spent
went back to Seattle for a season.
Speaker 3 (48:18):
Picked up right where he left off.
Speaker 5 (48:20):
Yep, followed Dan Quinn to Washington, was an All Pro
in his first year in Washington.
Speaker 3 (48:25):
How he continues to do it every year? I don't know.
Speaker 5 (48:27):
He's a first ballot Hall of Famer in my head,
so he I considered him because despite him coming off
of this second team All Pro selection, it feels like
no one really talks about him or appreciates him for
what he's done for such a long time and continues
to do. And then, in terms of Zach Ertz, he
just had a huge bounce back year after a couple
of subpar seasons in a row, having six hundred and.
Speaker 3 (48:50):
Fifty four yards Arizona. Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 5 (48:53):
Seven touchdowns, sixty six catches was a huge security blanket
for Jade Daniels. It was a big reason why Jane
Daniels had the success that he had as a rookie
last year.
Speaker 3 (49:03):
So I just think Ertz deserved a little bit of
recognition there too.
Speaker 5 (49:06):
But the guy who I'm going with who granted I
did cheat a little bit in this conversation last year
because when we were talking about breakout players for other
teams of the NFC East, I think I chose two
different players for the Commanders. He was one of them,
so at least I got fifty percent right. But Frankie Louvi,
frank who it was this I looked it up. He
(49:28):
was the guy in the heat of our missile push
conversation last week. He was the missile from the Commanders. Yes,
she was, but take away that one series of plays.
He also was a second team All Pro last year
in his first season with the Commanders. Eight sacks, which
was a career high, was just all over the field.
(49:48):
Seven passes, the seven pass breakups also a career high
for him. You talk about some of the best off
ball linebackers in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (49:56):
Similar to what you were saying.
Speaker 5 (49:58):
No one is gonna mention Frankie absolutely season he had
last year, though he at least belongs in the conversation
of among the top players at his position.
Speaker 3 (50:08):
Well, just like Bond came out of nowhere, came out
of nowhere, that's true.
Speaker 2 (50:12):
You know, he did have change his team.
Speaker 5 (50:13):
I will say he did have some level of success
with the Panthers, more so than bonded as the Saints.
Yes to this, well, no, no one was considering him
an All Pro selection. And you know, maybe it's just
Dan Quinn getting the most out of some of these
guys because he's obviously a fantastic defensive minded coach.
Speaker 3 (50:30):
But Frankie Luvo deserves a lot.
Speaker 5 (50:32):
More recognition than he gets. He is my most utter
underappreciated player for.
Speaker 2 (50:36):
Washington and those guys are a great example of how
the staff does matter. Oh yeah, you know coordinators and
or position coaches. Think about the Exeter Lawrence. Andre Patterson
gets here as the Giants defensive line coach, and yes,
Wake Martindale was the new DC and he worked in
conjunction with Patterson. But we know about Andre Patterson and
(50:58):
the great respect he has a on the league. He
brought out the best in Leonard Williams. He brought out
the best in Dexter Lawns. Sometimes that staff member can
be the guy who unlocks the talent and brings it
to another level.
Speaker 5 (51:14):
Yeah, I'm not gonna you know, go ahead and say,
nor were you saying this but not saying that, you know,
Coach Patterson is the reason Decks, the sole reason that
no big leap. But let me tell you it's not
a coincidence that Dexter's leap to that all pro level happened. Yep,
with Andre Patterson's arrival. That is not a coincidence whatsoever.
(51:34):
And Dexter would tell you that himself. How big of
a role Coach Patterson has played in his growth and
development these last couple of years.
Speaker 2 (51:40):
Final couple of notes, folks, because that ends our question
for the day. Giants season ticket memberships for twenty twenty
five are available. You can catch the Giants not only
a met Life stadium during the season, but there were
benefits all year round. There were also kinds of exclusive
member accesses that you can get to learn more about
it Giant season ticket membership visit Giants dot com. Slash
(52:02):
Tickets and of course the Giants Total Podcast.
Speaker 5 (52:05):
I know you do a lot of posting. Do you
know what's up there this week? Yes, we actually today
posted it was it was Marcus Bows. I believe it
was his offensive line coach at Ford. I'm blanking on
his name at this moment, but it is up.
Speaker 3 (52:23):
On the site. Marcus Johnson is his name.
Speaker 5 (52:27):
I got posted today the video, the audio got posted
to podcast platforms talking about Marcus bow how his technique developed,
and how coach Marcus Johnson thinks he's gonna fit into
the Giants offensive line room.
Speaker 3 (52:42):
So that is now up. Over the weekend, we posted
all of the Baldy breakdowns. I did see all of
the draft picks. They're they are really cool. We all
love that we got him in the mix.
Speaker 5 (52:53):
Here and he's doing these videos because they're really awesome.
There's a video for every draft pick. The last three
draft picks got combined in to one, but each player
has in the draft class has a Baldy breakdown.
Speaker 3 (53:04):
Those are all up on the site as well. Check
it out and I believe that is it all right?
Speaker 2 (53:12):
Folks. Again, we remind you that tomorrow a Big Blue
Kickoff live will be moving to one thirty pm Eastern
Time Live for an hour because this way you'll get
to complete wrap up with Matt and John on the
OTA and the media availabilities, the coach, the players find
out all about what's going on here as they start
phase three of the off season program. We're getting closer
(53:34):
and closer, Matt. I mean just seeing the guys out
there in helmets today. I know it was only shirts
and shorts, but the fact that they had helmets side,
my blood started to go a little.
Speaker 3 (53:44):
Bit, I know.
Speaker 5 (53:44):
And the fact that we just we got the rookies
with the Vets, you got the whole team practicing together
now obviously, as we mentioned, there's no contact, which that's
you know, another reason just to look forward to training
camp is you really get to see these guys start
going and one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (54:02):
But yeah, it's you know, when.
Speaker 5 (54:04):
This OTAs begin is when it really hits you, like
we're not that far away from from real football.
Speaker 3 (54:11):
I know, we got training camp in two months, less
than two months.
Speaker 2 (54:14):
I can't wait, man, I can't wait.
Speaker 5 (54:16):
And we got a couple of weeks to get us
through before we head off. Since we do have a
little bit of time here. How are you feeling about
the nixt tonight.
Speaker 2 (54:24):
I was simply just gonna say go Nicks at the
end of the program, But as long as you ask me,
I really really love the way that they were able
to turn that sucker around in the fourth quarter the
other night, and Kat was a beast. I see no
reason why they won't even it up at two and two.
But there's also no doubt in my mind this is
gonna go seven games, and every single one of these
(54:44):
games will come down to the final minute. So it's
gonna be gut wrenching, nail biting all the way through.
And when you talk about a game seven, that could
go down to the wire as well, and I really
think it's gonna be that way. There's no telling who's
gonna win the game and who's gonna win the series,
especially with the Knicks not having a very good record
at home in the playoffs this year.
Speaker 3 (55:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (55:07):
I mean we are what about one hundred and fifty
minutes into the series, three full games, and the point
differential between the two teams and all three games I
think is like even or maybe Indiana is minus plus one.
Speaker 2 (55:20):
Incredible. The next incredible.
Speaker 5 (55:21):
We knew that each game is basically going to be
a coin flip. Tonight's the same way. If if the
Knicks can play like they did in the second half
and especially that.
Speaker 3 (55:29):
Fourth quarter, there's there's no stopping though.
Speaker 2 (55:32):
Towns was just wow.
Speaker 5 (55:34):
I will say first of all, with Towns, he got
a lot of criticism after game two. It's nice to
see him bounce back with the You know, it wasn't
a full strong performance because he did start off kind
of slow, but when it mattered most he turned it on.
Keep it going, Cas, That's why you brought Karl Anthony
Towns in. Yeah, for performances like that. I forgot what
(55:57):
my second point was, But let's go.
Speaker 3 (55:59):
Next, Okay.
Speaker 2 (56:00):
Uh. As always, we're coming to you from the Giants
Podcast Studio presented by Hackensack Meridian Health. Keep getting better.
This has been Big Blue Kickoff Live presented by Cadillac,
the official luxury vehicle of the New York Football Giants.
As a reminder, tomorrow, put down the number two oh
one nine three nine four five one three. It starts
live at one point thirty pm and if you missed
(56:21):
any portion of today's program, catch it on the Giants
Archive Podcast platforms everywhere Giants dot com, slash podcasts, and
of course, the Giants Mobile app. From outside tech, I'm
Paul Tatino. We'll see you next time.
It's time for a Big Blue Kickoff line.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Nobody can ever tell you that you couldn't do it
because you're.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
On Giants dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
You know what I saw to York Giant.
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Prime and the Giants Mobile.
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At seventeen fourteen at the Finals one tundown.
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They didn't well.
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Happen part of the Giants Podcast Network.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Let's go on.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Hello, the crazy dog hasn't hon Hello again, everybody, and
welcome to Tuesday's edition a Big Blue Kickoff Live presented
by Cadillac, the official luxury vehicle of the New York
Football Giants. So glad you could be with us for
the next hour. We'll talk Giants football at two oh one,
nine three, nine four five one three. He's Matt Sidetech
on Paul Tatino, and you know it's funny, folks. This
(00:47):
is the first week of the Phase three, which involves
OTAs and the mandatory mini camp, which actually won't be
coming up until the second week of June, in terms
of the mini camp, that is, but it's a little
bit of a dry period. Tomorrow, we're gonna have to
move the show. For those of you who listen to
the program, live at twelve thirty pm Eastern Time every weekday.
(01:10):
Tomorrow's program is gonna move to one thirty pm. That's
because of the Giants OTA schedule. They've got their first
media avail at their OTA sessions tomorrow morning. There's gonna
be a quick OTA practice, there's gonna be Coach Dable,
there's gonna be media sessions with some of the players.
So in order to bring you guys complete coverage of
(01:30):
what happened tomorrow, what was said, what's going on here,
We're gonna move the show back an hour and we
will start at one thirty pm Eastern Time tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
You're on the show tomorrow, yes, John and I.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Okay, So you guys are on tomorrow one thirty pm
to two thirty pm Eastern Time tomorrow. So let's get
that out of the way right away, so you guys
can kind of plan your lunch hours. I know a
bunch of you like the hold off eating until the
program starts. So one thirty pm tomorrow for the live
edition of Big Blue. Kickoff line And as always, if
you don't catch the show live, it's available on the
(02:03):
archive on podcast platforms everywhere. Giants dot Com, Slash podcasts
and the Giants mobile app. Okay, we got the business
out of the way. Now we talk about the question
of the day now. NFL dot Com just posted an
article within the last couple of days. We you know,
we were off over the weekend and we had the
(02:23):
Memorial Day and I hope everybody had a pleasant holiday
and don't forget to obviously remember those who were lost
in the military. In terms of our question today, the
NFL dot com article wanted to know in the NFC,
each of the teams have a most underappreciated player?
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Who is it? Well, Matt and I are going to go.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Over the NFC East for the purposes of this program.
We don't need to go through all the teams in
the NFC. They've also done an AFC article as well.
We don't need to do those. But I think the
NFC East is appropriate since that's where the Giants play
six of their games during the course of the year,
very very important games, and so we thought that we
would kind of go through this and perhaps you guys
(03:10):
have some thoughts, maybe you agree, maybe you disagree, Maybe
you have something else you'd like to talk about. We're
okay with that too, but that's our question of the day.
The most underrated or underappreciated I think is probably that's
the word that you used, appreciated, most underappreciated player on
each of the teams in the NFC East. Now, just
because I don't want you guys to listen to us
(03:32):
talk about the Giants and then click off the program,
we're gonna go an alphabetical on.
Speaker 5 (03:36):
Okay, before we just get into this just real quick.
Just got to acknowledge it that I think you might
have said this OTA's did begin today. There was a
practice this morning. It was the team's first day back
after a four day weekend. They also had Friday and
yesterday off for the holiday, and as a lot of
(03:56):
you may know, it is also the Giants Foundation golf
charity golf outing this afternoon.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
So it was a very very abbreviated practice. Not a
whole lot you know, happened.
Speaker 5 (04:08):
That's why we didn't, you know, start the show by
letting you know everything that happened in practice practice to contact.
There's no contact allowed at all during ots, but today
especially there was there's nothing that we could even report
team out about. What like it was more of a
I think just like a transition day. Get the whole
team or everyone that's here, get them back, get them
(04:30):
sort of ready to go. Tomorrow's when things will really
pick up. There's a full two hour practice. As Paul mentioned,
coach table will speak to the media before players will
speak to the media. After tomorrow. There'll be a lot
more going on. There really is just not a lot
to report. I didn't want you guys to think that
we just decided to, you know, forget about day one
of OTAs.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
There's just nothing, nothing we could tell you.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Guys of interest, well veteran listeners who already know what
OTAs are, that's fine, but you're right there are new
folks who may not understand the OTAs. And it's good
that you actually brought this up because that's known as
an organized team activity. Okay, you're gonna get a month
of these, but then in that third week you get
to have your veteran your veteran and mandatory mini camp
(05:16):
where everybody's supposed to be here otherwise they can be fined.
That's the only week of this month period before everybody
goes on summer vacation, where they will have full gear
on and they'll actually run through plays with full gear. Yes,
at this point, in all the other weeks of these
of this phase three of these OTAs, they got shirts
(05:40):
and shorts and helmets. The helmets look nice. Okay, they
look nice, but they don't serve a purpose because nobody
can hit anybody.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Yeah, there's there's no contact allowed.
Speaker 5 (05:50):
As you just mentioned, this is the start of Phase
three of the offseason workout program, which is.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
The final full phase.
Speaker 5 (05:57):
You know, we've had Phase one, began the week of
the draft, got through Phase one, through phase two.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Now it's phase three. The whole the team is altogether.
Speaker 5 (06:04):
The rookies are with the veterans, so you know, most
of the team is out on the practice field.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Over the next three weeks.
Speaker 5 (06:12):
This week, next week, in the following week, there will
be ten OTA days, ten days of practices, with today
obviously being the first one, and each of those three
weeks there'll be one day of media, so coach Dable
will speak before the practice on that day, players will
speak after. For this week's schedule, the media day is tomorrow,
(06:33):
and then I think the next two weeks it'll be
the next two Thursdays is when the media will be here.
There'll be sort of a lot more for us to
you know, talk about and report about what is going on.
But throughout these next three weeks and even following the
three week stretch is the mini camp that Paul was
just talking about. There is still no contact whatsoever allowed
(06:53):
throughout these next four weeks of practices. So you know,
you'll hear from us, you'll hear from the beat reporters
when they're here about you know, some one on one
matchups between receivers and cornerbacks tight ends.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
It's very primitive.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Take everything you hear over the next few weeks, including
from us, with a little bit of a grain assault.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Because there's zero contact allowed, there's really not much you
can gain from the offensive lineman or defensive linement at all.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
During this stretch.
Speaker 5 (07:21):
You like to see the guys just out there and
moving around, you know, looking agile and quick. But until
they especially those guys, until they can really start going
at it with pads on, which is not until the
start of training camp in about two months, there's not
a whole lot to gain. You will be able to
get a little bit more from you know, the receiver
tight end and defensive back matchup positions, but again you
(07:43):
gotta keep in mind that even those matchups, there's still
no contact allowed, so it's not like the corners can
you know, press the receiver at the line of scrimmage
before they run out.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
So just just take everything you hear over the next
couple of weeks a little bit of a grain assault.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
So we will actually be moving to show back on
those media available days to one thirty in each of
those cases. But don't worry about that now. We will
tell you about that as the excuse me, I'm sorry,
as the days come closer, we will let you know
for this week there's only one show that gets moved.
That one's going to be tomorrow. Yep. Okay, Now back
(08:17):
to the question in Man two one nine three, if
you'd like to give us a call, So we'll go alphabetically,
and the Dallas Cowboys, being that they're a d they
get to be first in this conversation, and the NFL
dot Com article selects wide receiver Jalen Tolbert. Now I
can appreciate that because CD LAMB gets all the ink right,
(08:41):
their wide receiver room has one true superstar, and then
everybody else is kind of a second level also ran
At least that's the perception whether they did just so,
I get it.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
George Picketts, they have hope to elevate that number two.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
I was just getting there. Sorry, that's okay, that's okay.
I was just getting there. They have since added George
Pickens from the Steelers, who now is going to be
part two of this sensational duo that the Cowboys hope
to deploy this season. I looked at it and I said, no, no, no, no, no,
no no no. For me, it's Jake Ferguson. Ferguson, in
(09:19):
my opinion, is one of the top all around full
service tight ends in the National Football League. I loved
them coming out of school. It does not surprise me
that he has produced well and wrestled the starting job
away in Dallas.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
He's a quality.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Player who's got terrific hands, runs really good routes, can
get yards after the catch, he blocks, He's not afraid
to get his nose dirty and do the dirty work. Okay,
So he's not Jason Witten. I get that. The standard
in Dallas for tight ends, going back to Billy Joe
Dupree and even Mike Dicka before that, is very, very high. Okay,
(10:03):
I totally understand that, and that's why I'm gonna go
Jake Ferguson as the most underappreciated Cowboy because, again, with
a high standard for tight ends in that organization, he
has not necessarily been an All Pro Bowl NFL guy,
And so I'm gonna say he's the one for me.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
Yeah, that, honestly, that is a good pick. He was
very solid last year. Honestly the last two years. Two
years ago he was even better than last year. You know,
last year he misses a little bit of time. I
forgot what injury he had, but it was Yeah, that
is a good pick. Just in terms of Jalen Tolbert,
that was actually my pick for the Cowboys breakout player
(10:43):
last year, and obviously that did not come to fruition.
He wasn't, you know, awful, but certainly did not come
close to breaking out. You know, maybe maybe this year,
now that he's the third receiver and potentially the fourth
option in the passing game, because I would put Ferguson
above him on the pecking order, maybe he has a
little bit more of a breakout. But I agree with you,
(11:05):
that's not the pick for most underappreciated player for me either.
There were a couple of players. I considered Jake Ferguson
was one. Since you went with him, I'm I'm gonna
steer away from that.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
There's another player who I do think is underappreciated, but.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
He's not gonna quite get this because he's not been
his normal self the last couple of years, and that's
Javonte Williams, the running back that they just signed for
the Broncos. He had a serious injury two years ago,
was coming back from it last year, still played the
whole season, but did not look as spry and you know,
as quick as he did.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
To start his career.
Speaker 5 (11:40):
I do think he's gonna have a much better season
this year than last year, but since he's had a
couple of down seasons, I'm not gonna go with him either.
I'm gonna go with Dante Fowler, who they just signed
to a one year deal this offseason. He has he
was with I want to say Washington before this.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
He's bounced around a bit and had some very good
seasons and some very quiet seasons.
Speaker 5 (12:04):
Yes, so he was with Washington last year, but was
with the Cowboys the two years before that, And the
reason I think he's been a little bit underappreciated is
his two years in Dallas.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
He had ten total sacks between the two seasons. Last
year with the Commanders double ten and a half sacks, yep.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
And this is a guy who has reached double digit
sacks in his career previously as well. He had one
season with the Rams he had eleven and a half.
And now that he's going to be on the opposite
end of the line from Micah Parsons, who will obviously
be garnering the most attention from opposing offensive lines, will
be getting double teamed, probably more passing.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Plays than not.
Speaker 5 (12:40):
Dante Fowler is going to just get himself a lot
of one on one situations and if he has a
season even close to what he had last year with
the Commanders, but now playing on the opposite end of
Michael Parsons, he'd easily be looking at another double double
digit sax season.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
And the rest of the league were not like that
very much.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
No, especially the Giants what not like that at all.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Yeah, he wound up, you know, coming back from him,
as you said, two subpar seasons and did some really
good things for Washington last year. Quite frankly, I thought
he was one of the bright spots and surprising spots
for the commander's defense.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
I'm with you, all right.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
So now we go to next up, and that would
be end for the New York Giants. And the article
suggests Jermaine a luminor, and I understand that. You know,
he's not a guy who gets a lot of headlines,
who gets a lot of attention, and yet his very
workman like just goes out there every single week and
does his job and he's very reliable. But for me,
(13:41):
I'm looking at a guy who I think has a
little more pop and a little bit more value and
a little bit more luster in terms of where he's
usually talked about and rated. And I'm gonna go with
Darius Slayton. I think that Slayton past offseason, and by
virtue of the contract that he got, you'd have to
(14:03):
say he was one of the more highly regarded wide
receivers around the league in free agency because he got
a pretty good deal to stay with the Giants. Most
people don't look at him that way. Most people look
at him like, oh, well, he'd be a number three
on many of the good teams in the league, or
(14:23):
maybe he'd.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Be a four.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
I hear that a lot from people. I look at
Darius Slayton and I say, look, he's got pretty good size,
he's got really good speed. He's a pros pro. Despite
the fact that the Giants passing game has not exactly
been prolific over the last several years, he still goes
out there as mister consistency and averages fifteen yards a
(14:47):
catch for his career. Now, I defy you to just
go out into any supermarket shelf and pick a fifteen
yard per catch receiver at will off of that shelf.
It does not happen every day. So I would say
I'm gonna go with Darius Slayton. Although I do think
(15:09):
there is a segment of Giants fans who do appreciate him,
So for those of you, he would not be a
good pick. But for those of you who do not
necessarily appreciate him and kind of see him kind of
buried underneath the rubble of the Giants passing attack, I
think he's a good pick.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Yeah, No, I think so too. And I know I
briefly mentioned this to you right before we came on air.
Speaker 5 (15:32):
But ESPN put an article out and they picked the
most underrated player at each position across the NFL, and
at the wide receiver position, they went with Darius Slayton
as the most underappreciated wide receiver in.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
The entire NFL.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
There was a word you used when describing when talking
about him, and I'm glad you chose that word, consistent,
because he has been the model of consistency since the
Giants drafted it in the fifth.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Round of the twenty nineteen draft.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Every year, year after year, he has proven to be,
you know, that that downfield option, the guy that could
stretch the top off the defense, take the top off
the defense. He's just been consistent ever since. I think
it was the rookie mini camp after he got drafted.
It was a huge storyline that he had a lot
of drops in that two day mini camp. Since then,
(16:21):
drops have not really been an issue. Obviously, he's had
a couple here and there, of course.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Easy in terms of his hands, but his playoverall has
been very consistent.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
His play has been very consistent. The drops I don't
think have been a big issue.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Not as much as with others receivers.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Yeah, so I do like that pick. I'm going to
go in a slightly different direction.
Speaker 5 (16:43):
I do think Jermaine and Luminor is underappreciated by many
people around the league because especially last year, whether it
was starting at right tackle where the first I know,
we've spoken a lot about the first six weeks of
the season, offensive line was healthy, Andrew Thomas was healthy.
They had the same offensive line for every single snap
(17:05):
over the first six weeks. Well, during those first six weeks,
Jermaina Lumnar did not give up a sack, did not
give up a single sack. Obviously, Andrew Thomas got hurt
in that Week six game, missed the rest of the
season and things started to crumble on the offensive line
from that moment. But Jermaina Lumnro was very solid even
after he got switched to play on the left side
(17:27):
with not too much time to like he spent all
offseason training first for guard, then for right tackle, and
then halfway through the year he got thrown to the
other side where he hadn't trained at.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
All, and left tackle spot for him.
Speaker 5 (17:40):
Yeah, and he was still very solid. So I can't,
you know, dismiss NFL dot Com for choosing him. That
is a very fair It's a very fair pick. I'm
gonna go with one that I know those watching you
and I, we certainly do.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Not underappreciate him.
Speaker 5 (17:59):
But the fact that he has not thought of as
one of the best at his position across the NFL
baffles me because when he's been on the field, he
has been nothing short of dominant.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
And that is Andrew Thomas.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Okay, I know.
Speaker 5 (18:15):
You and I both consider him to be one of
the best tackles when he's healthy in the NFL, sure,
and I know a lot of you watching at home
or wherever you're watching probably agree. Granted he's had injury issues,
he's missed some time, especially the last two years, He's
missed a lot of time. But in this stretches of
the last two years where he has been on the field,
(18:37):
he looked like that twenty twenty two Andrew Thomas, the
one that was a second team All Pro two years ago.
He missed basically the entire first half of the season,
took him a little bit of time to get going
once he came back, but the final month of the
season he was that dominant All Pro version that we
grew accustomed to in twenty twenty two. Last year, the
(18:57):
first six weeks at the season, really the first five
weeks because he got hurt at some point during that
Week six game and didn't quite look himself for the
rest of that game. But the first month plus of
last year looked like the normal Andrew Thomas. And now,
because he's had these two injury Riddle seasons in a row,
it seems like he is just being criminally underrated by
(19:17):
just about everyone across the media, across the I'm sure,
I'm sure teams are not, you know, undervaluing him because
they know what he can do when he's out there.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
I thought you were gonna go with Greg van Rotin.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
I do love Craig.
Speaker 5 (19:34):
I know I almost went with him, but then I realized,
I'm like, wait, I've literally you know, I look for
articles every day to write about Giants now just topics
about the Giants players being highlighted. No one ever talks
about Andrew Thomas in any of these media outlets, and
it is It annoys me because we know how good
(19:55):
he is and how dominant he is when he's on
the field. I think he just needs to have one
of those seasons where he just is able to stay
on the field, because we all know what he can
do when he stays out there. Hopefully, that will be
this year because, as we've come to learn, when he's
healthy and he's out there, the offensive line as a
whole place significantly better, which is no surprise because he's
our best line.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
So you're taking some of the philosophy also that I
use with Slayton in terms of where the guy should
be and where he's kind of talked about. Slayton should
be valued much higher, and I think people around the
league value him higher inside the league more than people
outside the league. Yep, And that perhaps is what you're
talking about with Thomas.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
Yeah, I mean, I think it was just after the
twenty twenty two season, which obviously he was an All Pro,
where the media was considering him one of the top
tackles in the league, just because he's had some injuries,
which the injuries he's had shouldn't, you know, alter the
rest of his career.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
You should be back healthy. We hope he should be
back healthy.
Speaker 5 (20:52):
At the very least for the start of training camp,
if not sooner. So there's no reason to see to think.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
That he can't return to his twenty twenty two version.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
All right, let's go to next up, the Philadelphia Eagles.
By the way, Dallas up at two oh one nine
three nine four five one three the Philadelphia Eagles UH
defensive tackle Moro or Jomo gets the pick from NFL
dot Com, and I understand that they wanted to go
with Milton Williams, who left because of free agency. And
(21:23):
you guys know, coming out of the draft, I was
a huge Milton Williams fan, so never underrated here. But
it doesn't matter now he's not on the Eagles anymore,
so he's not eligible for this particular column. So they
decided to go with a joemo talking about his efficiency
in terms of his pass rush snaps and how well
he did in those particular plays. I get that, But
(21:49):
for me, I'm looking at Nakobe Dean and Zach Bonn,
two of their starting linebackers who both got accolades this year,
but because they hadn't done much in the previous two
or three seasons in the NFL, I kind of think
that maybe their impact on this particular Eagles team, with
(22:10):
all of the superstars that they have up front and
with all of the superstars they have on offense, I
kind of thought that they were both underappreciated. And you
can pick either one of them. Because even though I believe,
if I'm not mistaken, wasn't a Dean one of the
comeback players of the year. And I think Bond made
(22:33):
first team Apole Pro? Did he not?
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Bond was first team All Pro? For sure?
Speaker 2 (22:37):
He was.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
He was probably the best linebacker in football last year. Yeah. Now,
even Fred Warner.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
If I said to twenty people out in the parking lot,
if I went out there and talked to the construction
workers who were doing the World Cup town set up
for the club soccer that's coming here, and I grabbed
twenty of those guys and I said, give me the
top five linebackers in the NFL. His name's not coming up.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
No, probably not.
Speaker 5 (23:02):
It's not.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
It should, but it's not.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
So by definition, does Bond become that guy for this category,
because until this breakout season where he had one hundred
and fifty plus tackles, he was nobody.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Yeah. And honestly, I was talking to a friend who
is a huge Eagles fan. I do have one of those.
I'm sorry, but I'm just surprised you let him live.
But I was talking to him about Zach Bond.
Speaker 5 (23:30):
I think it was during the playoffs, and he told
me that Zach Bond was signed basically to be a
special teams player that the Eagles when they first signed him,
did not really have much thought or consideration on him
starting at linebacker, let alone, you know, getting a lot
of snaps at that position. And it was Vic Fangio
that once he had him in the building, was like,
(23:52):
wait a second, I think we might have something here.
And sure enough, again was one of the best, if
not the best linebacker in football and got a new
contract this offseason where he's getting paid like one of
the top players at his position, and it is deserved.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
But you're right that you know, before this season, not
only would.
Speaker 5 (24:10):
He be nowhere in the ballpark of the conversation for
top linebackers, but he wouldn't even considered a starting linebacker.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Really well, I think if you went.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
To twenty people before this past season, they would have
had a hard time telling you if he was still
in the league. Yeah, after four years in New Orleans
and doing nothing one hundred so I think right now
you'd still have a hard time getting people telling you
that he was an all Pro. So I'm gonna go there,
and it's a twisted piece of logic, but that's where
(24:39):
I'm going to go that is totally fair.
Speaker 5 (24:42):
I would say, similar to how I imagine people actually
working in the NFL across other teams know the ability
of Andrew Thomas.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
I feel like in that sense, they would agree with
you on Zach Bond.
Speaker 5 (24:56):
But you're right that the media a lot of fans
definitely do not give Zach Baud the respect that he deserves.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
For me, I mean, where do you want to go?
Speaker 3 (25:06):
It's the reigning Super.
Speaker 5 (25:07):
Bowl champions, Like, it's hard, it's hard to say that
any of these guys are underrated. So I'm gonna go
with someone who has not played a single snap for
them yet. But who I'm just because I'm not really
sure what other direction to go on. Like I think
Jalen carter Is could easily become one of the top
defensive tackles.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
He's not quite there yet, but he could become that
this year. I don't want to go with him.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Though, you can't pick a rookie. You're not gonna pick
a rookie.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
I wanted to take a rookie. That is that kind
of cheating?
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Well, I think it is because if he's not in
the NFL, yet, how could he be appreciated or underappreciated.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
It just it seems like, all right, we want to
go ahead.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
I'll let your cheat go ahead, take the rookie.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
What do you want to cheat?
Speaker 5 (25:50):
I'm gonna go with the Eagles first round pick Gihad
Campbell because it seems like he's not being considered is
the favorite to be their starting middle linebacker going into
this season.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
And well, look at the two guys we just mentioned.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
Well, I think he might overcome then Kobe Dean. That's
why I wouldn't potentially go with him. Okay, and this
is nothing against n Kobe Dean. I just think Jihat
Campbell was extremely talented and skillful this past season playing
at Alabama. I think the only reason he dropped all
the way down to the Eagles at thirty one was
because he has some injury concerns.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
There's some you know, potential red flags.
Speaker 5 (26:28):
Some teams clearly flagged him as you know, an injury
risk moving down the road. But he was the best
linebacker in football last year, if not the best in
college football, if not the best, certainly top three. I
think he is just the perfect compliment to Zach Bond
in Vic Fangio's defense. And it scares me a little
(26:50):
bit as a Giants fan and employee thinking about Jiha
Campbell developing, coming into the league and developing next to
Zach Bond with Vic Fangio as the defensive coordinator. I mean,
obviously the defensive front is what gets all of the
attention in Philadelphia. But between those two guys and Ni
(27:11):
Kobe Dean, those are three very, very talented linebackers that
I feel like could start. Any of the three of
them could and would start for most teams around the NFL.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
And I've looked at their linebacking corps and I'm not
talking edge because the edge is a different position. Now,
I've looked at their linebacking corps and I have felt,
now for several years, that's been a weak link for
them in my opinion. They have not been very athletic,
making too many tackles after yardage gained, you know, not
making too many impact plays. And all of a sudden,
(27:44):
now last year they had two guys who really stepped up,
and now they had Campbell. All of a sudden, that
position isn't so weak anymore.
Speaker 5 (27:52):
No, it combined them with the defensive front that has
a very scary front seven right there. It is obviously
the secondary is no, there's no slouches back there either.
But yes, actually the two high picks last year that
alone transformed their secondary, Quinion Mitchell and Cooper Dejan who
were their first two picks last year. We knew when
(28:14):
they drafted them last year. We're like, oh, this, this
could be trouble for the rest of the NFC East.
And sure enough, that's exactly what happened.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
All right, two o one nine three nine four five
one three. We have a phone caller, so why don't
we go there before we go to the commanders and
we will take this phone call here and you are first, Chris,
Welcome to BBKL.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
Hello, Hey, PAULI Yeah, go ahead, Matt, Hey, what's going on?
Speaker 4 (28:40):
I just wanted to just start off and say that
you guys, I know I've been you guys know I've
been listening for a long time, and I just took
it for granted because of the info the calls, like
all the material that we get. Well, my old lady's
a Bills fan and she wanted some draft info and
so I looked up on the Bills app and it
(29:03):
is like two out of ten compared to where you
guys are like a nine point five out of ten
and I don't even know what suggestions make up the
point five. And that's how bad they were and how
good you guys were.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
Well, you're very kind, thank you. We appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (29:18):
And then so now that that said, Paullie John, I'm
kind of disappointed a little bit in you guys with
your guys' is like, it's not customism.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Well we got here with us today, okay, right, that's okay.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
I don't mention him.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
Well, I didn't get that thing for like Schmelky, Polly Dots,
mister Sidetak, Lance.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Pierson, you there, you go, the whole crew. Yeah, okay,
all right, all right, So you want to hit us
now with something negative, go ahead.
Speaker 4 (29:48):
Yes, I didn't mention site secking this because he seems
to have the optimism and actually feel it. And I
know you have it, Paulie. That's why I'm kind of disappointed.
And you and Schmelky, I think that you guys believe
and you feel it. But it's just a little bit
worried because the last couple of seasons, which leads me
into my third point, So early in Shane and Davos yees.
(30:13):
So early on in Shannon davos tenure, we didn't have
great depth, So the Thomas injury and all the rest
that derailed that season. And then the next season he
brings in Illuminori, he brings in running, had a great
offseason and draft, and then he gets Burns. He gets
Burns and then had the excellent drafts again, So what
(30:37):
was that? He's the The last two drafts were really good.
The third the first one there that was at the
Thomas and was that cave was that the cave On draft.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Is the.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
Drafted with cave On and Evan Neil was Joe Shane
and Brian Nables first drafted twenty twenty two.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
They had two first rounders that year.
Speaker 4 (31:01):
No, and that seems to be like the worst draft
that they've had so far. But anyways, we've had two
really good off seasons and then brings in a debo.
He brings in Holland, where the heck was I give
me one second, Well, I just.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Want to make sure we back up to point number
two for a second. You're accusing all of us except
for Matt, of being like Debbie Downers, like like not
not not that much Polly, what what?
Speaker 1 (31:26):
What?
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Here's what I would tell you, Okay, you, here's what
I would tell you. I've been around the game such
a long time that I know you can't start eating
the ice cream okay until you actually see the stuff
coming out of the freezer. And it's not coming out
of the freezer yet. Heck, they're not even in pads,
(31:49):
so you know, I can't. I can't start jumping for
joy and ordering you know, three whole double cheese pizzas
because they haven't even hit yet. I'm sorry, I can't.
I can't be too I can't be too glowing about this.
What I see on paper is good, is really good.
(32:12):
I think the improvement is going to be there. But
the point that I think John and I have often
tried to make is that this team could be much
better and the one loss record may not necessarily reflect
it as much as the team improves. That's the thing
to be wary about, you know, it really is.
Speaker 4 (32:34):
I'm just saying from I've been listen care abuys for years,
years and years, so I know, like your personalities and
your day to day Sometimes you guys, are you know,
have a bad day or whatever? You can tell the difference.
I just feel like you're not as optimic optimistic as
you feel insight. That's all I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
Okay, okay, okay, fine.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
All right here this one though, this is and then
I want to be optimist. Yeah, and I'm going to
give you reasons why we will win that. Okay, So
last year the league neighbors doesn't drop that pass in
the second game in the fourth quarter, with like what
a minute fifty left, I believe we win that game.
(33:15):
In Washington, the Cowboys have a rookie head coach, offensive coordinator,
and defensive coordinator, and plus they've got what is it
three or four either rookies or second year offensive lineman
that got attend with the Giants defensive line for a
year two against Golsend Dax, kt Burns, Alexander and now Carter.
(33:38):
So you know, we got depth, we got death. That's
a defensive line, and they're gonna be a problem. He's
gonna find the right mix with that. With that, with
those guys, I think that we're going to be top
three in fact, which will lead to top three in
turnover ratio. We've got Brian Dables been Assistant Coach of
(33:58):
the Year he's been head coach of the Year and
now he's got he's got Wilson, and I just think
Wilson and Neighbors are going to be a great match.
It wouldn't cast me at all if twenty touchdowns this
year quick.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Well, well, now, the only thing I'm going to ask
you to pump the brakes on a little bit here
is to give Neighbors twenty touchdown catches. That's kind of
like out of this world. But if you want to
go there, I'll go right ahead. I think that's rather
over zealous. But the one thing that you did say
that you really can't do is predict turnover ratio, no
(34:40):
matter how much pressure you think they're going to get
on the other team's quarterback. We know history tells us
in the National Football League that while you can force
other teams quarterbacks into making mistakes, it doesn't necessarily mean
you will convert those mistakes into turnovers every time.
Speaker 5 (34:56):
Yeah, I mean, all we gotta do is look at
last year the Giant We're the top team in the
league in sacks for like the first half of the season,
but had almost no turnovers, no interceptions, and only a
few forced fumbles. So despite the fact that they were
leading the league in sacks, the turnovers didn't necessarily follow.
Now that doesn't mean that's going to happen every time,
(35:18):
But just because they get more sacks does not necessarily
mean that a ton of more turnovers will come as well.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
So you've got to kind of pull that one back,
I think to be real well, and now I'm going
to push back.
Speaker 4 (35:30):
We got Holland, Paulson, Adeebo and newban Is in his
second year. That's three ballhops with the pressure that and
now we've got Abdull Carter with Alexander. The whole thing
is going to be if we stop the run, we
are going to be dominant. If we can stop the run,
we're going to be dominant. That's the key. And the
(35:50):
how Wilson is with I mean, he's got highat Slayton's
great trackers of the ball that he's got like his
perfect wide receiver corps for his type of passing, you know,
and then scantable with fo coming into his second year.
Maybe I'm too optimistic, but I actually had him breaking
(36:10):
Randy Moss's single season wide receiver touchdown with that Brady
and him, So it was over twenty Pauly even though
you didn't like the twenty.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
I got that. Wow, I mean wow, that is a
big number to not be covered.
Speaker 2 (36:27):
That is a big, big, big number. Twenty touchdown touches.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
In a season.
Speaker 4 (36:34):
I think it's twenty three.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
Ah, no, you do, but you just said twenty. You
just said neighbors for twenty.
Speaker 4 (36:41):
Yeah, neighbors. I got him breaking losses record this year.
I mean it's his stoppings. Oh that mixed with the
comeback with Russell Wilson, a guy that's accurate. DJ was
underthrowing everybody. He just is not the same.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
Okay, Hey, hey, look, I love what you're saying. And
if that happens, there's gonna be a lot of cheering
at the stadium right across the parking lot. Trust me,
that's gonna be awesome. I think that's being rather generous.
I mean, look, look at some of the quarterbacks and
some receivers who have played for this organization. You know
(37:18):
Amani Toomer, Plexico, Burris Homer Jones going back several decades,
who was one of the biggest, if not the greatest,
deep threat in the history of the National Football League.
None of these guys put up twenty touchdowns to the season.
Speaker 5 (37:31):
I mean again, going back to going back to last year,
the player that led the league in receiving touchdowns was
Jamar Chase, who had obviously Joe Burrow as his quarterback.
Jamar Chase one of, if not already the best receiver
in the NFL. He had seventeen touchdowns and that's with
and again, I do think Russell Wilson certainly raises the
(37:52):
floor for Malik and the rest of the Giants receivers.
But I don't think anyone's gonna confuse Russell Wilson out
there with in his prime right now, and again, Jamar
Chase only at seventeen.
Speaker 4 (38:05):
Let me ask you guys a question. Do you think
Russell Wilson is capable with Molie Neighbors to break the record.
Do you guys believe he's capable.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
I think Neighbors has the ability and the talent to
be incredibly explosive, and I do believe that Wilson still
has the arm and the accuracy to get the ball there.
But I also believe that the Giants are a team
that is not going to just feature those two guys.
They're going to try to spread the ball around. You
mentioned a couple of the other fellas, including Hyatt and Slayton,
(38:37):
who are also going to get their share. You mentioned Scataboo, Well,
if you want him to wind up running the ball
some and you want Tracy to run the ball some,
there's one ball, there's one ball, and you're talking about spreading.
Speaker 4 (38:51):
I'm going I really think the Giants are going to
People are grossly underestimating the coaching, the talent that's on
the team, and the depth.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
Now, the Giants would be best serve.
Speaker 4 (39:04):
Wilson triggered me last week. That's why I wrote, all right.
Speaker 2 (39:07):
But Chris, the Giants would be best served in all honesty,
if they're able to be a diverse offense that can
spread the ball around a lot to a number of
these talented players, and they allow dables creativity in conjunction
with Kafka and Tyranny and of course the veteran pulling
(39:27):
the trigger in Russell Wilson, They'd be so much better
off if they could be play action and diverse then
just featuring long balls, you know, every third play to
Elite Neighbors.
Speaker 4 (39:40):
No, no, that's I'm not saying, but Elite Neighbors is
more than that. I'm saying that the tandem of his
stop and go move with the comeback you know, is
going to give hit. Nobody's going to be able to cover.
Nobody can cover him. Now, I personally think he's the
best receiver. He does stuff that is incredible with his
(40:01):
whatever you call it, the balance in the air, keeping
his toes in.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
This is awareness, incredible athleticism. There's no doubt about that. Look, Chris,
I will say this, right, any Giants receiver who can
put up double digit touchdown catches in a season after
what we have watched for the last how many years, would.
Speaker 4 (40:23):
Be worth one hundred and nine catches.
Speaker 3 (40:24):
Oh yeah, and he's certainly capable of double digit touchdowns.
Speaker 5 (40:29):
And we're gonna not We're not gonna sit up here
and say, oh, that's unrealistic to think he can't reach
double digits.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
He's doubling that.
Speaker 3 (40:37):
He certainly can.
Speaker 5 (40:38):
He had seven last year with obviously some we'll call
it subpar quarterback play. With improved quarterback play, easily can
get ten or more. But to call to predict twenty,
to break to break like a record if it's just
and that's it's a tall task, Chris.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
If you called in and said fifteen. I would I
would even say that's probably a tad high, but I
could digest fifteen, it's possible. Twenty just seems way out
of whack.
Speaker 4 (41:08):
I just don't think he's gonna be covered. This is
his second year now, Okay, he was great in his
first year with just terribleness around him. Chris got injured.
Speaker 3 (41:19):
Thank you, Chris.
Speaker 2 (41:20):
We we got we got other people trying to get
into the into the call into the show. I appreciate it.
Please do call again.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Thank you, Chris.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
Wow. I hey wow.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
I appreciate optimism. Of course.
Speaker 5 (41:36):
The one thing, one thing I'm a little curious about
is he said that I have been the most optimistic,
which I try in general, especially this time of year,
to lean a little bit more towards the optimistic side
than the pessimistic side, because I do think the roster
(41:56):
is just significantly better this year.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
Than has been for years now. On paper, the roster
is better.
Speaker 5 (42:04):
Obviously, a big factor in the success of this team
will be health, as it is every year. Twenty twenty
two team was relatively healthy, and what happened They went
on this playoff run. The next two years we saw
various key players on both sides of the ball drop
like flies, and with them dropping like flies, this season
(42:24):
dropped like a fly, and it was over before we
knew it. It was you know, week six, and the
season's basically over already.
Speaker 3 (42:30):
So health will definitely play a big factor in that.
Speaker 5 (42:33):
But I feel like I have been pretty consistent with
my messaging on here saying that I do think along
with you and John, I think we all agree that
the Giants should be a lot better this year. But
as you said, they could be a lot better and
still only win six or seven games.
Speaker 3 (42:50):
Sure, I have said that.
Speaker 5 (42:51):
There's an outcome for this season where they only win
six or seven games, and yet at the end of
the season, all of us, including you and Home, are
still feeling optimistic about the way that the team is going,
correct because they only won three games last year. To
think just because of you know, a quarterback change, which
obviously most important position in football, and it will help
(43:14):
raise the floor of the offense, which in turn will
help raise the floor and just help the defense in general.
But even with that, to think that they're going to
go from three to you know, ten or more wins
in one offseason, that's going to be very difficult.
Speaker 3 (43:31):
That does not happen often. It happens sometimes.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
M hm.
Speaker 3 (43:34):
It's certainly possible, But I don't know.
Speaker 5 (43:37):
If you know Tuesday May twenty seventh, you can anyone
can sit up here and say with confidence that they
predict that will happen.
Speaker 2 (43:44):
Look, I think one of the reasons that they drafted
cam Skataboo is because they wanted to have a power
running back in that room to match with Tyrone Tracy,
so that they could be more diversified offensively, and they
want to improve the running game's production. Well, when you
(44:04):
get in the other team's red zone, if you've got
that running game to keep the defenses honest, and especially
when you get inside the ten or inside the five,
and you can prove to people that you can wun
the ball in. Well, I hate to say it, but
Malik Neighbors and those other receivers are going to get
some fewer chances to score if Scatterbu and Tracy are
(44:25):
running the ball in, by the way, is a good thing.
Speaker 3 (44:29):
Yeah, we'd all sign up for that in a heartbeat,
you know.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
So don't get caught up too much and like trying
to see Neighbors numbers reach for the stars. I don't
necessarily know that that is a productive way to think
in terms of the overall offensive scheme and picture.
Speaker 3 (44:48):
No, but don't get us wrong, Molite Neighbors.
Speaker 5 (44:51):
His numbers are gonna look good incredible time, assuming he
stays healthy and the quarterback play is just consistent and
I'm not even saying it has to be you know,
above average quarterback play, just solid consistent quarterback play with
Maliks staying healthy, and there's no reason to see what
to think why he couldn't have another season like he
did as a rookie, if not better, Because he's now
(45:12):
obviously has a full year of experience.
Speaker 2 (45:14):
In the NFL.
Speaker 3 (45:15):
I think he wonders. So the numbers will be there.
Speaker 5 (45:18):
Yeah, what Paul is saying, and I agree completely, is
just don't get caught up in saying twenty touchdowns for
Elik Neighbors.
Speaker 3 (45:24):
Milik Neighbors could end the season with six touchdowns.
Speaker 5 (45:27):
But if he has fifteen hundred yards and one hundred
and twenty receptions, is anyone really gonna complain and saying
that he had a bad season, especially if the offense
is still scoring. It's just maybe not necessarily going into
Malik's hands into the end zone. As long as the
offense is scoring points, who cares who's the one that crosses.
Speaker 3 (45:43):
The goal line with the ball?
Speaker 2 (45:44):
Exactly?
Speaker 5 (45:45):
All it matters is the offense is scoring more points
than it has the last win the games, win the game,
that is the most important.
Speaker 2 (45:51):
I think there's win the game.
Speaker 3 (45:52):
Scoring more points will help with the winning.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
I'm certainly not interested in fantasy football and fantasy football points.
I know you may be.
Speaker 5 (45:59):
I do like fantasy football, but as I tell my
friends all the time, anyone that asked me the Giants
come first, I will take you going ohen with thirteen in.
Speaker 3 (46:09):
My fantasy league in a heartbeat if it means the
Giants win more games, exactly, without a doubt.
Speaker 2 (46:14):
All right, back to our question of the day, are
number two O one nine three nine four five one three? Uh?
We are talking about the most underappreciated player on each
team in the NFC East. For the Washington Commanders, NFL
dot Com says Jeortavius Martin, they're young safety who has
you know, done yeoman work? And I would agree with
(46:35):
this because if I asked anybody out on the street
to name the starting safeties on the Washington Commanders. Nobody
is mentioning Martin now, nobody His name is totally going
to get lost. And yet when you look at his
stat line in nfl dot Com presents it very well
last year eighty seven tackles, three fource fumbles, three passes,
(46:56):
knocked down, an interception, and yeah, apparently two separate shoulders
that he played with as well. Hard for anybody to
distoote that call.
Speaker 3 (47:06):
Yeah, that's fair. That's that's who you're going with. I
will go with that.
Speaker 2 (47:10):
I agree with them. They sold me on that one.
Speaker 3 (47:13):
I could.
Speaker 2 (47:14):
I could not find a reason to go off the
road after they put him up further.
Speaker 3 (47:18):
Yeah, that's fair.
Speaker 5 (47:20):
I'm not even I can't even say I disagree, because
that is a great pick. I was considering three different
players I went with chose one, but real quick the
two I considered that it did not go with two
longtime NFL veterans, Zach Ertz and Bobby Wagner, who, despite
(47:40):
being pretty high up there in age, especially for their
respective positions, Ertz is thirty.
Speaker 3 (47:45):
Four, Wagner's thirty four.
Speaker 5 (47:48):
Yet Wagner is coming off the season in which he
was a second team All problem exactly and somehow is
the most. We talked about Darius Layton being consistent for
the last six seasons. Bobby Wagner's been doing it since
he got into the league in twenty twelve, basically every
single year.
Speaker 3 (48:06):
I don't know how he does it.
Speaker 2 (48:07):
We're tire already, Will you please go away?
Speaker 3 (48:10):
It doesn't matter what team he's on.
Speaker 5 (48:11):
He obviously had the long stretch with the Seahawks, spent
a year with the Rams, didn't miss a beat, spent
went back to Seattle for a season.
Speaker 3 (48:18):
Picked up right where he left off.
Speaker 5 (48:20):
Yep, followed Dan Quinn to Washington, was an All Pro
in his first year in Washington.
Speaker 3 (48:25):
How he continues to do it every year? I don't know.
Speaker 5 (48:27):
He's a first ballot Hall of Famer in my head,
so he I considered him because despite him coming off
of this second team All Pro selection, it feels like
no one really talks about him or appreciates him for
what he's done for such a long time and continues
to do. And then, in terms of Zach Ertz, he
just had a huge bounce back year after a couple
of subpar seasons in a row, having six hundred and.
Speaker 3 (48:50):
Fifty four yards Arizona. Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 5 (48:53):
Seven touchdowns, sixty six catches was a huge security blanket
for Jade Daniels. It was a big reason why Jane
Daniels had the success that he had as a rookie
last year.
Speaker 3 (49:03):
So I just think Ertz deserved a little bit of
recognition there too.
Speaker 5 (49:06):
But the guy who I'm going with who granted I
did cheat a little bit in this conversation last year
because when we were talking about breakout players for other
teams of the NFC East, I think I chose two
different players for the Commanders. He was one of them,
so at least I got fifty percent right. But Frankie Louvi,
frank who it was this I looked it up. He
(49:28):
was the guy in the heat of our missile push
conversation last week. He was the missile from the Commanders. Yes,
she was, but take away that one series of plays.
He also was a second team All Pro last year
in his first season with the Commanders. Eight sacks, which
was a career high, was just all over the field.
(49:48):
Seven passes, the seven pass breakups also a career high
for him. You talk about some of the best off
ball linebackers in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (49:56):
Similar to what you were saying.
Speaker 5 (49:58):
No one is gonna mention Frankie absolutely season he had
last year, though he at least belongs in the conversation
of among the top players at his position.
Speaker 3 (50:08):
Well, just like Bond came out of nowhere, came out
of nowhere, that's true.
Speaker 2 (50:12):
You know, he did have change his team.
Speaker 5 (50:13):
I will say he did have some level of success
with the Panthers, more so than bonded as the Saints.
Yes to this, well, no, no one was considering him
an All Pro selection. And you know, maybe it's just
Dan Quinn getting the most out of some of these
guys because he's obviously a fantastic defensive minded coach.
Speaker 3 (50:30):
But Frankie Luvo deserves a lot.
Speaker 5 (50:32):
More recognition than he gets. He is my most utter
underappreciated player for.
Speaker 2 (50:36):
Washington and those guys are a great example of how
the staff does matter. Oh yeah, you know coordinators and
or position coaches. Think about the Exeter Lawrence. Andre Patterson
gets here as the Giants defensive line coach, and yes,
Wake Martindale was the new DC and he worked in
conjunction with Patterson. But we know about Andre Patterson and
(50:58):
the great respect he has a on the league. He
brought out the best in Leonard Williams. He brought out
the best in Dexter Lawns. Sometimes that staff member can
be the guy who unlocks the talent and brings it
to another level.
Speaker 5 (51:14):
Yeah, I'm not gonna you know, go ahead and say,
nor were you saying this but not saying that, you know,
Coach Patterson is the reason Decks, the sole reason that
no big leap. But let me tell you it's not
a coincidence that Dexter's leap to that all pro level happened. Yep,
with Andre Patterson's arrival. That is not a coincidence whatsoever.
(51:34):
And Dexter would tell you that himself. How big of
a role Coach Patterson has played in his growth and
development these last couple of years.
Speaker 2 (51:40):
Final couple of notes, folks, because that ends our question
for the day. Giants season ticket memberships for twenty twenty
five are available. You can catch the Giants not only
a met Life stadium during the season, but there were
benefits all year round. There were also kinds of exclusive
member accesses that you can get to learn more about
it Giant season ticket membership visit Giants dot com. Slash
(52:02):
Tickets and of course the Giants Total Podcast.
Speaker 5 (52:05):
I know you do a lot of posting. Do you
know what's up there this week? Yes, we actually today
posted it was it was Marcus Bows. I believe it
was his offensive line coach at Ford. I'm blanking on
his name at this moment, but it is up.
Speaker 3 (52:23):
On the site. Marcus Johnson is his name.
Speaker 5 (52:27):
I got posted today the video, the audio got posted
to podcast platforms talking about Marcus bow how his technique developed,
and how coach Marcus Johnson thinks he's gonna fit into
the Giants offensive line room.
Speaker 3 (52:42):
So that is now up. Over the weekend, we posted
all of the Baldy breakdowns. I did see all of
the draft picks. They're they are really cool. We all
love that we got him in the mix.
Speaker 5 (52:53):
Here and he's doing these videos because they're really awesome.
There's a video for every draft pick. The last three
draft picks got combined in to one, but each player
has in the draft class has a Baldy breakdown.
Speaker 3 (53:04):
Those are all up on the site as well. Check
it out and I believe that is it all right?
Speaker 2 (53:12):
Folks. Again, we remind you that tomorrow a Big Blue
Kickoff live will be moving to one thirty pm Eastern
Time Live for an hour because this way you'll get
to complete wrap up with Matt and John on the
OTA and the media availabilities, the coach, the players find
out all about what's going on here as they start
phase three of the off season program. We're getting closer
(53:34):
and closer, Matt. I mean just seeing the guys out
there in helmets today. I know it was only shirts
and shorts, but the fact that they had helmets side,
my blood started to go a little.
Speaker 3 (53:44):
Bit, I know.
Speaker 5 (53:44):
And the fact that we just we got the rookies
with the Vets, you got the whole team practicing together
now obviously, as we mentioned, there's no contact, which that's
you know, another reason just to look forward to training
camp is you really get to see these guys start
going and one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (54:02):
But yeah, it's you know, when.
Speaker 5 (54:04):
This OTAs begin is when it really hits you, like
we're not that far away from from real football.
Speaker 3 (54:11):
I know, we got training camp in two months, less
than two months.
Speaker 2 (54:14):
I can't wait, man, I can't wait.
Speaker 5 (54:16):
And we got a couple of weeks to get us
through before we head off. Since we do have a
little bit of time here. How are you feeling about
the nixt tonight.
Speaker 2 (54:24):
I was simply just gonna say go Nicks at the
end of the program, But as long as you ask me,
I really really love the way that they were able
to turn that sucker around in the fourth quarter the
other night, and Kat was a beast. I see no
reason why they won't even it up at two and two.
But there's also no doubt in my mind this is
gonna go seven games, and every single one of these
(54:44):
games will come down to the final minute. So it's
gonna be gut wrenching, nail biting all the way through.
And when you talk about a game seven, that could
go down to the wire as well, and I really
think it's gonna be that way. There's no telling who's
gonna win the game and who's gonna win the series,
especially with the Knicks not having a very good record
at home in the playoffs this year.
Speaker 3 (55:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (55:07):
I mean we are what about one hundred and fifty
minutes into the series, three full games, and the point
differential between the two teams and all three games I
think is like even or maybe Indiana is minus plus one.
Speaker 2 (55:20):
Incredible. The next incredible.
Speaker 5 (55:21):
We knew that each game is basically going to be
a coin flip. Tonight's the same way. If if the
Knicks can play like they did in the second half
and especially that.
Speaker 3 (55:29):
Fourth quarter, there's there's no stopping though.
Speaker 2 (55:32):
Towns was just wow.
Speaker 5 (55:34):
I will say first of all, with Towns, he got
a lot of criticism after game two. It's nice to
see him bounce back with the You know, it wasn't
a full strong performance because he did start off kind
of slow, but when it mattered most he turned it on.
Keep it going, Cas, That's why you brought Karl Anthony
Towns in. Yeah, for performances like that. I forgot what
(55:57):
my second point was, But let's go.
Speaker 3 (55:59):
Next, Okay.
Speaker 2 (56:00):
Uh. As always, we're coming to you from the Giants
Podcast Studio presented by Hackensack Meridian Health. Keep getting better.
This has been Big Blue Kickoff Live presented by Cadillac,
the official luxury vehicle of the New York Football Giants.
As a reminder, tomorrow, put down the number two oh
one nine three nine four five one three. It starts
live at one point thirty pm and if you missed
(56:21):
any portion of today's program, catch it on the Giants
Archive Podcast platforms everywhere Giants dot com, slash podcasts, and
of course, the Giants Mobile app. From outside tech, I'm
Paul Tatino. We'll see you next time.
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