Big Blue Kickoff Live 6/25 | Giants vs Saints Preview

Paul Dottino and Matt Citak talk to John DeShazier, who is a team reporter for the Saints, about the Giants matchup in week 5 against New Orleans. The guys also talk about the Abdul Carter and take calls from fans.

:00 - Abdul Carter

18:00 - Morehead State names stadium after Phil Simms

20:30 - All-rookie team chat

26:10 - Saints preview with John DeShazier

54:00 - Calls

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
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.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're on Giants dot com.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Do you know what I saw? New York Giant crack.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
And the Giants mobiles.

Speaker 3 (00:15):
Seventeen fourteen rials one tuck down we are We're all tampering.

Speaker 4 (00:20):
What they did?

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Well happen part of the Giants Podcast network.

Speaker 5 (00:23):
Let's go on, hell on these dogs?

Speaker 6 (00:26):
Hasn't fun.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
Hello, gain everybody, and welcome to Wednesday's edition of Big
Blue Kickoff Live, presented by Cadillac, the official luxury vehicle
of the New York Football Giants. Thanks for joining us
for the next hours we talk Giants football with you.
Are two A one nine three nine four five one three.
You can always hit this up on Twitter at hashtag
Giants Chat. I'm Polatino, He's Matt's sidetak and I'll tell

(00:48):
you the heat out here is unbelievable in the New
York metropolitan area. This is three days in a row
that we've been ninety five or higher. I guess it's
supposed to be ninety six today.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Matt, I mean, oh wow.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
Here's the thing. I saw some of the groundskeepers outside. Now,
you know, the Giants don't come back. Rookies report the
fifteenth players on the twenty second of July. But they
still got to take care of the fields here. That
is not a fun thing to do in the middle
of this broiling weather that.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
We're having today. They were out there.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
I think there was some kind of nutrients or fertilizer
they were putting down, but they were also overseating the grass.
The field looks awesome. I have to tell you, Rob
Davis and his people do a marvelous job. But that
is not fun work at this time of year.

Speaker 7 (01:36):
No, I mean it's not even fun walking from the
parking lot to the front door. So I can't imagine
having to stay out there in that heat. And actually,
you know, do work on the field does not look
or sound fun.

Speaker 4 (01:49):
Glad I'm not the one doing it.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
I'll tell you a funny story about heat and about
how the impact of the of the ground, you know,
can make a big difference. When Joe Montana left the
San Francisco forty nine ers as a free agent and
he was shopping for a place to go, he wound
up deciding on the Kansas City Chiefs. So we were

(02:10):
out to play Kansas City and one of the things
that I used to do during the radio pregame show
was always go down to the field and I would
have to do the weather report, field conditions, injury report,
you know, preview the game for Bob Poppa on the
radio pregame. So I was always a stickler to find
out everything I could about the field, the stadium, the.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
Conditions, et cetera. Etc.

Speaker 3 (02:34):
So I get a hold of the Heads groundskeeper and
he says to me, I asked him about you know
what was going on with the Chiefs Montana. Ay, well,
you're not gonna believe this, but we had to rip
up our whole field because of that guy.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
I'm like, whoa, what do you mean?

Speaker 3 (02:52):
Well, they had artificial turf at Arrowhead Stadium. When Montana
agreed to sign his free agent contract with the Kansas
City Chiefs, he had a stipulation put into the contract
that they have to rip up the artificial turf and
they have to put in real grass. Because he did
not remember now, he was a mobile quarterback, so he

(03:12):
used his.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
Legs a lot.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
He did not, at his advanced age, want to be
playing on the artificial surface. Now, the good news was
and this was the other part to the story. And
what kind of brought this up for me is that
they used to tell me, with the old fashioned artificial
turf that was laid down an Arrowhead stadium, it added approximately.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Twelve degrees to the real.

Speaker 3 (03:37):
Field temperature, because it was that old style, not the
new style of artificial turf that they have today, which
is a lot different, but it was the old style
that was like concrete. And apparently what they would tell
me is the other issue they had there all the
time is that because of the twelve degree enhancement, that
when they had games there in September and one was

(04:00):
clearly beating down on the turf, it was brutal on
the field because if you had think about it, if
you had just like a nice summary September eighty degree day,
that's ninety two on the field, twelve degrees.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
They said.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
For some reason, that was because usually, i believe and
some people out there may know about this, the old
artificial turf, My understanding was usually it was between eight
to ten. Apparently the turf they had in Kansas City
increased the real field by twelve degrees. So that was
the other reason that Montana told them not only did
he not want to get beaten up on the hard
concrete like artificial turf, he was also very much like

(04:39):
he did not want.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
To deal with the heat.

Speaker 4 (04:42):
I don't know. That does not sound fun.

Speaker 3 (04:44):
So I know that's a side note, but for some
reason it just popped into my head. We were talking
about the grass and so forth and so on. Nice
Joe Montana story. And oh yes, by the way, Leonard
Marshall did knock him senseless in the nineteen ninety playoffs
and it was the last snappy ever took for the
San Francisco forty nine ers. Did you see that? By
the way, somebody had that on Twitter yesterday? Did you

(05:06):
notice it?

Speaker 4 (05:06):
Headlight that play?

Speaker 3 (05:08):
They claimed they had a screenshot from AI. Okay, they
had a picture of Jim Burt smashing into Montana during
the eighty six playoffs, and AI had the write up
off the picture saying that was the last snap that

(05:29):
Montana ever played for the forty nine ers, how he
was just absolutely crushed and floored by Jim Burt and
that was the last play. And of course that's wrong.
It was the Leonard Marshall shot. So of course I
had to fix AI. When it comes to the Giants, Ai.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
You will lose to me every time. It's just the
way it's gonna be. I'm sorry.

Speaker 4 (05:50):
So anyway, I did not see that, but doesn't surprise me.
How dare hey?

Speaker 2 (05:55):
I even try to challenge me. It's a joke, all right.

Speaker 3 (05:59):
Anyway, you can find our entire podcast network if you
don't catch the show live on the Giants mobile app
podcast platforms everywhere and at giants dot com slash podcast.
We are joining you from the Giants Podcast Studio presented
by Hackensack Meridian Health. Keep getting better.

Speaker 2 (06:15):
And speaking of.

Speaker 3 (06:16):
Getting better, the Giants hope they will get a lot
better this year with the acquisition of one first round
outside linebacker named Abdul Carter and Matt There were no
shortage of fans of Abdul Carter because we haven't even
touched the practice field yet for a real training camp,
and this guy's getting accolades everywhere.

Speaker 7 (06:37):
Yeah, so the latest, you know, well, first of all,
he's been getting a lot since the Giants drafted it. Yes,
so it's been two months now where he's been you know,
named to these Rookie Prediction Rookie Team All rookie team predictions,
and that's exactly what happened this week with the NFL
dot Com putting out there all rookie team predictions. And

(06:59):
by that it just means the guys that they think
at each position that will be the biggest instant impact
rookies and so not.

Speaker 4 (07:08):
Really going out on a limb.

Speaker 7 (07:10):
But of course, when it came to the ad rusher position,
the first guy on the list was Abdul Carter, and
the article mentions, you know the fact that he's surrounded
by Brian Burns, Caveon Thibodau and Dexter Lawrence. He's going
to have a ton of one to one opportunities, as
you and I have discussed countless times.

Speaker 4 (07:27):
Yes, and he's probably gonna take advantage of those opportunities.

Speaker 7 (07:31):
I mean, again, as you mentioned those practices in the spring,
there's no contact, so the offensive linement are not engaging
with the pass rushers like they will in a month
from now and like they do in actual games. However,
despite that, it was very easy to see that Abdull
Carter just looked, at least in my opinion, he just

(07:51):
looked different out there the way that he was able
to get off the line of scrimmage, bend around the
offensive tackles. You know, we've obviously seen some very talented
defensive lineman in this building, and I can only speak
for the guys that I've seen up close and personal
on a day to day basis since I started working here.
This is going into my seventh season. He just looks

(08:14):
different out there, like I don't I can't remember an
edge rusher moving as quickly off the line the bend
that he has, the athleticism in the last seven seasons,
I can't remember a guy moving quite like we saw
Abdul Carter move throughout the spring. I cannot wait for
training camp to see what he can do once he

(08:35):
actually has the offensive lineman, you know, legitimately trying to
stop him, not what we saw throughout the spring, because
those are going to be some of the best matchups.
And I mean, I hope we get to see him
and Andrew Thomas at least some snaps go up against
each other, because, as we say every year, Iron Tripe
Sharpen's Iron, you want your best on best, and you

(08:58):
know he's got to come out and show it when
the games actually start mattering.

Speaker 4 (09:03):
But Abdul Carter definitely.

Speaker 7 (09:05):
Has the makeup and the potential to end up being
the best edge rusher in what it is a talented
group of edg rushers already.

Speaker 3 (09:14):
I never understood all the questions going into the draft
about why would they take him because that gives them
three edge rushers, and how are they going to use them?

Speaker 2 (09:23):
How are they going to get him on the field.

Speaker 8 (09:25):
It doesn't make sense they already got.

Speaker 2 (09:27):
Two edge rushers. I never understood that.

Speaker 3 (09:30):
Now, as much as you know, we all knew that
they were three quote blue chip players in this draft
and he was one of them, there still seem to
be some doubt about, well, are you going to get
real value out of him because he's not going to
be able to play all the time.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
Well, since the Giants have taken.

Speaker 3 (09:48):
Him, and now we've heard the coaching staff talk about him,
I hope you folks understand there was no reason to
worry because they'll get him on the field.

Speaker 7 (09:56):
Yeah, you know, I think those those concerns or question
that you mentioned leading up to the draft might have
been coming from you know, Foxborough in hopes that maybe
they could somehow plant seeds and make not take abdual
Carter at three, So then the New England Patriots can
get him at four. Okay, because quite frankly, I don't

(10:17):
understand that any of those questions are concerned none of
us on this show, none whatsoever. And I mean again,
it's only the spring and no contact. But so far
he's lived up to he's lived up to the building
he has he's looked apart so far, and again it
won't matter until he starts doing it, you know, starting

(10:38):
in a month, and then really once the game start.
Of course, you know we'll first admit that. But so far,
so good from Abdul Carter. Let's put it that way.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
I want to ask you an interesting question.

Speaker 3 (10:51):
Okay, we know he's going to play different spots within
this defense. He could be a spy some, he could
be inside some, he could be as a off.

Speaker 2 (11:01):
Ball somem he could be an edge guy.

Speaker 3 (11:03):
So he could even be a stand up three technique
blitzing up the middle. There are so many ways you
can use him.

Speaker 2 (11:09):
Now.

Speaker 3 (11:10):
You know, at the end of the year there'll be
a chart and PFF will be one of those that
log how many snaps he takes at each position. Where
do you think he will take his most snaps.

Speaker 4 (11:24):
That is a good question.

Speaker 2 (11:25):
It is a good question. That's why I'm asking you.

Speaker 7 (11:27):
Ah, I'm gonna I guess I'm gonna go with edge.

Speaker 4 (11:37):
I think they'll find a way.

Speaker 7 (11:38):
I think they're gonna rotate, have somewhat of a rotation
between the three edgreshers. Who's lining up primarily on the edge,
who gets moved inside? You know, of the three, he definitely,
I would say, has the skill sets, I would say
the most to line up and succeed on the inside. Yeah,
probably a little more so than Brian Burns or cave

(12:00):
who obviously have NFL experience playing pretty much almost exclusively
on the edge. With Abdul, he's not that far removed
from not playing the edge at all, going back this
Penn State days years, just two years ago, when he
wasn't lining up on the edge. So, but I think
based on the potential, obviously if one of those start,

(12:22):
if Burns or cave On were to get hurt, then
obviously Abdul would move to the edge and probably play
their full time while that.

Speaker 4 (12:29):
Other guy is out.

Speaker 7 (12:30):
And while we I mean we know that injuries just
happened every single year in the NFL, I'm going to
go ahead and say I'm going to say the edge,
because I also just think that once he gets out
there and starts performing and producing in games, he's going
to make it very difficult for the Giants coaching staff
to not put him out there basically every single play

(12:52):
and put him in the position that he's going to
have the most probably find the most success in which,
as great as he is, and as you know, I
do think he will be able to find success lining
up all over the defense. I think we saw last
year he was at his best lining up on the edge,
So I think they're gonna find a way to get
him out there now.

Speaker 4 (13:12):
It might be a very very.

Speaker 7 (13:14):
Slight lead between edge and maybe the inside or well,
I do think he's given When we look at that PFF.

Speaker 2 (13:23):
Chart, it's gonna be in like five different spots.

Speaker 7 (13:26):
Barring some unforeseen circumstances or you know, a serious injury
to one of those other guys. I really think he's
gonna get a significant number of snaps at a significant
number of positions. He's not gonna just be you know, right,
six hundred snaps on the edge, seventy five snaps inside,
thirty snaps at off ball, linebacker. I think it's gonna

(13:47):
be very close at all those positions, all.

Speaker 2 (13:51):
Right, So I post that question to you folks out there.

Speaker 3 (13:53):
Coming up by the way, at one o'clock, we will
be previewing another one of the Giants' opponents this year.
Are so camp preview of the New Orleans Saints that's
coming up at one o'clock. But I do post this
question like I posted to Matt. You want to give
us a call A two, A one nine three nine
four five one three. What position on the field do
you think Abdul Carter will take.

Speaker 8 (14:15):
The most snaps at this season.

Speaker 2 (14:19):
I'm a little.

Speaker 3 (14:21):
Less sure that it's gonna be the edge because I
think when they get all three guys on the field,
and I got a feeling that's gonna happen a lot,
especially when you consider the sub package. Because he's gonna
get he's gonna be a primary part of the sub
package when they go sub. He's not gonna be one
of the two edge guys, I don't think. And if teams,

(14:42):
as they usually do these days, pay sixty five percent subpackage,
that increases the odds unless someone gets hurt outside, which
you're right, one of the edge guys gets hurt.

Speaker 2 (14:53):
I mean, he's gonna be in that rotation. One of
those guys.

Speaker 3 (14:56):
Goes down immediately that snapcount shoots up. So I think
that's it's a very likely scenario. If No, if neither
Tibbs well Buruns gets hurt, it wouldn't surprise me. If
he gets more snaps on the inside, it.

Speaker 4 (15:13):
Wouldn't surprise me at all either.

Speaker 7 (15:16):
I'm with you, Yeah, and I hope you end up
being right, because obviously would prefer everyone and play all
seventeen games, that is, you know, the ideal scenario. So
I I hope you end up being right. And I
think again, whether he's lined up on the inside the
edge off ball linebacker, I would be shocked if he
does not have at the very least what we consider

(15:37):
an encouraging rookie season. Yes, like there's obviously there's no
such thing as sure things with rookies. We've come to
learn that over the last few years across the NFL.
There's just no such thing as a you know, bona
fide stud sure thing guarantee to be all rookie, you know,
future perennial all pro that that just doesn't exist anymore. No,

(16:00):
But I would be very surprised if, at the end
of his rookie season, assuming he's healthy, if we don't,
you know, feel very good about the way that he
is trending for the future years to come, like I
would be shocked if he is not one of the
more dominant rookie defenders in the NFL this year, based
on what he did last year, his previous production, and

(16:24):
a little bit that we saw in the spring. I
mean again, the guy just moves differently.

Speaker 3 (16:29):
He just's I'm not putting up any defense against that.

Speaker 7 (16:34):
It's tough for linemen to really stand out during the spring,
and yet he did.

Speaker 4 (16:41):
He really did.

Speaker 7 (16:42):
I can't how many plays do you remember where again again,
no contact, I know, but Russell Wilson or whoever was
playing quarterback called hike and within maybe one point five seconds,
Abdul Carter was in the quarterback's face. It happened more
times than I can remember.

Speaker 3 (17:00):
He has such explosion and the difference though, I want
to make something clear, folks, because they I've said this
many times. Ocu Manua had the quickest get off at
the snap from the down position from the three point
stance of any Giant I've ever seen. I still believe
that this is a different style of lightning quickness that

(17:23):
Carter has. He's not doing it from the three point stance.
He's doing it from the stand up yep, and wow,
he just he is as fluid as can possibly be.
So in any event, that's our question for today about
Abdua Carter. Now, on top of that, we're going to

(17:43):
throw out something else here because it's a really cool
news item, and I did not want to let this
go by without mentioning it, folks, because after all, it's
one of the Giant's own.

Speaker 8 (17:55):
Morehead State is renaming its stadium.

Speaker 2 (17:59):
For Phil Simms.

Speaker 3 (18:01):
How cool is that the official dedication is going to
be on the homecoming weekend or during the homecoming weekend
of October eighteenth. Sims played for the club from nineteen
seventy four through seventy eight. We know he was the
first round pick of the Giants in nineteen seventy nine,
threw for over fifty five hundred yards and thirty two

(18:24):
touchdowns during his career, and he was the OVC Player
of the Year in nineteen seventy seven. Kelly Wells, the
athletic director, just talked about the plaudits of Phil and
how loyal he's been to the program over the years,
everything he has done for the university, and of course
just becoming the legend and the icon that he is.

Speaker 2 (18:45):
I mean, I'm not going to lie.

Speaker 3 (18:47):
I didn't know what Morehead State was or where it
was until Phil Simms came to the Giants.

Speaker 7 (18:53):
Yeah, I mean that's fair. Again, before I was born,
so I can't say quite the same thing.

Speaker 2 (18:59):
We guarantee you didn't know where they were either.

Speaker 7 (19:01):
Yeah, you're right, But my only question is what took
them so long? Guy stopped playing there forty seven years ago.
He's definitely the best college football player.

Speaker 4 (19:14):
To come from Morehead State.

Speaker 2 (19:16):
What took so long?

Speaker 3 (19:17):
I don't have an answer. Now here's what's really cool.
And I did not know this, and I've known Phil
a long time, and pretty dawn well it says he
returned to campus in twenty fifteen to receive his bachelor's degree.

Speaker 2 (19:30):
I didn't know that either.

Speaker 4 (19:31):
I'd love to hear that.

Speaker 2 (19:32):
That's so cool.

Speaker 3 (19:34):
I got to congratulate him the next time I see him.
I cannot wait to see Phil again. And boy, I
wonder what they I wonder what they're gonna do. I say, WHOA,
that's maybe that's Phil Colt d that's not good.

Speaker 2 (19:46):
No, that's not Phil.

Speaker 3 (19:48):
That's the athletic director at Moorhead State thanking us for
promoting the Phil.

Speaker 2 (19:51):
Simmons Stadium rename.

Speaker 3 (19:53):
No, in all honesty, I think it's awesome. I don't
know if that means he just gets his name on
the stadium, it's going to be on the field, if
it's going to be in the scoreboard. There are no
details and in the story that I just saw, but
I just did not want to let that go without mention.
I don't mind telling you, folks, Phil Simms is my
all time favorite player in Giant's history. He always has been,
always will be, and so I wanted to make sure

(20:16):
he got recognition. Phil Simms Stadium again. October eighteenth is
the dedication as Moorhead State decides that they wanted to
honor one of their own. All right, our number is
two one nine three nine four five one three. On
Big Blue Kickoff Live Today, our question is which position
on the field do you think Abdul Carter will take

(20:38):
the most snaps at. I think the other curiosity that
you didn't see the rest of that all rookie team
that was voted or was it the Was he the
only one that they they cited.

Speaker 4 (20:50):
They have the whole defense.

Speaker 3 (20:52):
I'm curious who else who else on defense was was
on that list, specifically a defensive tackle.

Speaker 2 (20:58):
I'm curious.

Speaker 7 (20:58):
Well, so the other defense of end or ed rusher
was Donovan Azeroku Boston College. Boston College went drafted by
the Cowboys. And the defensive tackle they have obviously your boy,
Mason Graham, No shocker.

Speaker 2 (21:12):
There, we're both from opponents.

Speaker 4 (21:15):
And Derek Harmon.

Speaker 2 (21:18):
Oh okay, we we.

Speaker 4 (21:21):
We praised the Steelers for that pick.

Speaker 2 (21:23):
We did, you know we did.

Speaker 4 (21:24):
He's gonna be I have no doubt he's going to
be great.

Speaker 3 (21:26):
With Mike Tomlin, it didn't seem like he was getting
enough hype going into the draft to me.

Speaker 4 (21:32):
Yeah, I agree, and I don't know why. Don't understand
it at all.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
Guys have stun Yeah.

Speaker 7 (21:37):
And then let just go quickly through the rest of
the defense. The two linebackers Carson schweesssinger from the Cleveland Browns,
Demetrius Knight Junior from the Bengals at cornerback, Will Johnson
of the Cardinals and Trey Ama Amos Almos. I don't
well Trey from the Commanders. Uh, then they have John

(21:59):
de bart Aaron as the slot corner and Malachi Starks
at the Ravens and Xavior Watts of the Falcons at
safety position.

Speaker 3 (22:08):
See now, Will Johnson's interesting to me because when we
first got to the end of the season last year,
before the combine, I was very high on Will Johnson.
And then, you know, I didn't know a lot about
his injury situation, which apparently was getting more and more
cloudy as we approached the combine. And then even after
the combine, it sounds like, you know, he's kind of

(22:29):
banged up.

Speaker 4 (22:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (22:30):
I mean that, honestly is the only thing that explains
his fall in the first round. Because the talent, in
terms of just talent, oh my goodness. I mean, I guess,
if you want to Travis Hunter, I guess would be
the top corner you.

Speaker 3 (22:43):
Could make a case Johnson may have been the second
most talented.

Speaker 7 (22:45):
I want to say, right after Travis Hunter in terms
of just pure cornerback. Will Johnson. I mean, for most
of the pre draft process he was that guy. I mean,
he was being talked about as a likely top ten pick.
Throughout most of the pre draft process until all this
injury stuff started to get come to light. And I
guess the media might maybe caught up with what the

(23:07):
NFL teams were seeing throughout the process. But yeah, I
mean his drop we were certainly surprised by it.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
Yeah, I don't think there's any doubt.

Speaker 3 (23:16):
And to be honest, the thing that scared me is
that when he finally did get drafted, we started hearing
things like, well, this injury situation is kind of lingering
for him and it could impact his rookie season.

Speaker 2 (23:30):
That's not cool.

Speaker 4 (23:31):
No, that's not what you want to hear from the rookie.
You just but you take it.

Speaker 2 (23:36):
This was NFL dot Com. Where did this show?

Speaker 4 (23:38):
This is NFL dot Com?

Speaker 2 (23:39):
And yet they picked him.

Speaker 4 (23:43):
Okay, who would you have maybe put above him?

Speaker 3 (23:45):
Well, again, talent wise, there is no questions he would
have to be there. Injury wise, it makes it kind
of sketchy. I don't know, man, I think there was
a steady drop off after him though. The corners were
not that highly rated going into this draft.

Speaker 4 (24:08):
No, they really weren't. So maybe that was Travis Hunter really.

Speaker 3 (24:12):
After the so maybe they picked him by default. Yeah,
I mean, I can't tell you who the third corner
was after. Who was the next corner drafted.

Speaker 4 (24:20):
After Maxwell Harston?

Speaker 3 (24:22):
Geez, And you know what, I'm not even sure what
number he was picked.

Speaker 4 (24:26):
He was actually picked before before Will Johnson.

Speaker 2 (24:29):
What number was he at?

Speaker 4 (24:30):
I forgot Will Johnson dropped out of the first round.

Speaker 7 (24:33):
I knew he was a second or second round, wasn't it. Yeah,
he went forty seventh. Maxwell Harston. The Bills took him
at the end of the first round thirty three.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
I didn't even remember that.

Speaker 4 (24:41):
And then Will Johnson was the next corner.

Speaker 3 (24:43):
And Harston going into the draft. Hairston did not exactly
set the sky on fire for me.

Speaker 4 (24:49):
No, you didn't press me.

Speaker 7 (24:51):
When I got a chance to speak to him very
briefly at the combine asked him a couple of questions,
mostly because he was just raving about Drew Phillipson.

Speaker 2 (24:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (25:00):
I liked hearing that.

Speaker 7 (25:01):
But yeah, the other corners, Benjamin Morrison from Notre Dame
went a little bit after.

Speaker 2 (25:06):
But Morris has injury history.

Speaker 4 (25:08):
Yeah, then there's treamos.

Speaker 3 (25:10):
I mean we talked a lot about Morrison, like, you know,
that would be a consideration for the Giants, maybe in
the third round. Going into the draft, we talked about that.
If you get him in the third round, great, but
do you really want to draft him higher than that
given his injury issues?

Speaker 7 (25:25):
You know the guy now that I'm looking at a
reminder of the cornerbacks that were drafted that would maybe
be my pick?

Speaker 2 (25:31):
Who's that?

Speaker 7 (25:31):
And then again, assuming injury wise, he's cleared. Chevron Revel, Oh,
well again, that's another guy. I know, he's obviously coming
off a serious injury. But prior to that injury, the
beginning of the college football season, he was being talked
about is potentially the number one corner in this draft? Yes,
so he you know, obviously he is coming off the

(25:53):
serious injury, which is why he dropped all the way
to the you know, seventy sixth overall.

Speaker 4 (25:58):
Man, I kind of hope. I mean, he went to the.

Speaker 7 (26:01):
Cowboys, so I don't want him to have the best
NFL career unless he changes teams, then I would say,
oh power to him.

Speaker 2 (26:08):
But nord do I, nor do I?

Speaker 3 (26:10):
All Right, it is time to get to our New
Orleans Saints summer training camp preview with John.

Speaker 2 (26:17):
Sazer.

Speaker 3 (26:18):
I am sorry, John, if I butchered that name. I
got a little bit of a tongue tied there.

Speaker 2 (26:23):
At the very end.

Speaker 3 (26:24):
Of course, we appreciate you taking the time but to
chat with us today.

Speaker 2 (26:28):
They will be.

Speaker 3 (26:29):
Playing the Giants during the twenty twenty five season, and
the biggest thing that we notice when we talk about
the Saints is that Derek Carr is no longer the quarterback.
He has retired after having some armed trouble. And you know,
I was always a big fan. I know the people
down in New Orleans didn't necessarily have great feelings about him,
but I was a Derek Carr guy, and I think

(26:50):
it's a shame that to see his career in this way.

Speaker 5 (26:54):
Yeah, I mean he I'm sure he wanted to go
out differently, and and you know, who knows what the
future holes. Certainly, I thought he was a lot more
productive than fans gave him credit for or discredit for.
For I thought he had some some really nice numbers.
And I don't think you look at Derek Carr and
you say he's going to be a guy who's going
to single handedly win games. You know you're not going

(27:17):
to have There aren't many Josh Allen's or you know
Lamar Jackson's or Patrick Mahomes is in the world, but
he was much more than the serviceable quarterback. So you know,
he took a lot of criticism, a lot of heat.
But I thought at times he played pretty well for
the Saints, and certainly his numbers seemed to bear that
out when he was healthy. He had a pretty good
stretch run his first year, and then you know, the

(27:38):
second year was basically spent unhealthy. But the Saints did
not win a game when he was not the starting quarterback.
He was five and five, and they were for when
he was not the starting quarterback over seven. So so
you know, there's a lot to be said for what
Derek car was able to do. Was not a world
beat a brit He certainly was not the worst quarterback
in the league. And he you know, I think he

(27:58):
took a brunt of criticism because people around here are
still looking for the next Drew Brees, and look, that
guy ain't out there. I mean the reason, here's the reason.
Drew Brees is the first ball of Hall of Famer,
and unfortunate franchises sometimes are able to stack him up
like that, you know, Green Bay with Brett Fov and
Aaron Rodgers. And you know, sometimes you get fortunate that way,

(28:21):
but most franchises, when you have that kind of guy,
the next guy who comes along isn't quite that guy,
and so you know that guy gets a lot of criticism.

Speaker 7 (28:30):
Yes, So, now, looking at the aftermath of Derek Carr's
I guess somewhat surprising retirement.

Speaker 4 (28:37):
Left with the quarterback room.

Speaker 7 (28:38):
Of I guess some unproven commodities with Ja Hayner, Spencer Ratler,
Rookie Tyler Shuck. What did you see from those three
in particular throughout the spring? And I know, obviously it's
only June twenty fifth, and a lot can change, But
who would you say, at least as of today, you
think is the front runner to be the Week one
starting quarterback?

Speaker 5 (29:00):
The scrap Really, I think it's going to get boiled
down to the Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shuck.

Speaker 4 (29:05):
I know that the.

Speaker 5 (29:06):
Saints are saying it's the three guy three guy raced
with Jake Haynter, and Jake Hanner certainly is the guy
who will compete. But I think it's going to come
down to those two guys. And I think, you know,
there's a reason Tyler Shuck is the highest highest drafted
quarterback in franchise history since Archie Manning in nineteen seventy one.
Is that kind of but he you know, he's a

(29:28):
second round pick, and Nowaday's second round picks are guys
who are expected to play. The Saints thought highly enough
of him to take him in that slot, and they
feel like they got a real value for him. So
I think the fight is going to be between he
and Spencer Ratler. And I know Spencer Raler started six
games last year and he played in seven games, and
you know, he had some moments, But I think the
thing is wide up, and especially when you have a

(29:49):
brand new head coach, you know, the slatest claim for everyone,
so everyone starts from ground zero. And so yes, Spencer
Rautler got that experience and mostly he'll put that the
use in the quarterback race. But I think Tyler Shucket
the guy to really pay attention to, because you know,
there's a reason you draft these guys in the second round.
There's a reason to spend so much capital. And look,

(30:09):
you don't necessarily want to spend a lot of time
with development because Tyler Shuck is already at an advanced age. Sure,
So you know, now I understand the quarterback window is
wide open now where you know, Aaron Rodgers is going
on forty one, and Tom Brady played in his forties
and Drew Brees made it into his late thirties, so
you get a wider window with quarterbacks. But when I think,

(30:30):
when you draft the guy as high as Tyler Shuck
was drafted, there's an expectation there.

Speaker 3 (30:36):
John Desagure from the New Orleans Saints dot Com staff
joining us here as we preview the Saints. They'll be
playing the Giants in October Week five, I believe, in
the regular season, so we do look forward to seeing
them up close and personal. Let's stick with the offense
because we've talked about the quarterback situation, but Alvin Kamara
has another year on his belt or under his belt,

(30:57):
I should say, And John, I've always admired I've always
enjoyed him as one of the exciting players in this league.

Speaker 2 (31:03):
But you know, at some point the gas starts to
get a little bit.

Speaker 3 (31:08):
Thin in the gas tank. How much does he have
left being a dynamic focal point of this offense? Well,
do they have to start trying to find other ways
to move the ball downfield.

Speaker 5 (31:20):
Well, I mean, I think they do need to lessen
the load on him. I mean, he was a little
beat up last year. However, he ran for a career
high rushing total, and he was on a nice pace
with his touchdowns and everything. He's already the leading touchdown
score in franchise history. And he's a guy who there's
never a day in life today, yesterday, five months ago,
five months from now, that Alvin Kamara is an in

(31:42):
supreme physical condition. So he's a guy who takes care
of himself. Now, you don't want to overuse him.

Speaker 1 (31:48):
I think.

Speaker 5 (31:48):
You know, when Sean Payton was head coach here, I
think the optimum was you run him, you know, twelve fifteen,
sixteen times a game. You get him six seven catches
and you get him close to twenty touches that kind
of way. You know, when you have to run him
twenty three, twenty four times, that's when the injuries kind
of kind of pile up on him, because running backs

(32:09):
in the league take a beating. You know that. The
encouraging thing is, you know, Kellen Moore was our offensive
coordinator with the Eagles last year, and we saw what
sakuon Barkley did, but Sakwon Barkley is a different type
of running back than Alvin Kamara. Alan Kamara is much
more of a receiving threat. He's a really good blocker,
but he's also a shifty guy. Again, you don't want
him to have the heavy, heavy workload of twenty to

(32:29):
twenty five carries a game, So you want to see
how you can you can kind of mitigate the circumstances
and mitigate the punishment that he takes. And the same
you know, they drafted a guy late, you know, Devi
and Neil from Kansas State. They have Kendre Miller on
the roster, but there's going to have to be a
second guy in that running back room that can lessen

(32:50):
some of the load on Alvin Kamara because again, he
is getting a little bit older. We understand that when
running backs get older the age you know in dog
years pretty much, and so you want to make sure
that you can keep him fresh for as long as possible.
But again, he's a guy who who's physical conditioning and
his commitment to being the best it can be is
unquestioned in the history of the franchise. I mean, he's

(33:12):
a guy who you know he's got you know, not
just catlike ref flexes, but it's hard to get the
guy off his feet. And so he's one of the
guys who you know he can he can take it.
You just don't want to put too much on him.
And I think Kellen Moore understands that. When you've seen
the best of Alvin Kamaria, it's been a guy who's
been getting no more than fifteen sixteen carriers the game
and probably get you know, five six catches the game.

(33:34):
Get as touch as that way, because a lot of
those catches can be like runs, you know, if you're
talking about swing passes and wheel rolfs and those kinds
of things and toys ralphs and those kinds of things.
So you know, Kellen Moore has shown he knows what
to do with a good running back. Hopefully he'll do
the same thing with Alvin kam Air.

Speaker 7 (33:51):
Yeah, I'm going to turn the attention to one of
the guys that will be blocking for him up front.
So you know, around our building, our area, a big
storyline this offseason has been Evan Neil moved making the
shift from tackle to guard, and the Saints have someone
that's doing the same exact thing this offseason, and Trevor Penning,
a former first round pick that hasn't quite cut it

(34:13):
out as a tackle, it's now being moved inside to guard.
I know, obviously during OTAs in mini camp, there's no contact,
so you know, there's not a whole lot you can
learn from the offensive line. But I guess what are
expectations for Trevor Penning now that he's making this move
to the inside.

Speaker 5 (34:31):
Well it's his third position in three three years, so
you know that that hopefully says something about his versatility
because he didn't he was he was not a great
right tackle last year, but it certainly was serviceable and
he was a starter. So now you move him to
left guard, and they've had this staff has had success
with players moving from tackle to guard. Now you put

(34:53):
him in a smaller area. He's a big, strong, athletic kid,
and you hope he can use a lot and utilize
this talent because really the Saints feel like if they
if they draft it, well they feel like they've got
their bookend tackles for a while, you got you got
you know, Kelvin Banks left at left tackle. That's where
he's played his whole life, and you know he came

(35:13):
out of Texas first round pick. And then you've got
Tali Fulaga at right tackle. He played left tackle last year,
played it very well, but he's played right tackle his
whole his whole life, so he moves back to right tackle.
So you feel like you have your book in there.
It's going to be critical that River Pinning can hold
up at left guard, because you know, he looks like
he's the guy who he'd always looks. He looks the part.

(35:35):
He's the first guy off the bus kind of guy.
So you want to see if the efficiency and if
the effectiveness matches the physicality. The Saints believe that they
have that in him. They believe, you know, they like
moving him in there, and they like how it looks. Again,
you mentioned it's OHA's as mini camp. There is no contact,
so you don't know what you have really with the
offensive and defensive lineman until they're able to put hands

(35:58):
on each other and really start imposing their will on
each other and moving guys around, and you get into
some one on one drills and you see how guys
feet operate and see how the hands operating those kinds
of things. But they feel like he can punch it
in there. They're really high on them functioning in there.
We'll see how that goes once they get the training
camp and get a little bit more physical with it.

Speaker 3 (36:17):
Well, John, if they're able to protect whoever the quarterback
is and they try to throw the ball downfield. If
I were a Saints fan, I would be a bit
concerned because I see Brandon Cooks is so long in
the tooth that I can't really say exactly what he
has left in his tank. And I know they brought
him in from Dallas, and believe me, we saw him

(36:38):
playing for Dallas being in our division, so we know
that he's not the player he used to be. And
Chris o'lave has had how many concussions now, I mean
to be honest with you, I'm worried about him. And
those are your two most dynamic receivers. I kind of
wonder about the thinness of that receiving corps.

Speaker 5 (36:57):
Yeah, there is concern there for me. Of course, the
coaching staff says they feel pretty good there. But I'm
gonna be honest. When you're talking about Chris Olive, you're
talking about also Rushi Shaheed. Throw him in there along
with Brandon Cooks. You're talking about three smallish receivers, each
of whom has had injury issues. And so now you're

(37:17):
talking about three small guys who have been getting hurt
in their NFL careers. Now, can you scheme them open
and make sure they catch it in space? And you
know you listen, you know, lessen the hits on them? Yeah,
sure you can't. But you know, this is the NFL
and they're gonna be small winners and they're gonna have
to be contested catchers and guys are going to take hits.
You know, that's what this game is. And so yeah,

(37:39):
there's concerned there. Now have they have they filled out
a little bit there with some of the guys they
have on the on the back end. We'll have to
wait and see what that what that happens with two
because they have bove Means. So they brought in last
year and as a draft pick, and you add him
in and you know, you want to lessen some of
the low maybe with Juwan Johnson, who's that tight end
and you can kind of hopefully use him the receiver

(38:00):
a little bit because he was a receiver in college.
He's a bigger guy now, but you know, he's a
guy that you might be able to work in some
in some of those situations. But you're talking about three
guys who are really quick, quick twitch, but they're also
small guys, and small guys in the NFL, we know
historically have gotten hurt. They get injured, they get hit,
and so you know, and it's it's not a soft

(38:21):
tissue injury with you know, a hamstring or you know,
something like that. Then it's something you know that's that's
a little bit bigger. And you know, we've seen Chris
Olive I think it's four concussions now in the NFL,
and that's that's not counting the concussions that he had
at Ohio State. And so now you start concerning yourself
with his well being. Now it's like, you know, okay,

(38:43):
is there a helement that he can that he can
wear that can kind of lessen this this possibility. How
do you, you know, lessen the possibilities of him getting
another concussion? How do you put him in the best
positions to be effective, to take the least amount of
punishment and to be productive. And again, this is the NFL.
You know, you can't get away from every strike, every

(39:06):
blow in every game is going to happen. So you know,
we pray for his health around here obviously because he's
a dynamic player when he's healthy. But you know, you've
got three smallest guys that you know, hopefully again you're
depending on Killing Moore's you know, prestige and his wisdom
as an offensive coordinator and a play caller in those
things as a plate, you know, a guy who schemes

(39:29):
up things for these guys to be able to get
them in position to where they're not in peril all
the time.

Speaker 7 (39:35):
Yeah, So I feel like the one guy we have
not mentioned at all on the offensive side of the
ball is Taysom Hill, who we've seen the Saints use
in such a wide variety of ways over the years. Now,
I know he's coming off a pretty serious knee injury
from last season. So two part are one, where is
he in his rehab and his progress? Is he expected

(39:57):
to be ready for the start of training camp? And
then two just given you know, I guess expectations for
the Saints this season, you know, considering the quarterback questions,
do you think that there is a chance between Taysom
Hill and I'll even throw Chris Alave in that conversation
that those could be two guys that could potentially get
moved at some point, whether it's before the start of

(40:17):
the season or even before the trade deadline.

Speaker 5 (40:20):
Well, I don't think though. And Chris Olave, you know,
wants to be here and the staff wants him here.
They really want him here. And Taysom Hill is another
guy that they want here. Now he's got to get healthy.
I don't know if he's going to be ready for
training camp or not, because that was a severe knee
injury and he's had several on dating back to BYU
and so now you've got to get him back on
the field. We know that when he's on the field,
he is a menace, whether it's at tight end, whether

(40:43):
it's a you know, sometimes he played a little tailback,
and of course you know when he's running quarterback power,
you know, there are a few guys who can run
it the way he can. So he is an extremely
valuable guy. If you can get him back on the
field and get him healthy totally, and he can be
the Taysom Hill that we're accustomed to seeing. That's going
to be a large chore to be able to get

(41:04):
him back and get him one hundred percent and get
him back to exactly what people expect to see out
of him. But I don't, I don't I certainly don't
expect alive to move. I don't know about the possibility
to take him, because again, he's injured right now. And
if I'm a team who's interested, I got to see
him and see where his rehab is and see how
he's how he's progressed before I want to even think
about making that making a commitment or making a taking

(41:26):
a hard look. But the first thing for the faintist
to get him back on the field, get him back
out there a tight end, see what he's got left
in the tank. Because I think Taysom Hills is thirty
four so right now, and so you know he's at
that point where you know, guy's starting to kind of
tail off a little bit. But he's been such a
phenomenal player. He really didn't play his first two three

(41:46):
season in the NFL because he was an undrafted rookie
and he started out here playing special teams. He was
he was on the he was on the kickoff cover team,
and so he's a guy who you know from a
from a mileent standpoint, he doesn't have a lot of
miles on him, but he's had some serious, serious injuries,
especially when you're talking about acls and those kinds of things.

(42:07):
So you have to see, you know, how how he
responds from that again, because you know, I know this
is at least his second ACL injury, and it's like,
you know, it's heartbreaking to see what the guy has
gone through considering what he's willing to give to the
team in terms of his effort and sacrificing his body.
So hopefully he'll come back healthy one dred percent or

(42:28):
as close as he possibly can. Because he is a
jack of austrades and he's one of those guys you
throw out there and when you put him on the field,
that happens. Things happen when he gets past the line
of scrimmage. There aren't many defensive backs who want to
tackle him. They don't want to see him coming. And
so with the Saints, he is a valuable weapon offensively.

(42:49):
If you can get him back on the field and
get him healthy, he I think he's got a big,
big future or at least a big season in this offense.
If he can get back on the field.

Speaker 3 (42:59):
John, We got only a couple of minutes left, and
I feel like, you know, it might be best just
to meet Loaf. The defense has won. They did not
have a very good defensive season last year. By anybody's metrics,
it was a rough year for the Saints. De But
yet when I look at this preseason depth chart that
I have in front of me, I see a bunch
of familiar names. There's Jordan, and there's Young, and there's Brisi,

(43:22):
and there's Werner, and there's Davis and McKinstry and the
Honey Badger, and I see Justin Reed comes over at
safety from Kansas City. All right, that's a nice upgrade.
He's a good player, Okay, there's no doubt about that.
But I don't see any additions during this offseason to
a defense that did not play well that is suddenly

(43:44):
gonna make me excited or think that they can turn
it around. So I'm gonna ask you to convince me
how can the Saints get better defensively?

Speaker 5 (43:53):
Look, I think you're asking me a hard question right now,
because they're gonna go from four to three to three four.
But here's the thing, And you mentioned the names Tyron, Matthew,
Cam Jordan to Mario Davis. These are the three lynch
pins of the defense, guys who are a little bit
longer in the tooth, and so how much do they

(44:14):
have left effectively? Because you know, the NFL in a
sentimental league, I mean, this is a production league, and
so how much do they have left? And how productive
can they be? And how effective can they be? We
know about their past, but look, father time ain't lost
to nobody. So these guys are older, how productive can

(44:38):
they be? And will the scheme help them from that standpoint?
Because now we're talking about Cam Jordan being on the
edge and dropping into coverage every now and then, and
the same with Chase Young and Carl Grinders and those guys.
But now we're asking him to do some things that
he has not done in a fifteen year NFL career.
And so you know, now you're trying to you know,
you're trying to disguise something and hopefully make these guys

(45:02):
more effective, put them in better positions to make plays.
Because as you mentioned, last year, the defense was it
was bad. It was there's no way to sugar it
tried to be nice. No, no, no, there's no way to
sugarcoat it. I mean, you know, and they know that.
And look, they're the first ones to tell you that.
They will, you know self admit we were a bad
defense last year because the numbers don't lie and the

(45:24):
scores don't lie. All those things tell the truth, they
tell the tale. And so now they've got to be
a lot more productive with a lot of the same pieces.
So can those guys one stay healthy and to be
more productive in a new scheme, That's something that remains
to be seen. Justin reed will probably free up tiring
Mathew to be able to do some other things and
maybe be a little bit more of the quote unquote

(45:45):
honey badgers that we're accustomed to see in But again,
you got to be able to press your quarter pressure
the quarterback before you can do anything. And so do
they have the proper people up front to be able
to get to the quarterback. Brian Braze was fantastic at
defensive last year. Yeah, he's gonna have to have some help.

Speaker 6 (46:02):
You know.

Speaker 5 (46:02):
That's gonna have to be called Grandison, that's gonna have
to be Cam Jordan, that's gonna have to be Chase Young.
Those guys are gonna have to get after the quarterback,
because if you can't get quarterbacks on the ground in
the NFL, you cannot win. If you can't get guys
off their spots, if you can't harass them, if you
can't hurry them, if you can't hit them, it's hard
to win in this league. So that's gonna be the

(46:23):
biggest thing. Can they get to them eit of that
three four up front with now edge rushers and you know,
maybe bringing a little heat from the from the linebacker
and then that kind of thing, And that's gonna be critical.
And they couldn't get to the quarterback enough last year.
And if you can't get to the quarterback enough, it's
gonna you're on your secondary. And they were not the
best secondary in the worldlinet year, especially after the quarterback position.

(46:45):
And that's another question mark. Do they have good enough
quarterbacks to hold up? But a lot of that goes
hand in hand with being able to get to the quarterback.
You don't have to hold up as long as you
can get to the quarterback.

Speaker 3 (46:55):
Well, Johnny, the only thing I can say from the Giants' perspective,
despite the fact that the same may have a lot
of questions going into this season is that the game
against New Orleans in Week five is down there in
the Dome, And I don't think I need to tell
you that has been a chamber of horrors for the
New York Giants for a long long time. Everything seems

(47:16):
to go wrong down there when they play the Saints.
And even when it went right some years ago, Breeze
wound up out gunning Eli in one of the greatest
passing performances by two quarterbacks I'd ever seen, only to
have the Saints win it on a personal foul on
special teams that set up the last second field goal.
So you understand by trepidation and coming down to your place.

Speaker 5 (47:36):
Okay, yeah, well we'd like for it to continue to
be a house horse. Now. The thing is, you know,
are the Saints a good enough team for that, because
the Saints have not been a great home team, They've
not been a great road team. They've not been a
great team anywhere the last three four seasons. So they
got to get that back. Because when the Dome is right,
it is right. Oh, I know, the place that's hard
to hear, it's hard to win, it's hard to function

(47:58):
in there, and an opponent, but if it ain't. If
the team ain't winning, it doesn't matter a whole lot.

Speaker 3 (48:04):
All right, Well, John Desazer, we appreciate your time calling
us from the New Orleans Saints dot com staff. We
appreciate it, and we will see you in a few months.
Enjoy the rest of your summer.

Speaker 5 (48:17):
Thank you, John, Hey, thank you guys. I appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (48:20):
All right.

Speaker 3 (48:21):
There's the wrap on the New Orleans Saints saying, Look,
I can't get those games in New Orleans.

Speaker 4 (48:26):
Out of my head.

Speaker 2 (48:28):
It's been ugly.

Speaker 3 (48:29):
It's never ever been a good place for the Giants
to play, I'm sorry. Outside of Lawrence Taylor's one phenomenal
game when he was basically Scotch tape on the sidelines
and wreck them during a prime time affair many years ago.
That's about the only time I can ever remember being
happy when the Giants went to New Orleans.

Speaker 7 (48:48):
Yeah, I mean, that is just a very tough stadium
to play in as the opposing team. It's very tough.
And it's not just the Giants, that's a lot of
teams because those fans, whether the team is good or not,
those fans show up and they are allowed throughout the game.
So you know, when the schedule came out, everyone kind
of circled that Week five game as like, oh, that's

(49:08):
the you know, the first game that you know the
Giants will or could be favored in, and like the
first game that you can, you know, with somewhat confidence,
say the Giant should win.

Speaker 4 (49:20):
You can't.

Speaker 7 (49:20):
First of all, we know you have to play every
single game on the schedule. No game is just a gimme.
But the fact that that game is in the Superdome,
so they will be going down to New Orleans and
having to face that team in that stadium with that crowd,
it is by no means a gimme. That is not
like that a layup w that you know, some people

(49:40):
are trying to say that it is. That's gonna be
It's probably gonna be a dogfight, you know, despite the
question marks that that Saints team has, which they certainly
have some question marks, especially at the most important position.
But that is just an incredibly tough stadium to perform
in when you are dealing with with that hostile crowd.

Speaker 4 (50:01):
So it's probably it's gonna be a good game. It's
gonna be a good matchup.

Speaker 3 (50:06):
Okay, So the Saints have won six of the last
eight games when they've played the Giants down in New Orleans. Okay, yeah,
six of the last eight, and some of them were
really disgusting losses for the Giants. I don't mind telling you, Okay,
just just saying anyway, two on one, nine three, nine, four,

(50:26):
five one three the rest of the program. What have
we got about ten minutes left? It's on you, folks.
Give us a ring at two to one, nine three,
nine four five one three. Do you want to talk
about the Giants and the Saints matchup in Week five
down in New Orleans. Maybe that's a game that you
guys have circled on the schedule that you know what,
we like the city, we like to go.

Speaker 2 (50:46):
Have a good time.

Speaker 3 (50:47):
Maybe that's a road game that you actually would like
to go see. Maybe you want to go to Vegas
to see that game against the Raiders.

Speaker 4 (50:54):
I don't know those.

Speaker 7 (50:55):
Both of those would be very very fun cities to go. Well,
they can be too for a Giant game. New Orleans especially.
I've been to New Orleans a few times, mostly for
Marty grad to be honest, Okay, quite a different experience.

Speaker 2 (51:08):
I don't even know when that is during the calendar year.

Speaker 7 (51:11):
It's always typically in mid to late February, sometimes in March. No,
definitely not dealing with the Marti Gras crowd. I don't
think the supernot would be able to host the game
Marty Gras Weekend because that city turns into an absolute
circus in the best way possible.

Speaker 3 (51:30):
Well, I'm gonna tell you a quick story. Let me
see if I can, if I can find here, if
I can find here, what year it was? Specifically, giants
go down to New Orleans. Let me think, Okay, here
it is twenty eighteen. Giants go down to New Orleans
and we're playing them the night before Halloween.

Speaker 2 (51:52):
I think, no, that wouldn't be it. No, it wouldn't
be It wouldn't be it. When was it? Oh, here
we go, here we go fifteen, the night after Halloween. Yeah,
night after Halloween.

Speaker 4 (52:03):
It's the game you're talking about.

Speaker 3 (52:05):
Okay, So giants go down there, and of course, you
know I like to do my walks and stuff. And
I'm walking down I guess it was Bourbon Street, in
the main street street to walk down, and.

Speaker 8 (52:18):
I get approached by a vampire.

Speaker 2 (52:22):
No joke, no joke.

Speaker 3 (52:25):
The guy was twice as pale as Lance five times
as pale as smelt. And he comes up to me
and he goes, let me feel your pulse?

Speaker 2 (52:38):
Do you want to feel mine?

Speaker 3 (52:39):
And I'm like, excuse me. I'm like, man, I could
wait to get away from this guy. And he follows
me as I'm trying to walk away. No, no, see,
I have no pulse. I suck people's blood.

Speaker 2 (52:53):
And I'm like, oh man, this is just not the
place that I need to be.

Speaker 3 (52:58):
At which point I proceed to pick up the speed
of my walk and I got away from him pretty
going fast. But the dude was literally walking up and
down the street, approaching people, insisting that he was a vampire.

Speaker 7 (53:12):
I mean, as someone that's been to New Orleans, question
doesn't surprise a few times. You could have told me
that story took place in May and I would have
believed you. Stuff like that happens on Bourbon Street all
of the time.

Speaker 9 (53:27):
Oh that doesn't surprise me. I will never forget it.
And you know what, if he really was a vampire,
then I can say that I actually met a vampire.

Speaker 4 (53:39):
There you go.

Speaker 3 (53:41):
Wasn't interested in engaging in any conversation with him, But
in any event, that's an experience that I had in
New Orleans. Needless to say, it is not my favorite
city and certainly not for the Giants with the experiences
that they have had on the football field in the
super Dome. Uh, we go to our phone lines to

(54:02):
escape this horrifying tail. JJ and Bristol, you are next
on Big Blue Kick Off Live.

Speaker 6 (54:08):
Hello, Hey, what's going on?

Speaker 2 (54:12):
How you doing?

Speaker 6 (54:13):
I'm gonna try light enough to move from vampire.

Speaker 4 (54:15):
To thank you please do so.

Speaker 6 (54:17):
I went to the game last year, the home game.
Obviously it wasn't the ending that we wanted to see.
I'm using my one vacation this year to go down
this year with me and my dad to go see
the game. The question I kind of have is from
what we thought last year to what we're gonna see
this year, what do you think the areas of our
success is gonna come from?

Speaker 3 (54:41):
Uh?

Speaker 7 (54:41):
Yes, so well, first of all, I'll do quickly just
touch on both sides of the ball. On offense, The
offense is going to be better because I think we're
going to see just a lot more consistent production out
of the quarterback position. Russell Wilson just brings a level of,
you know, just consistency that the Giants have been lacking
since theli Manning retired moving over to the defensive side

(55:04):
of the ballas Oh yes, explosive plays too.

Speaker 4 (55:08):
He throw the ball downfield.

Speaker 7 (55:10):
He's probably the best downfield thrower the Giants had in
a long time with those moon balls especially, so yes,
very good point there. And on the defensive side of
the ball, I mean, just look at all the talent
that the Giants brought in on the defensive side of
the ball, not only this offseason, I would say the
last two offseasons. They have completely revamped the defense. They
built it around you know, Dexter Lawrence, and the defense

(55:33):
has the potential to be a elite top defense this year.
I mean every level of the defense has talented players,
but especially upfront and in the secondary. There's just so
many guys there that, you like we've been talking, we
don't know where they're all going to play because there's
so many, at least on paper, so many talented players there.
So if the Giants are going to have a successful season,

(55:56):
or more success than last year, and especially against New Orleans,
I think primarily it's gonna be the defense carrying the
team this year.

Speaker 3 (56:05):
I think the two things my man that we don't
know yet. We don't know how much the rush defense
has improved. We can't because it's no contact. That's a
big question that still has to be answered. And then
the other one for me is how is this offensive
line gonna shake itself out? We got numbers that we've

(56:26):
seen in that room, a lot of numbers, But how's
it gonna shake out? Who are the five gonna be?
They're gonna be the starting five from last year or
are they not? And and are they gonna stay healthy
and stay intact so that they can actually have some
semblance of chemistry and get this offense flowing.

Speaker 2 (56:44):
We don't know the answer to that either.

Speaker 6 (56:48):
Last year it was the secondary I was looking at.
This year, for me, at least, it's gonna be the
only line that's gotta be the most consistent area. So
another question I have is, obviously, besides the fact that
they have a rookie quarterback starting or Spencer Rattler who
you could say might be considered somewhat of a rookie,
what would you think some weaknesses that we could take

(57:10):
advantage of in that game?

Speaker 3 (57:13):
Well, the Saints right now are really discombobulated there. They
are in the middle of rebuilt mode. They've got guys
who are so old and so long in the tooth.
They basically out played their window of opportunity to be
a contending team. And you can't rebuild in one shot.

(57:33):
It's going to take them two or three years to
start climbing back up the hill.

Speaker 4 (57:37):
Again.

Speaker 3 (57:38):
I mean, the defense is old, it's not very productive.
The offense, we've already talked about their wide receiver room,
that's kind of unimpressive. Camara's getting old. They got to
change now with quarterbacks. I mean, look, I don't just
just just.

Speaker 2 (57:56):
Hit me if I if I shouldn't do this.

Speaker 3 (57:58):
But that's got to be a team the Giants need
to beat. Okay, that's a team the Giants need to beat.
Look at the two rosters. They're not even close. So, no,
what problems do the Saints pose. They don't pose any
This is a team you gotta beat.

Speaker 7 (58:15):
Yeah, I mean, they're best players. They're best players, especially
on the offensive side of the ball. As John was
talking about earlier, all have injury concerns. I mean, Chris
o'lave is undoubtedly a great super wide receiver, but again,
the concussions, those are a serious issue. I don't know
how many he can endure and continue with his NFL career.

(58:35):
Brandon Cooks has dealt with injuries his whole career. He's
been I would say, I think I like him a
little more than you do based on what you were
saying about him before. I think he's a solid veteran receiver,
but he's not you know, the guy that's gonna get
you a thousand yards like he used to be, not
at all.

Speaker 4 (58:53):
And Rashid Shaheed, I think if healthy, he would.

Speaker 7 (58:56):
Be a serious weapon for them, but he's coming off
a major injury himself, and some hill coming off of
major injury. All of their best playmakers other than Alvin
Kamara have some sort of injury concern and when you
mix that with the question marks at the quarterback position
that you know, leaves a lot to be desired when
talking about the offense and just in terms of their

(59:16):
general roster construction, I mean, the Saints were one of
those teams that kept on kicking the can down the
road in terms of salary cap.

Speaker 4 (59:26):
Charges towards the cost of players per year.

Speaker 7 (59:29):
They kept on kicking pushing it more dead money into
future years.

Speaker 4 (59:33):
And as we talk about it all the time. That's great.

Speaker 7 (59:35):
You can do that for you know, a decent amount
of years, but eventually you're gonna have to pay the piper.
And it seems like after a lot of years of
kicking the can down the road in terms of the
salary cap, they are finally having to pay the price
for it. And you can kind of see it with
the way that they've constructed this year's roster J J.

Speaker 2 (59:54):
There's a reason why.

Speaker 3 (59:56):
A few months ago, before the schedule came out, I
think I talked about this with Matt. I know, I
talked about it with John, and I think with Lance.
You know, I picked out four teams on the schedule,
and I said, these are probably the softer four teams
on the slate, and if I could get the NFL
to put one or two of those four teams in September,

(01:00:19):
I'd be really happy because that would help the Giants
get off to a good start. Well, they wound up
getting the Saints in Week five, which was a little
later than I would have liked.

Speaker 2 (01:00:29):
I would like to have had.

Speaker 3 (01:00:30):
Them in Week one, two, three, or four, but they're
in week five. Hopefully the Giants are better than zero
and four by the time they go to New Orleans exactly.

Speaker 6 (01:00:40):
I mean, the last win I saw was that twenty
twenty two victory in Jacksonville. So I'm due for a win.
I want to see a win bad. I'm using my
one vacation week just to go see this game with
my dad, so that we do every year. So I
just got one more question that I'll take off the air,
and I got a statement after the question ahead. So

(01:01:02):
with the new draft picks that we just got, I'm wondering,
for like depth players that are currently on the depth,
what's their role is going to be now that we
brought in some potential good rookies, guys like Darius Muisow,
Jordan Riley on the D line, Cordell Slack, and my
boy Daniel Bellinger. And then the statement I have is

(01:01:25):
I love all you guys. You guys are awesome. I
try to go down to the summer training camp every
single year. I get one release day on Monday.

Speaker 5 (01:01:33):
That I try to go.

Speaker 6 (01:01:34):
Paul Man, You're my absolute favorite. I love listening to
you every single time. It would make my day if
you have the time. I know you're very busy man.
If I could get a picture with you when I
come down.

Speaker 3 (01:01:46):
To the absolutely, just just yell from me from the
stands and I'll come over.

Speaker 4 (01:01:50):
We'll do it.

Speaker 2 (01:01:51):
Thank you.

Speaker 6 (01:01:52):
I appreciate that so much, guys. And again, I'm a
huge fan of the show. This is the highlight of
my afternoons. I listen in every single time. Thank you
guys so much for what you do. I'll take it
off the air from you.

Speaker 3 (01:02:03):
Thanks for sticking with us for as long as you have,
and please continue rooting, continue, you know, listening to the
program because we enjoy having loyal fans.

Speaker 4 (01:02:12):
Yes, thank you. JJ.

Speaker 3 (01:02:13):
In terms of his thoughts on those four players, I'm
of the opinion that Bellinger and Flot have very good
footing on this roster, and that Bellinger will still see
time in the double tight end offense, and that Flot
is absolutely on the upswing, and if one of the

(01:02:34):
corners goes down on the boundary, he's the first one up.
And look, I don't know that he's going to wrestle
the job away from Banks opposite of Deebo.

Speaker 2 (01:02:43):
I don't think that's the case.

Speaker 3 (01:02:45):
I know the Giants have kind of said there's a competition,
but I don't think it's a real competition.

Speaker 2 (01:02:50):
I think Banks has got.

Speaker 3 (01:02:51):
The lead on it and he's going to have to
lose it. But I've always been a flat fan ever
since he's been here. The other two fellas, I'm sorry,
but they got to fight for their spots. You know,
if you're if you're if you're back on the depth chart,
your spot's not guaranteed. You have to fight against everybody
else who's battling.

Speaker 4 (01:03:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (01:03:11):
I mean of the four guys that he mentioned, the
only one I think is like definitely safe and could
I can see having a big role is actually Cordell Flatt.
I mean we saw him get reps and snaps opposite
a devo with the first two defense throughout the spring,
Him and Deontay, you know, kind of mixed in and out.
It wasn't just him, So I think he will definitely

(01:03:32):
have a role on the defense. In terms of the
other three, I mean, you and I have spoken, I've
shared my thoughts about Beounder. I think he's a solid player.
I don't know exactly how the tight end room is
gonna the depth chart is gonna play out beyond THEO
Johnson at the very top, I think just be the
only reason I think that maybe could be a question
mark is just because of his contract situation.

Speaker 4 (01:03:52):
He's just do on the last year of his rookie deal.

Speaker 7 (01:03:56):
He's dude, I think makes something like reportedly like three million,
but it's not guaranteed. So if the Giants are in
a cap crunching situation before the end of training camp,
that is, if he doesn't have a great, great summer,
that is just a situation.

Speaker 4 (01:04:10):
Where I wouldn't be shocked if they if they moved
on from him in one way or the other. I
do agree right now, I do think he will bake
the team, But I just I wouldn't be shocked in
terms of the other two guys.

Speaker 7 (01:04:22):
Muis how I mean? The Giants did bring in a
couple of veteran free agents at linebacker. They didn't draft
anyone though, and the veterans that they brought in while
they do play linebacker and will you know, certainly be
on the depth charted linebacker. Those guys are special teams aces.
Chris Board, Flannagan fouls like, those guys have made a
name for themselves on special teams. Yeah the Board one

(01:04:46):
thousand percent. Yeah, So those just I think those guys,
while they were brought in as linebacker depth. I think
primarily they were brought in for their special teams skills.
So I think muis how considering he was just a
six round last year and showed some flashes in his
rookie season, I think he'll be on the team.

Speaker 2 (01:05:06):
But I think he's got to earn it.

Speaker 4 (01:05:07):
He's definitely got earned it. I mean everyone's got to
earn it.

Speaker 7 (01:05:10):
There's there's no roster spots, there are no starting positions
that are just gonna be handed to anybody.

Speaker 4 (01:05:16):
And just in terms of Jordan Riley, I mean he's.

Speaker 7 (01:05:19):
Part of now a crowded into your defensive line group
where him more so than anyone else. And it's not
just him, it's all those guys other than you know,
obviously Decks and some of the guys that were just
brought in this offseason, whether it was the free agents
or Darius Alexander in the draft, all of the rest
of those guys are gonna have to earn their roster
spots because.

Speaker 4 (01:05:38):
That is now a crowded room.

Speaker 7 (01:05:40):
There's more talent there, yep, that this year than there
has been the last couple of seasons. So those guys,
especially for the bottom of the depth chart spots they're
gonna have to earn it.

Speaker 2 (01:05:49):
This steel cage match spots, that's a steel.

Speaker 7 (01:05:53):
That is gonna be one of the you know, training
camp competitions that I'm gonna be most interested to see
because again those the last spot or two at that
part of the depth chart I think is going to
be completely up for grips.

Speaker 3 (01:06:06):
All right, we run a little long. I apologize. Just
a reminder, Giants season tickets are available for the twenty
twenty five season. I'll go to Giants dot com slash tickets.
The Giants TV free mobile app is available, get all
kinds of fun stuff there to entertain yourself during the
off season. And then finally the Giants Total podcast Anything.

Speaker 2 (01:06:25):
Go up today.

Speaker 7 (01:06:26):
Yes, I was about to say today we posted the
John's interview with the wide receivers. He sat down with
Jalen Hyatt, Wandel Robinson, and Emir Smith Marsette.

Speaker 4 (01:06:35):
That one up today.

Speaker 7 (01:06:36):
Yesterday we posted John's conversation with Tyrone Tracy. And then
Monday Monday, we had John spoke to a couple of
the running backs the name of the Games, Gataboo Singletary
and Dante Miller. So all three of those huddles have
been posted this week and are now up on the
Giants dot Com and the Giants app and Giants YouTube.

Speaker 3 (01:06:55):
Folks That'll do it for today's edition a Big Blue
Kickoff Live. We will be back tomorrow and we will
have another one of our summer training camp previews of
the Giants' opponents from at Sidetech on Paul Tatino. This
has been Big Blue Kickoff Live, presented by Cadillac, the
official luxury vehicle of the New York Football Giants song
Everybody