July 14, 2025 • 58 mins
Paul Dottino and Matt Citak discuss everything you need to know going into Giants training camp and take questions from Youtube.
:00 - Latest news
15:00 - Youtube questions
23:00 - Camp players preview
31:00 - Season predictions
49:15 - Quarterbacks
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
It's time for a Big Blue Kickoff line.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Nobody can ever tell you that you couldn't do.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
It because Giants dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Do you know what I saw?
Speaker 2 (00:10):
New York Giant.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Cry and the Giants Mobile seventeen.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
One tuck down.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
We are.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
We're out tampering the part of the Giants podcast network.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
That's going on. Dogs. Hello, we get everybody, and welcome
to Monday's edition of Big Blue Kickoff Live. The energy
is a popping in this room. We've been off for
two weeks, but we are back. I'm telling you now,
if we did not make it back today, I might
have jumped out of an airplane without a parachute. But
(00:42):
we are back and I am so glad. Good to
see you, Matt, Good to see you.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Paul. How how is the time off?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Rough Man? Rough You know, I'm a I'm addicted to
this stuff, and it's it's like withdrawal when I'm when
I'm not here for two.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Weeks to calm before the storm.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Oh there's nothing calm about it for me. Man. I'm
a it's not good. It's not good. But we are back.
So we are here for the next hour to talk
Giants football with you as always The show is presented
by Cadillac, the official luxury vehicle of the New York
Football Giants. Our number, well, I'm not going to give
it to you quite now because we got a little
(01:17):
bit of a board problem. We're trying to fix that.
We hope that in the next hour we're getting to
talk to some folks with the packers and the bearers
so that we can preview our upcoming opponents for this
twenty twenty five season. But as it stands right now,
we're having little electronical issues here. We got some gremlins
(01:38):
in the machinery. So we're going to talk to you
first up. We can't take any phone calls at the moment.
If you want to hit us up on Twitter at
hashtag Giants Chat. I'll have Matt take a look at
the Twitter page.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
We also have the YouTube chat open watching the street
on YouTube, and then the chat's there. Feel free to
chime in with any questions.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
You will be the monitor. I will bondit all. Right.
There we go, So again, you can hit us up
on YouTube or through Twitter at hashtag Giants chat. We
will try to do as best as we can given
the circumstances that we have. Been handed this morning. Now,
of course, this is the Giants Podcast Studio presented by
Hackensack Meridian Health. Keep getting better. Got to keep remembering
(02:21):
those things because it's been two weeks since we've announced it,
so got to get that back into the brain waves.
The Giants did have a piece of news, actually two
pieces of news over the two weeks while we were
on hiatus. Let's go to the first one involving the roster.
The Giants had put a tight end Darren Wall on
(02:43):
the reserve retired list when he walked away from football
a year ago. If you know the story, he had
a lot of personal issues, decided he wasn't committed to
football anymore, and then went on to have a I
guess a good music career. I don't know. I saw
some of the videos. It didn't do much for me.
(03:04):
You can call it.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
I'll classify it as a lot of things. I don't
know if a good music career is exactly how I
would put it.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Well, he had a couple of videos. Hold on a second,
we've got to get an update from John.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
John.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
What do you got for us? No calls today?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Calls today?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
All right? So the phone lines are down so stick
to YouTube and stick to Twitter, and and we will
try to do as much as we possibly can. In
the meantime, Piercit, if you could hit up our two
guests and let them know that we're not going to
be able to uh to deal with them today because
we can't get out right.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
So we can't get out right. Now.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Wait a minute, that's actually you know what if we
if we put our guests on speaker. No, no, okay, anyway,
in the meantime, uh, let's talk about Darren Waller for
a second. So he did a few videos.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Yeah, look, he puts up music out. I personally consider myself,
you know, a somewhat of a rap hip hop fan,
and much more than me. It wasn't for me. Let's
just put it out, okay.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So for some reason he has decided that he wants
to play football again. All right, fine, But because Joe
Shane had put him on the reserve retired list, the
Giants still own the rights to him. So good news
tells the Giants. I think I want to play football again,
but I don't want to play in New York. Now,
from what I understand that you've got to help me here.
(04:32):
Miami is a hip hop hot band, right, is that
not a hot music hot band? Music?
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Yeah, for sure. I mean I don't know if he
wanted to go to Miami simply to help his music career.
I think he might have just wanted to play in Miami.
You know, Miami is a you know, a fun city
that a lot.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Of people do there.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Good weather, it's warm, you know, it does have a
lively nightlife. If that's what you're looking for. I don't know,
but okay, one way or in the other. I think
this was obviously great for the Giants because this was
someone that all of us, to be honest, kind of
forgot about for the last year because he's been retired.
So the fact that the Giants were able to get
anything in return for him, I think is obviously a win.
(05:17):
And you know, yeah, the Giants got a twenty twenty
sixth sixth round pick, yes, and they gave up the
rights to Darren Waller and a conditional seventh rounder in
twenty twenty seven comes.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Back to the Giants. So now if he does certain things,
which we don't know, by the way, what those triggers are.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Correct, But now in next year's draft, the Giants have
their own sixth round pick. They now have the Dolphins
six round pick, and let's not forget they also have
the Cowboys sixth round pick. Because before the beginning of
last season was the last season or maybe the year before,
the Giants traded Jordan Phillip. It was last year Jordan Phillips,
(05:57):
the defensive the veteran defensive tackle to the Cowboys, and
it was nothing for them. It was a we Giants
gave up their twenty twenty sixth seventh round pick for
the Cowboys twenty twenty six sixth round pick, but it
was conditional in that he had to be on the
Cowboys roster for two games. Well guess what, he was
(06:17):
on the roster for two games and then Dallas decided
to cut him. But that's all the Giants needed. So
now the Giants, they don't have a seventh round pick
next year, but there's three sixth round picks, which at
least for me and my my digital department, we love
to hear their seventh round picks because that's the part
of the draft that, you know, it's a little difficult
(06:37):
for us to prepare ahead of time, and yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
I get it.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
And after a very long weekend, you know, we would
rather have earlier picks than those very, very late picks.
So I think this was, you know, obviously in the
grand scheme things. Is it the most monumental trade ever? No,
but to get anything for someone that was completely you know,
out of the picture, I think you chalk that up
as a win.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Well, it's a good because if you're the Giants, excuse me,
then Joe Shane, Joe Shane is very much into having assets.
He views every draft pick as an asset, either because
he thinks he's going to get a player who might
do something for him, or he can use it as
(07:19):
part of a trade. And it doesn't matter if it's
a five, a six, or a seven as you just mentioned.
He he's going to look at those third day picks,
even those late ones, and say, I can still do
something with those. Some gms are a little less emphasizing
of third day picks, especially later picks. Not Joe. Joe
(07:42):
thinks the more you have the better.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
One hundred percent. I mean, we've seen over the years,
Joe loves to move up, move down the draft board.
Guess what, having more picks just makes it easier to
be able to make those moves. You know, you might say, oh,
three six round picks, like, who cares about that? Well,
if the Giants, let's say, are trying to move up
at the star art of Day three, move up in
the fourth round, and guess what having those three six
round picks, that is going to help them be able
(08:05):
to move up and maybe get a player that could
step right in and have.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
A big impact.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Again, we're talking about next year's draft, So this is
towards the twenty twenty sixth season. Yes, and obviously there's
a lot to happen between now and then, but still correct,
the more picks to Marrier, and especially if you question
it slightly earlier than the seventh round, I mean again,
sign me up for that, all right.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
So that's that's the deal, right. The Dolphins get Darren Waller,
or the rights to Darren Waller. And by the way,
the way I understood it was the Giants had given
him permission to talk to Miami, make sure that they
were copasetic and that they had the fit for him,
that he was willing to come back and play there,
and that's why the Giants then allowed the trade to
go through. Again, they get a six and they get
(08:48):
a conditional seven in twenty twenty seven. I'd love to
know what those conditions are. We're probably not going to
find those out for a while.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
I feel like, you know the rap reports. Yeah, someone
someone will tweeted it eventually. But regardless, I mean, the
Giants have this the sixth round pick from Miami. That's
not conditional. No, No, that's to have their pick.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Now.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
I guess it's he needs to fulfill certain requirements. Otherwise
the pick, I guess, comes back to us. But then
I don't get it. Then we just get a pick
for nothing. Basically, the sixth round or in twenty six
is in Stone. Yeah, that is set, And I guess
whether we give up the twenty twenty seven seventh round
pick depends on Waller meeting whatever conditions needs to with Miami.
(09:32):
Otherwise that pick just comes back to us.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
No one goes back to them. They're giving it up.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
No, no, the Giants gave up the conditional twenty twenty
seven seventh round pick. The only thing the Giants got
in this trade was the twenty twenty six sixth round pick.
Look this is okay from the website.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Okay, okay, So then I got.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
It reversed so if Waller does not meet whatever the
requirements are, happens to my.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Brain when I'm not here for two weeks, It's.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Okay, get this out now before training.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
You know, the day it was reported it was that
we the Giants were getting the two picks, Yes.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
The original, your original, the from whatever it was reported
right off the bat turned out to be not the
exact terms, which is why we say all the time
these reporters put out reports of deals, whether it's trades,
free agent signings, whatever, you gotta wait for it to
actually be announced officially. Otherwise it's not setting stone until
(10:31):
the team's officially announced it. And this is a perfect
case because you're right. It was first being reported that
the Giants were potentially giving up a seventh round pick
as well.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
I was on vacation and I'd gotten a note about
the deal, and so I looked it up, and all
afternoon it was reported as Giants giving Waller to Miami
for two picks. So when did it? When did it change?
A day or two later, two days later, three days later.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
That I don't know. I was actually I was out
of the country when this happened. Okay, So I'm not
exactly sure, but yeah, I mean the terms again, I
never see these updates. These are great terms for the Giants,
you know. Sure they are at the most that the
Giants are giving up as a twenty twenty seven to
seventh round pick again because Darren Waller was not playing
for the Giants. Again, No, so the most the Giants
(11:17):
are giving up in this deal is a seventh round
pick in twenty twenty seven. And again, if Waller does
not meet whatever conditions are required to fulfill that part
of the trade, then the pick comes back and the
Giants basically just got a six round pick next year
for basically nothing. So again, not the biggest trade ever,
but it is definitely a plus in a small w
(11:38):
for the Giants.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Oh yeah, for sure. All right, so that's number one.
Now as far as the tight end room is concerned,
there's no doubt you mentioned the Giants basically had not
even given him another thought because he had been retired
for a year. Well, you know what, this tight endroom
doesn't need him. I mean, let's be honest, between Theo
Johnson and Daniel Bellinger and Man Hurts, you know, Dulsage,
(12:04):
the Giants for Dony Giants have tight ends from here
all the way down to Hopbloken. I mean, they've got
a bunch of them, so I don't think they needed
him at all anyway, So even if he wanted to
come back and play here, I don't know that they
would have been room for him. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Look, when Darren Waller is healthy, he is a phenomenal
pass catching tight end. There's no doubt about it. The
biggest thing is though his last couple of seasons playing,
he was unable to stay healthy. No question, he always
dealt with injuries, even when you know he was starting
to finally get hot with the Giants when he suffered
an injury. And then I believe he came back towards
(12:42):
the end of the season, and I'll.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Tell you what, he didn't even thought he was a disappointment.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Look, I mean, the Giants gave up but the one
hundredth pick in the whatever Draft twenty twenty three four
NFL Draft for one season to Darren Waller. Clearly they
didn't expect it to be one season. I don't think
you give up a late third round pick for just
knowing it'll be one year. But yeah, obviously that that
move did not end up playing out. Obviously, how the
(13:09):
Giants would have hoped. But you know, again they're getting
some sort of asset for him now and again for
a player that was long out of the picture for
a year now. So yeah, there was no way he
was suiting up for the Giants again. The Giants. It
seems like the Giants are pretty you know, pretty content
(13:30):
with their tight end room right now. I know there's
there's been so much buzz around THEO Johnson these last
couple of months, starting with Russell Wilson. I mean again,
we've spoken about this loves him, that Russell Wilson loves
him and speaks about him all the time. And you
know the group of tight ends are part of the
group that Russell Wilson. I'm sure it was Russell Wilson
(13:50):
leading the way. But the Giants' offense basically met last week,
I want to say, in San Diego for a bit,
one of those big throwing sessions. Yeah, and the tight
ends were there. I believe it was Man Hurts, THEO Johnson, Bellinger,
and I want to say, Fiddoni, I'm not positive if.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
See the list. What I did see was that there
were eighteen offensive players.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
I believe I saw the group photo with Oh, I
assume was all of them, if not most of them,
And for sure Bellinger, THEO and Chris Manhurts were there.
I want to say Fidoni was there as well. I'm
just not one hundred percent positive, but yeah, the Giants
are happy with the tight end room. They want to
see what THEO Johnson could do. I think they expect
(14:35):
a pretty big season from THEO Johnson. Honestly, you know,
he had that foot injury last year right as he
was starting to heat up. But he's been a full
go since the start of spring practices, so there's no
reason to believe once training camp starts next week that
he won't be fully out there participating and doing everything.
And then it's a big year two for him. Now
with what we hope to be more consistent quarterback play,
(14:58):
THEO Johnson could be the one of the players that
makes the biggest jump this upcoming season.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Oh, there's no doubt he certainly could be. He has
all the tools for it. The other news item that
kind of happened while we were gone for two weeks,
so Eli Manning and his group apparently are not going
to make any a chance to bid for the ten
percent of the Giants, which still leaves Michael Strahan and
his group in play. But we don't have any details
(15:24):
or any information on any of that other than Eli
apparently was on a pod or somebody show and he
is no longer part of the group that's going to
be in the running. They pulled out of it. I
think Eli's quote was something about maybe it's too expensive.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Shaker and a piece of an NFL franchise too expensive
because for most of us, he's just.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Gonna say, I mean, you know, if there's anybody who
might be able to do it right, but not to be.
So that was the other piece of news that came
out over the last two weeks. Frankly, it was really
slow and that's what you want now. I did see
and I'm not gonna go into any details on this one,
but there was another fireworks issue with another player this summer,
(16:09):
and I only bring that up, and I don't want
to get into it. I only bring it up for
one reason and one reason only, because when we tell
you at the end of our programming and we go
on hiatus for the summer, and when we say look,
in all honesty, every coach in GM is scared about
getting that phone call that somebody did something either accidental
(16:32):
or foolish and it turned out to be a bad thing.
Because ninety five percent of the time, if you get
a call during this month, the early part of the month,
it is bad. It's usually not good. And lo and
behold it happened. Now again, I don't want to get
into it because I don't want to make any judgment
pass any judgment on the player who was not a
(16:52):
New York Giant. But they're talking about the fact that
he had an injured eye. There seems to be some
conflicting reports out how serious it is. They are. By
the way, on the Giants schedule this year, they do
play the Giants.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
This is the Chargers, that's what I mean. Yeah, I
don't know if you've said the Chargers.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
I purposely didn't say because I'm not saying who. But okay, so, yes,
the Chargers do play the Giants this year. And this
is a predominant knit player. I mean, this is a name, okay,
and for whatever reason he can't play. Yeah, that's a
big deal. Now again, they're not saying for sure. There
seems to be some reports that says it's not going
(17:31):
to be that bad and he'll be back right away.
There's others that say he might not be so, but
this is why we talk about that. It's it's a
legit stressor for every coach in GM.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Yeah. Look, the dead period is when Mini camp, at
the period between Mini Camp ending and training camp starting,
and we say every year all the time, that is
the time of year, you know, a five week period.
As much as it might you know, make our discussing,
you know, trying to come up with things to talk
about for an hour each day a little more difficult,
(18:05):
but that is a time period where you want no
news because most of the time, if you do get news,
it's not good news. Obviously, there was an exception this year,
the news about the Darren Waller trade came out of
nowhere that was during this dead period, and it ended
up being a positive bit of news. But for the
most part around the league, any news that comes out
(18:27):
about a player now is not good, you know, whether
it's the fireworks issue with that player, another player got
arrested this past weekend. Like, no good comes from someone
making headlines right now. It is why you are completely right.
The one thing when Mini Camp is over that you
pray is that all your guys are just staying out
of the news until training camp comes around. That's it
(18:50):
and it you know, so far, at least that has
been the case with the Giants. The only news has
been you know, the player offensive player is getting together
for a throwing session San Diego. That is obviously perfectly okay,
it's great, but yeah, this is the time of year
where you just you want everyone staying out of the news.
You want quiet. Let the headline start next week when
(19:13):
the players report, or even tomorrow when the rookies report.
Nothing until then, which again, at least for now has
been the case with the Giant So we'll take it.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
All right, So that's where it is right now, we
will go to YouTube. We've got a question from Mark
Bennett wants to know does trading Darren Waller save anything
toward the cap? It has nothing to do with the cap.
This won't This won't impact the Giants finances at all.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
No.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Now, having said that, anytime that you do make a
deal and it's one of your top fifty one players, yes,
the cap usually does come into play in some way,
shape or form. But because he was already on the reserve,
retired list.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
It does not, yep, no financial impact other than again,
when you look towards next year's draft, the Giants now
have an extra six round pick to somewhat account for,
but that will not be anything that Joe shay to
the front office will be thinking about, at least in
terms of salary cap.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Lies.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
No until after the season, until after next free agency.
Even so, it's a while before anyone has to concern
themselves with.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
That part, all right. So s s also hits us
up on YouTube. He says, who is the player that
has the most pressure on them to show up in
training camp? Well, I think that's an interesting question, and
we could probably look at it from a lot of
different angles here. I think to be Frank the guy
(20:43):
who's coming in with a tremendous amount of hype and expectations.
Abdul Carter, I think everybody expects him to come in
and he erupted right away. There's a lot there's a
lot of hype on him, and justifiable. He's a great player.
He was taking number three overall in the draft. I
totally understand if you want to look at it from
(21:03):
a hype perspective, if you want to look at it
from a more realistic perspective. I think Andrew Thomas coming
off his injury. We've talked about this at left tackle,
he is such a critical part of what the Giants
do because when he has been out with injury, the
offensive line has crumbled. So there's a tremendous amount of pressure.
(21:24):
It may not be self induced, maybe he doesn't feel it,
but there's a lot of pressure on this offensive line
to do well, and Thomas is the linchpin for sure.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
I mean, you and I have spoken about that countless
of a number of times on the show. I don't.
I wouldn't put him in that category, though, only because
the only thing with Andrew Thomas showing up a training
camp is whether or not he's healthy. If he's out there,
I don't think any any of us have much concern
about his level of play.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
No, not at all, which it's just put him in
bubble wrapping, don't.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Let him get injured yet, whether or not he actually is,
you know, out there and participating fully, that is certainly
a big question.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
That's not how I read the question. To look at
the way that I read the question is just which
player needs to I guess. I know they put show up,
but I think they step up and have a strong
summer training camp performance. And for me, there's just three
guys immediately that come to mind, and I don't think
it's frankly close between these three and then the rest
(22:24):
start on defense because there's only one guy on defense
I think is looking at some pressure, and that is
Deontay Banks because he's heading into year three. He had
a rookie year that he showed flashes of being, you know,
that number one corner for the Giants, and then last
year did not take the year two step that the
Giants and he himself probably hoped that he was going
(22:45):
to take. So going into year three, I think he
has some some pressure. I mean, the addition of Paulson
Adebo does help take some pressure off because Paulson Adebo
is the team's number one cornerback. Now they signed him
to a contract. He's getting paid to be a number
one corner. He will most likely, I would think, be
matching up against the other teams top wide out more
(23:08):
often than not. I don't know if you will necessarily
shadow across the field. They might just say, you know,
Paulson has the left side or the right side, and
then Deontay Banks or Cordell Flott has the other. But
Paulson and Debo was clearly brought in to be the
team's number one cornerback. But Deontay Banks, you know, I
think going into training camp he is probably the favorite
(23:30):
to be the number two cornerback. But that's not something
that's just gonna be handed to him. He's gonna have
to go out and earn that other starting spot over
Cordell Flat, over some of the younger guys the Giants
have at cornerback, So on the defensive side of the ball.
I get where you're coming from with Abduel, but I
guess for me just what I saw from the spring, which,
as we've said many many times, there's no contact in spring,
(23:52):
so take everything with the grain of salt. But what
we did see from Abduel, I don't have much or
any concern about him. I think he's gonna come out
next week and almost immediately start showing out.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Yeah, it depends on the context. When you say pressure,
what's the context. Yeah, Carter's got all this hype, that's
the pressure on him.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
That's true.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
I agree with you in terms of level of play
Banks has to, but by the same token. And you
want to look at this a third way, how about
Holland and Adeebo who got big money at the top
of the free agent market, and if they don't live
up to the contract that they signed, that's that's a.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Lot of pressure that That is a fair point. That
is a totally fair point. I didn't again, I guess
I didn't think of it that way, because.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Yeah, there's a lot of ways to look at this.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
I I took it, Yeah, you know, you're right. I
just took it as guys that have not maybe played
up to expectations in the previous seasons and that really
need to this year. So again, Deontay Banks is the
one guy when you look at it that way, I
think on the defensive side of the ball, and then
there are two guys, yeah, the offensive side of the
(25:00):
ball that fit that same exact bill. We'll start with
the offensive line. Evan Neil, obviously mate now finally made
the transition from tackle to guard. There is some, you know,
encouraging feelings that he will be able to succeed, at
least more so as a guard than he did as
a tackle. We didn't really get to see much of
(25:21):
it in the spring, because again, you don't really get
much from the line play in the spring training camp.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Though, when the pads come on.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
And the contact is allowed, that's gonna be his first
time to really show like, hey, not only can I
succeed in this, but I can thrive as a guard.
And you know, he's going to at least be given
an opportunity to earn that starting right guard position. You know,
it seems like it's going to be a competition between
Evan Neil, Greg Van Rooden. You know, you can maybe
(25:48):
throwing even like Jake Kubas some of the other guys
in that conversation, but Neil's going to be given an
opportunity and what he can do with that remains to
be seen. But going into your four now, after the
Giants decided not to pick up this fifth year option,
like there's no doubt about it, this is a very
big season for Evan Neil and it's you know, the
time for him to finally show that he can be
(26:10):
a successful offensive line And so I would say he probably,
in my opinion, is looking at the most pressure going
into this training camp to show up.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
But it's truly a maker or break it for him. Yeah,
I mean, if he's going to be a giant and
a productive giant, he's got to do it now or
it's over.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Yep, especially because of the change in position. Yeah, you know,
now now is the time. And quite frankly, not far
behind him, in my opinion, is Jalen Hyatt, who's going
into just as big of a year three as Evan
Neil going into year four. You know, Jalen Hyat the
Giants moved up in the draft a couple of years
ago to take him in the third round. Last year,
he had eight total receptions. That's obviously not good enough
(26:51):
for anyone, let alone someone that the Giants had plans
for it to be a big part of this offense.
I will say Jalen Hyatt looked very.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Good in the spring.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
You know, those of us, the giants dot com writers
kind of all agreed that he was probably the biggest
offensive standout in the spring. You know, he clearly showed
that him and Russell Wilson have already developed a pretty
pretty strong chemistry and pretty strong connection. But again, similar
to the offensive line play, no, you definitely can gain
(27:22):
more from the wide receiver cornerback matchups. But in those
matchups the cornerbacks there's no press coverage, they're not allowed
to make contact with the receiver. So once training camp
starts and those cornerback wide receiver matchups can be legit matchups,
you know, they can play the way that they would
in the actual game. That will be a chance for
(27:42):
Jalen Hyatt to show that the spring, his strong performance
in the spring, wasn't just a fluke, and that it
was the start of what we hope to be a
strong year three in the Giants offense.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
I totally agree with Hyatt. In fact, I probably would
have put him even ahead of Neil.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
That's totally fair.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
You know. But in any event, Brandon Thomas comes on
our YouTube page and does comment he thinks Jalen Hyatt
as well, and that makes perfect, perfect sense. The only
reason that I might put Hyatt over Neil, and it's
a very small reason, is because, quite honestly, to this point,
Neil's been kind of a flame out and if he
(28:23):
doesn't do anything, I don't think anybody is going to
be really let down by it, because they're not expecting
much from him, at least the people outside the building
they're not expecting much from him. They're not expecting him
to win the job. You and I are telling people
that he's in the competition. Most people outside this building
don't think he's got a chance and heck about winning it.
(28:44):
But so in that regard, yes, there's self imposed pressure
in the building because they'd love him to be productive.
But outside the building, I don't know that any fan
is going to be let down if he doesn't win
the job. I think they will be this let down
and disappointed if Hyatt doesn't do anything in his third
NFL season.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
I agree, But you know, going into this year, Jalen
Hyatt right now, he's the team's number four receiver. Yeah,
Elite Neighbors is above him. Obviously, Darius Slaydon just got
re signed to a multi year contract. He's above Hyatt,
and Wandell Robinson is the starting slot receiver. So I
kind of think that at least right now, in terms
(29:22):
of lineup wise, they're in sort of similar positions Neil
and Hyatt in that they're not being penciled in as
the starters and their respective positions, but they will be
given an opportunity this summer to show that they deserve
to at least be in the conversation for the starting lineup.
I do think Evan Neil has a I guess easier
(29:44):
path to the starting lineup than ya, sure, because it
would be tough at this point in my opinion for
Hyatt to leap frog Darius Slaydon, and they do have
similar aspects to their game. But if Hyatt can have
a strong training camp and show that, you know, he's
taking a step in year three, the Giants will find
ways to get him on the field and he will
(30:04):
be given an opportunity to make an impact on the offense.
For sure.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
I may not be reading outside correctly here, but I
still think that there are people outside the building who
have some hope and expectation for Jalen Hyatt. I think
most Giant fans have already given up on Neil. To me,
that's the difference between the two guys. I do think
there's expectations outside.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
A somewhat you know again, somewhat, I guess I'm uprising
in encouragement about Neil with the move to guard I
hope so from outside the Villion, I've just, you.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Know, too many people who just buried him already that
I think in a lot of Giants fans minds he's
already forgotten. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Well, honestly, the best way to think about it now,
in my opinion, is just going with low expectations and
if he exceeds them, great, If not, it's what you expect.
It's all right.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
It's dry. X on YouTube says, what do you think
of FLOORA is this season? Given we have the hardest schedule.
I mean, if you're looking for a one loss record,
you're not going to get that from us, because there's
no point in predicting a number of wins or losses.
I think we all in this building, and people on
(31:16):
this show in particular, believe that the roster is improved.
I don't think anybody can argue against that this roster
is better. Now, how much better? That's hard to say.
And then how many wins will it translate into? That's
even harder to say. So I'm not touching that one
(31:40):
unless you unless you have a floor you'd like to offer.
Speaker 3 (31:43):
No, I don't want to give a win loss number either.
You know, it just doesn't make any sense. It's it's
just tough because as is the The commenter wrote, the
Giants do going into the year have the hardest strength
of schedule in terms of twenty twenty four percentage. But
(32:03):
as we have discussed many times, as we see every year,
last year's records, I mean diddley squat once the season
starts because it's a new season. So many teams go
through big transformations, whether it's the coaching staff or the
rosters themselves. So last year's record doesn't really matter that much,
to be honest, Nope. But at the same time, if
(32:24):
just looking at the opponents, most of the Giants opponents
this year made the playoffs last year. That's obviously tough
going into the year.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
Thanks for reminding us. It's just the simple facts.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
So I'm with you. I don't want to give a floor.
I mean, it's it's going to be a difficult schedule
no matter how you put it, no matter how you
look at it. But if the Giants can play up
to their own expectations, then that difficult the difficult schedule
won't matter much.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Here's what I will say. I will give you somewhat
of an answer, and it's a really weak one, but
since you asked, I'm I'm going to attempt to give
you a response. The floor for me is that they
will be competitive well passed what we've seen the last
few years, when Halloween Thanksgiving the Giants were already out
(33:22):
of the race. I will say this, I do think
the floor is at the very minimum we get to Thanksgiving,
you'll still be interested in looking at the standings and
the scoreboard. That I will say, I think the team
is going to be competitive at least two thirds of
the way through the season. I hope for more. I'm
personally expecting more, but I'm going to say the floor
(33:44):
is for at least two thirds of the season, you're
going to be able to sink your teeth into Giants
football without having to worry about being out of it.
Ye does that sound?
Speaker 3 (33:55):
I can see that, And honestly, I think, no matter
what the win loss record might be throughout the season,
this is the year that I feel like everyone is
going to be keeping a very close eye on the
Giants the entire season. Because obviously we've spoken about Abuil Carter,
but there was another first round pick the Giants made,
which we don't know when Jackson Dart will go get
(34:18):
into the game action.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
We went for almost forty five minutes without mentioning his name.
Speaker 3 (34:23):
We don't know when he's going to go in, obviously,
Paul and I have absolutely no idea. We can guess,
but we don't have any actual idea. It depends on
how the season is going. But chances are he will
get in at some point, and then whenever he does
get in, how he performs. That's going to obviously be
a very very big storyline for the Giants, and it
probably there's a good chance that it doesn't happen until
(34:44):
much later into the season. So even if the win
loss record is not where any of us hope it is,
you know, come Thanksgiving break, Thanksgiving time, there is a
good chance that either he will have already gone in
or the Giants will be preparing him to go in
around that time, even if the season is not going well,
(35:04):
which will obviously keep things very entertaining for us throughout
the entire season. Because even if the Giants win loss
record you know, is not that great this year, if
Jackson Dark goes in, even if it's for the last
month of the season, the last four games after the
bye week, if he comes in and plays well and
looks really strong, that will give all of us so
(35:25):
much confidence going into next year that this team is
ready to take a really big step up. Obviously, we
hope it comes this year, but the development of Jackson
Dark is one of the most important things.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Huge.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
Even if it's not till the very end of the season,
it's huge.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
Jeff Smith wants to know what will the rookies do
next week besides getting weighed and running around in Short's
holm with some T shirts poll Okay, Jeff, not a
whole lot. They'll get acclimated. That's what this is about.
This is about getting them back in here this week.
They come in tomorrow, okay, and they will slowly be
(35:59):
weaned in to the process of being a rookie NFL player.
It's just that simple. Next week, on the twenty second,
the Giants players, the veterans, the rest of the roster
is required to report. They will go through conditioning drills,
conditioning tests, and then the following day they will then
(36:20):
get out on the field. Now here's what I can
tell you, because this is not a secret, we're not
allowed to give you all the practice plans for the
training camp that we cannot do. But what I can
tell you is, because this is common knowledge around the NFL,
that first week of training camp. Nobody isn't full pads. Nobody,
all right, we're talking shirts, shorts, possibly shells by the
(36:45):
end of the week. Maybe that's the half shoulder pads
on top of the shoulders. That's it. So that first
week again, it's the twenty second is Tuesday.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
Right, The twenty second is next Tuesday.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
Okay, twenty second is Tuesday. So there will not be
any fully padded practices until the following week. That we
can tell you because that's commonplace around the NFL. Nobody
practices in full pads that first week. So I don't
know if that kind of answers your question, Jeff, but
that's what we're looking at. I will tell you though,
(37:19):
I believe some of the rookies already came in today,
not not to officially report, but they're doing some work
in the weight room and stuff of that nature as
they get some of their conditioning stuff done.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
Yeah, tomorrow is the big report day for them. The
whole rookie class will be in the building, which will
be good, like you said, to kind of just get
them back in the groove a week prior to the
rest of the team showing up. Yeah, I'm just ready
for this to start.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
Yeah, tell me about it, tell me about it, all right.
So anyway, that's where we are. Well, let's see, Well,
we got a couple more questions here. I'm sorry I
didn't see you a moment ago. Darren Andreoli says, why
is Evan playing left guard instead of right guard? Well,
John Runyan was still coming off injury. Remember he got
(38:10):
hurt at the end of last season, and because he
was kind of unavailable, they're bringing all the injured guys
along very slowly with a very, very turtle like schedule.
During the course of the offseason program, Runyan wasn't doing
his usual stuff at left guard, not as usual a stuff.
Speaker 3 (38:29):
He did get in a little bit, though it's not
like he was completely because there were other guys that
we saw that did not participate at all. White neighbors
like neighbors like Andrew Thomas Running did get in a
little bit, so very not a lot, but in a scule,
some action at least a little bit.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
The point is they had to find ways to get
those snaps done in drills and in the practices. So
with all that extra snap time available at left guard,
Neil did a lot of work in there. Pretty simple.
All right, let's see Vallone says, I hope we find
our identities on defense and offense this season and then
(39:07):
build upon that. We have to be realistic and build
the team the right way. Well, I don't know that
anybody would disagree with that. I mean, what did we
hear from the coaches? I want to say both Dable,
was it Michael also said a Kafko? Or was it
only Shane Bowen. I'm gonna jog your memory here for
(39:28):
just a second, but at least two of the three
coordinators talked about how they did pile a lot of
stuff onto these guys during the off season, as coaches
usually will do because they want to know how much
these fellas can retain. I got the impression, especially when
Dabele was talking about Dart, that they really stressed him
(39:51):
out by giving him a lot to lift, and he
did a pretty good job of retaining stuff, at least
at that point.
Speaker 3 (39:57):
Yeah, I mean, at least the first part. Jackson Dart
himself said that the team gave him a whole lot
and that at the very beginning he felt, you know,
maybe a little bit overwhelmed, but then he very quickly
was able to adapt and pick things up. And he
said it wasn't long before he was just feeling very
comfortable in this offense, which is obviously very great and
(40:18):
encouraging thing to hear from a rookie, you know, going
into a completely new system. But yeah, just going going
to the question V Loan put, Yeah, this is completely right.
You know, having to be realistic is the biggest thing
I take from this comment, because like to be realistic,
(40:39):
the Giants won four games last year. You can't expect
to go from four wins to you know, fourteen wins overnight,
well three three wins, sorry, yes, three wins to fourteen over.
Speaker 2 (40:51):
We're both rusty today. You have.
Speaker 3 (40:54):
It's building. It's a process to build a team the
right way, and I do have a lot of confidence
that that is what is have been being done the
last couple of off seasons, and I do think the
team is will take a step in the right direction. Now,
will that be as big of a step as some
fans probably hope? Maybe, maybe not, But I do think
(41:16):
that we will be taking a step in the right
direction on both offense and defense. I think the identity
of this team and the strength of this team is
going to lie within the defense. I don't think that's
you know, me going.
Speaker 2 (41:28):
Out on the stretch to get special teams.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
Special teams as well, that's going to be. That was
clearly an emphasis in the offseason without based on some
of the free agents that the Giants brought in who
are known for being special teams aces. So clearly, you're right,
cannot overlook special teams, but it, you know, I think
it's fair to say the strength of this team probably
will lie in its defense, because this defense has the
(41:53):
potential to legitimately be among the best in the NFL
this year. I'm not saying it will be. It has
the potential if each level of the defense plays up
to you know, what they easily can play up to.
It's not like I'm saying that, you know, players X, Y,
and Z all need to make big jumps in order
for the defense to play well. If the guys just
(42:14):
play up to what like they're like, baseline is, the
defense will take a big step from where it was
last year. And yes, some guys outperform maybe just that
baseline expectations. Then this change, the unit has a chance
to be something really special. And on offense, again, a
lot of the pieces of on the offense are the
(42:35):
same as last year, which I know has some fans
a little concerned, but they revamped the most important position
on the field, which is the quarterback position. There was
so much work done. You know, we've spoken about it
endlessly for months now we don't have to go into
it again. But the whole quarterback room is going to
be completely different from last year. You know, right now,
(42:57):
there's four guys. The only one that's returning from last
year is Tommy DeVito, and we don't even know for
sure if Tommy DeVito will be on the roster come
Week one. There's a chance that all three quarterbacks could
be different from last year. So that is a monumental change.
And then the other part is just having a healthy
offensive line, which you know, we still don't know for
(43:19):
sure if everyone will be back in time for Week one,
where he can't make any guarantees, but if Andrew Thomas
is back and starting at left guard a left tackle
week one, and the rest of the guys who seem
to be on pace to be starting week one, I mean,
the only one I guess would maybe be in question
is run In but the fact that he was out
there at all in the spring, makes me think he
(43:41):
should be okay for the start of the season. The
offensive line the first six weeks of the season, outside
of the Week one disaster against the Vikings, they were solid.
It wasn't an elite offensive line, but it also wasn't
one of the worst offensive lines. It was kind of
middle of the pack, which if the Giants were to
get middle of the pack play from the offensive line
this year with the addition of Russell Wilson at quarterback.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
That's my magical word. Functional.
Speaker 3 (44:05):
Functional, that's the magical word. Functional offensive line.
Speaker 2 (44:08):
Functional offensive line, that's all you need to have.
Speaker 3 (44:10):
Which if Andrew Thomas is healthy, I have no reason
to believe that this line won't be functional.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (44:16):
And now that might be a big if because we
don't know what the status that Andrew Thomas is. But
if he is out there and the rest of the
starters are out there with him, I don't see how
this won't be at least a functional offensive line, which
is all this offense needs to take a big, big
step from where it was last year.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
Now AJS and I guess that's an abbreviation. I don't
think it's aja's. I think it is. Ajas says, we're
going to the playoffs. Team's unproven due to how young
they are. This will be a great showcase to see
what we can see. He lists Cam, Tyrone, Neighbors, and
our dual vertical tight ends we can score points. I
don't know who Cam is. Is there a cam on
(44:56):
this office?
Speaker 1 (44:58):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (44:59):
Okay, I still still call him Cameron. I don't call
him Cam.
Speaker 3 (45:03):
He's camera goes by Cam Scat.
Speaker 2 (45:05):
He does go by Cam, but I kind of know
him as Cameron, right, But okay, I gotta ask I
gotta ask him what he wants to be called, by
the way, because a lot of people call him Scat.
Speaker 3 (45:16):
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2 (45:18):
That's the other problem. So uh, in any event, yes, uh,
you're right, this offense certainly has a lot of ability.
They still got to be able to put it together.
And obviously it goes back to the offensive line, because
that's the foundation of everything you do on offense. If
that line does not jail correctly and become functional, all
(45:41):
this other stuff doesn't matter.
Speaker 3 (45:44):
Yeah, I mean, look, outside of Malik Neighbors last year,
there's no one else on the offense that you could say.
I mean, I guess Tyrone. Tracy had a pretty good
year as well, But.
Speaker 2 (45:53):
Yeah, he had a good year. He's not a headache player, no.
Speaker 3 (45:56):
But like outside of those two, like no one else
you can really saying. The Giants offense had a good
year of the playmakers, and a big part of that
was because the poor quarterback play, which at least in
part was due to just inconsistent offensive line play. If
the offensive line can just again give you functional play
out there, that's gonna make that's gonna raise the floor
(46:18):
of this offense because that means that's gonna allow Russell
Wilson time to operate in the offense. And we all
know he's been doing it long enough. Given some time
in the backfield, Russell Wilson will will be able to
operate this offense and have it again is a functional
unit for sure, And talking about all these young players,
(46:39):
you get solid, functional offensive line play. That's gonna allow
all of these playmakers the opportunity to truly showcase their capabilities.
Without the offensive line play, none of those guys are
gonna have the time or the opportunities to show anything well.
Speaker 2 (46:56):
A Ralph won twelve asks us on YouTube, biggest question
going into training camp, and doesn't it always have to
be the offensive line until they prove.
Speaker 3 (47:03):
Otherwise for over a decade now.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
I mean that's just a given.
Speaker 3 (47:07):
I will say that if again, it could be a
big if. But if the unit is healthy going into
this year, it will likely be the most confident I
felt about the offensive line at least.
Speaker 2 (47:18):
In a while.
Speaker 3 (47:20):
But again, I'm gonna have to wait and see Andrew
Thomas out there before I can really say that I
feel comfortable with the The.
Speaker 2 (47:28):
One thing that Joe Shane the GM has said time
and time agains during this offseason. He continues to talk
about how many bodies they brought in. He's a big
believer at least right now that the Giants have numbers there,
They for sure do. That's that's what he's hanging his
hat on. They've got numbers. We don't know how these
(47:48):
guys are gonna play out, but he knows he's got numbers.
Let's see what happens.
Speaker 3 (47:54):
Yeah. Like, Look, one of the biggest competitions in training
camp to watch will be how does the bottom of
the offensive line depth chart play out? And for the
doubt and for the first time in a in a while,
there will be guys competing, and there could be guys
that don't make it that will then get picked up
(48:15):
by other teams. In years past, when the Giants decided,
you know, this offensive lineman is the first guy out,
most of the time that guy did not get picked
up by another team, right, and there's a reason for it.
The depth along the offensive line is certainly better than
it has been in years. That was clearly a priority.
I mean, James Hudson was one of the first moves
(48:36):
the Giants made in free agency, and that's not to
be a starting, starting lineman. They brought him in to
be a very solid backup at tackle. Stone Forsyth was
another pickup they made pretty early on. Brought Aaron stinnyback.
You know, Marcus bow was used on with the fifth
round pick. The Giants prioritize just like they you know,
(48:57):
we talked earlier with bringing in some special teams. Ass
clearly having depth along the offensive line so there wouldn't
be a situation like there was last year or even
the last two years. Clearly that was a priority for
Joe Shane in the front office this offseason.
Speaker 2 (49:11):
All Right, we got a couple more quarterback comments here.
Violan says he's talking about Jackson. Dart says he just
wouldn't want to throw him in early when you have
Jamis Winston and you also have Tommy Cutletz. I like
how the Packers handled the love at quarterback. Had some
inconsistencies last year, for sure did Love, but they're hoping
things will be better this year. And then Brandon Thomas
(49:35):
also says he's speaking of the quarterback room. With Tommy
DeVito being the only one of the room who knows
this offense, what would it be like for this room
to go through the season without a system knowledgeable quarterback.
He is saying that he assumes de Veto doesn't make
it through waivers. He can't see the team keeping four
qbs on the roster. Well, we've told you all along
(49:56):
there's not going to be four on the fifty three.
That's just impractical. It does not make any sense. I
happen to believe. I think you agree. If the Veto
gets waved, if if there's nothing unaudedly ordinary that happens,
the three quarterbacks on the fifty three are going to
be Dart, In, Winston and Wilson.
Speaker 3 (50:17):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (50:18):
They're not gonna They're not gonna keep a fourth on
the fifty three. It's not gonna happen. So if those
three guys are fine, de Vito is going to get waved.
Unless somebody trades for him, he's gonna get waved. Then
you gotta worry about Hm getting picked up. I absolutely
believe he will get picked up, and he's not gonna
be able to come back on the practice squad. If
(50:39):
he does, hallelujah, I'd be thrilled to see it. I
just don't think he makes it back.
Speaker 3 (50:45):
I agree. I think he's won enough games, as you know,
a third string quarterback these last two years, to deserve
a spot on an NFL roster. But given the work
that the Giants have done on the quarterback room this offseason,
something unforeseen. I am with you and don't think it's
gonna be, you know, on this roster again, barring some
(51:06):
unforeseen changes which we see every year, that could easily happen.
But you know, what would it be like for the
room to go through the season without a system knowledgeable quarterback. Well,
let's not forget while he is new, Russell Wilson is
not new to the NFL. No, he is just about
as veteran of a quarterback as you could bring in
(51:27):
and has a repute, a very very you know, positive
reputation around him as a leader and someone that is
able to pick up offenses. I mean this is now
his fourth team.
Speaker 2 (51:39):
Yeah, but he's and here's the other thing, he's almost
fifteen years in the league. In Winston, I think is
like in the league for eleven years.
Speaker 3 (51:45):
Winston was twenty fifteen NFL draft.
Speaker 2 (51:47):
Okay, so you know you're talking about between the two guys,
that's two dozen years of experience.
Speaker 3 (51:52):
And it's guys that have already you know, switched teams
and have already been able to pick up new offenses.
I mean, we've we saw Russell Wilson moved first to
first it was Denver, yeah, and then it was Pittsburgh.
And you know, obviously that first season in Denver was
not good. No, but that was that The blame does
(52:12):
not fully go on Russell Wilson for that.
Speaker 2 (52:14):
And you don't let me let me say something about Wilson.
I want to. I want to just put Paul's one
second here because I want to interject this. Most fans
think that he was a disaster in Denver. He was
not a disaster in his second year in Denver.
Speaker 3 (52:26):
No, no, not at all.
Speaker 2 (52:28):
Yeah, the first season season was overall a disaster. Everything
about the Broncos was messed up. Yes, But that second
season in Denver, it wasn't that he was terrible. He
got benched because of the injury clause in his contract.
Speaker 3 (52:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (52:41):
You know, a lot of folks are under this perception
that his two years in Denver were a mess and
he was terrible. He got benched. Nobody wanted. That's not
what happened. He played well his second year in Denver.
He was benched because of an injury clause. Much like
the Giants at the same situation with Daniel Jones. They
didn't want to have to pay guaranteed money the following season,
(53:04):
so did You got to keep him out of the
lineup because if he gets hurt hurt, you're on the
hook for an injured player.
Speaker 3 (53:09):
And he still started fifteen games that year. We're only
talking about the very last two games of the season
that he did not play. And in those fifteen games
that year, twenty six touchdowns to eight interceptions.
Speaker 2 (53:21):
Tell me you wouldn't take that.
Speaker 3 (53:22):
I would sign up for that in a heartbeat. So Yeah,
I'm with you. The second season was not bad at all.
It just it was clear that was Sean Payton's first
season in Denver. It was clear that he had already
decided in the offseason that the team was going to
move on from Russell Wilson. They wanted to bring in
a quarterback in the draft, which they ended up selecting
bon Nicks and all that. But yeah, him getting benched
(53:44):
that year had nothing to do with his level of play,
because I'm with you, he was very solid in that
second season is Denver, and he was solid last year
in his first season with the Steelers in a very
heavy run first offense, where reports have come out since
that there may not have been the best connection between
him and the offensive play caller, which you know, could
(54:05):
have also played a role in you know, the passing
guards maybe not being as high as some people would like.
But Russell Wilson has shown that he is able to
go to a new team and pick up the offense
pretty quickly and get comfortable with it.
Speaker 2 (54:18):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (54:18):
So if Tommy Devido ends up not being on the
fifty three men roster and the Giants have three quarterbacks
that are in their first year in the system in
Brian Dable and Mike Kafka system, that does not concern
me because they also have had all offseason. All three
of the you know, Russell Wilson and James Winston have
been on this team since March. Jackson Dart joined a
(54:38):
month later. You know, it'll be months that they've had
to learn the whole playbook, have meetings with Brian Dable
and Mike Kafka, shake tiernanny, get everyone on the same page.
So if that ends up being the case where the
Giants have three new quarterbacks in their quarterback room, which
seems like the likely scenario, that does not concern me
at all. And I think it also helps that your
offensive coordinator is a former quarterback himself that knows the position.
(55:02):
So all of that I think helps me feel pretty
confident in that having a quarterback that is beyond year
one in this offense, that won't really matter come the
start of the season.
Speaker 2 (55:13):
These qbs have actually talked about the fact that Kafka
was a QB and they like that.
Speaker 3 (55:18):
They love that. Yeah, it's big, So.
Speaker 2 (55:20):
That's not just talk, that's something that they're actually believing in.
A couple items. As always, the Giants TV app is available.
It's free. You can get all kinds of nice fun
things on there in some highlights. It is always there
on all of your iPhones and all of your androids
if you want to download the Giants TV mobile app.
(55:41):
Giants season ticket memberships for the twenty twenty five season
are also available. You can catch the season here at
Metlive Stadium as well as during non game days. All
you have to do is go to Giants dot com
slash tickets to get information about your membership. The Giants
Huddle has a ton of interviews. John did a bunch
before we went on break. They have been pumping them
(56:03):
out like left and right on the website. What is
up there right now, do you know?
Speaker 3 (56:08):
I don't know if it's been posted yet, but sometime today,
if it's not already up, there will be John's conversation
with some of the Edge Rushers. I forgot exactly who,
because I know there's at least one of them is
getting his own standalone interview that's dropping I believe tomorrow,
which is Brian Burns. Today would be several of the
(56:28):
other Ed Rushers, maybe Caveon and someone else. I'm not
sure if it's up yet, but yeah, John sat down
with a couple of the edge rushers that will be
going up today. Oh it is up, Okay, it is okay.
Speaker 2 (56:39):
So what do you got to see?
Speaker 3 (56:40):
Real quick? It just says giants ed rushers.
Speaker 2 (56:45):
This day has been discombobulated. We are totally thrown off,
of course, by being out of practice for two weeks,
so we do apologize for that.
Speaker 3 (56:53):
But also on Friday, over the weekend, we released the
latest episode of the Drive, which has been Sean O'Hara
sitting down or going on a little drive the assistant
with some of the assistant coaches. On Friday, we posted
markwon Manuel, who's in charge of the DBS, talking about
all the team's DB's expectations for the group. And I
(57:14):
believe the next one, which is either going today or tomorrow,
will be Ladell Bets, the running backs coach, talking about
that room. So those are been very interesting and entertaining
to watch and kind of we don't get to hear
much from the assistant coaches. We don't hear them from
them too often, especially sort of in depth interviews like this,
so I highly recommend giving those a watch.
Speaker 2 (57:35):
Okay, folks, we hope to have all of our technical
difficulties squared away by tomorrow when you come back to
Big Blue gick Off Live. It's presented by Cadillac, the
official luxury vehicle of the New York Football Giants. As always,
you can catch an A I Kaiva the show on
the Giants mobile app, podcast platforms everywhere and at giants
dot com slash podcasts. We have come to you from
(57:56):
the Giants Podcast Studio presented by Hackensack Meridian Health. Keep
getting better. That'll do it for today's show, folks. Thanks
for sticking with us, Thanks for your patience. For Matt,
I'm Paul. We'll see you again next time.
It's time for a Big Blue Kickoff line.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Nobody can ever tell you that you couldn't do.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
It because Giants dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Do you know what I saw?
Speaker 2 (00:10):
New York Giant.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Cry and the Giants Mobile seventeen.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
One tuck down.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
We are.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
We're out tampering the part of the Giants podcast network.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
That's going on. Dogs. Hello, we get everybody, and welcome
to Monday's edition of Big Blue Kickoff Live. The energy
is a popping in this room. We've been off for
two weeks, but we are back. I'm telling you now,
if we did not make it back today, I might
have jumped out of an airplane without a parachute. But
(00:42):
we are back and I am so glad. Good to
see you, Matt, Good to see you.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Paul. How how is the time off?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Rough Man? Rough You know, I'm a I'm addicted to
this stuff, and it's it's like withdrawal when I'm when
I'm not here for two.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Weeks to calm before the storm.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Oh there's nothing calm about it for me. Man. I'm
a it's not good. It's not good. But we are back.
So we are here for the next hour to talk
Giants football with you as always The show is presented
by Cadillac, the official luxury vehicle of the New York
Football Giants. Our number, well, I'm not going to give
it to you quite now because we got a little
(01:17):
bit of a board problem. We're trying to fix that.
We hope that in the next hour we're getting to
talk to some folks with the packers and the bearers
so that we can preview our upcoming opponents for this
twenty twenty five season. But as it stands right now,
we're having little electronical issues here. We got some gremlins
(01:38):
in the machinery. So we're going to talk to you
first up. We can't take any phone calls at the moment.
If you want to hit us up on Twitter at
hashtag Giants Chat. I'll have Matt take a look at
the Twitter page.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
We also have the YouTube chat open watching the street
on YouTube, and then the chat's there. Feel free to
chime in with any questions.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
You will be the monitor. I will bondit all. Right.
There we go, So again, you can hit us up
on YouTube or through Twitter at hashtag Giants chat. We
will try to do as best as we can given
the circumstances that we have. Been handed this morning. Now,
of course, this is the Giants Podcast Studio presented by
Hackensack Meridian Health. Keep getting better. Got to keep remembering
(02:21):
those things because it's been two weeks since we've announced it,
so got to get that back into the brain waves.
The Giants did have a piece of news, actually two
pieces of news over the two weeks while we were
on hiatus. Let's go to the first one involving the roster.
The Giants had put a tight end Darren Wall on
(02:43):
the reserve retired list when he walked away from football
a year ago. If you know the story, he had
a lot of personal issues, decided he wasn't committed to
football anymore, and then went on to have a I
guess a good music career. I don't know. I saw
some of the videos. It didn't do much for me.
(03:04):
You can call it.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
I'll classify it as a lot of things. I don't
know if a good music career is exactly how I
would put it.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Well, he had a couple of videos. Hold on a second,
we've got to get an update from John.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
John.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
What do you got for us? No calls today?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Calls today?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
All right? So the phone lines are down so stick
to YouTube and stick to Twitter, and and we will
try to do as much as we possibly can. In
the meantime, Piercit, if you could hit up our two
guests and let them know that we're not going to
be able to uh to deal with them today because
we can't get out right.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
So we can't get out right. Now.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Wait a minute, that's actually you know what if we
if we put our guests on speaker. No, no, okay, anyway,
in the meantime, uh, let's talk about Darren Waller for
a second. So he did a few videos.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Yeah, look, he puts up music out. I personally consider myself,
you know, a somewhat of a rap hip hop fan,
and much more than me. It wasn't for me. Let's
just put it out, okay.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So for some reason he has decided that he wants
to play football again. All right, fine, But because Joe
Shane had put him on the reserve retired list, the
Giants still own the rights to him. So good news
tells the Giants. I think I want to play football again,
but I don't want to play in New York. Now,
from what I understand that you've got to help me here.
(04:32):
Miami is a hip hop hot band, right, is that
not a hot music hot band? Music?
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Yeah, for sure. I mean I don't know if he
wanted to go to Miami simply to help his music career.
I think he might have just wanted to play in Miami.
You know, Miami is a you know, a fun city
that a lot.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Of people do there.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Good weather, it's warm, you know, it does have a
lively nightlife. If that's what you're looking for. I don't know,
but okay, one way or in the other. I think
this was obviously great for the Giants because this was
someone that all of us, to be honest, kind of
forgot about for the last year because he's been retired.
So the fact that the Giants were able to get
anything in return for him, I think is obviously a win.
(05:17):
And you know, yeah, the Giants got a twenty twenty
sixth sixth round pick, yes, and they gave up the
rights to Darren Waller and a conditional seventh rounder in
twenty twenty seven comes.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Back to the Giants. So now if he does certain things,
which we don't know, by the way, what those triggers are.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Correct, But now in next year's draft, the Giants have
their own sixth round pick. They now have the Dolphins
six round pick, and let's not forget they also have
the Cowboys sixth round pick. Because before the beginning of
last season was the last season or maybe the year before,
the Giants traded Jordan Phillip. It was last year Jordan Phillips,
(05:57):
the defensive the veteran defensive tackle to the Cowboys, and
it was nothing for them. It was a we Giants
gave up their twenty twenty sixth seventh round pick for
the Cowboys twenty twenty six sixth round pick, but it
was conditional in that he had to be on the
Cowboys roster for two games. Well guess what, he was
(06:17):
on the roster for two games and then Dallas decided
to cut him. But that's all the Giants needed. So
now the Giants, they don't have a seventh round pick
next year, but there's three sixth round picks, which at
least for me and my my digital department, we love
to hear their seventh round picks because that's the part
of the draft that, you know, it's a little difficult
(06:37):
for us to prepare ahead of time, and yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
I get it.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
And after a very long weekend, you know, we would
rather have earlier picks than those very, very late picks.
So I think this was, you know, obviously in the
grand scheme things. Is it the most monumental trade ever? No,
but to get anything for someone that was completely you know,
out of the picture, I think you chalk that up
as a win.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Well, it's a good because if you're the Giants, excuse me,
then Joe Shane, Joe Shane is very much into having assets.
He views every draft pick as an asset, either because
he thinks he's going to get a player who might
do something for him, or he can use it as
(07:19):
part of a trade. And it doesn't matter if it's
a five, a six, or a seven as you just mentioned.
He he's going to look at those third day picks,
even those late ones, and say, I can still do
something with those. Some gms are a little less emphasizing
of third day picks, especially later picks. Not Joe. Joe
(07:42):
thinks the more you have the better.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
One hundred percent. I mean, we've seen over the years,
Joe loves to move up, move down the draft board.
Guess what, having more picks just makes it easier to
be able to make those moves. You know, you might say, oh,
three six round picks, like, who cares about that? Well,
if the Giants, let's say, are trying to move up
at the star art of Day three, move up in
the fourth round, and guess what having those three six
round picks, that is going to help them be able
(08:05):
to move up and maybe get a player that could
step right in and have.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
A big impact.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Again, we're talking about next year's draft, So this is
towards the twenty twenty sixth season. Yes, and obviously there's
a lot to happen between now and then, but still correct,
the more picks to Marrier, and especially if you question
it slightly earlier than the seventh round, I mean again,
sign me up for that, all right.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
So that's that's the deal, right. The Dolphins get Darren Waller,
or the rights to Darren Waller. And by the way,
the way I understood it was the Giants had given
him permission to talk to Miami, make sure that they
were copasetic and that they had the fit for him,
that he was willing to come back and play there,
and that's why the Giants then allowed the trade to
go through. Again, they get a six and they get
(08:48):
a conditional seven in twenty twenty seven. I'd love to
know what those conditions are. We're probably not going to
find those out for a while.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
I feel like, you know the rap reports. Yeah, someone
someone will tweeted it eventually. But regardless, I mean, the
Giants have this the sixth round pick from Miami. That's
not conditional. No, No, that's to have their pick.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Now.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
I guess it's he needs to fulfill certain requirements. Otherwise
the pick, I guess, comes back to us. But then
I don't get it. Then we just get a pick
for nothing. Basically, the sixth round or in twenty six
is in Stone. Yeah, that is set, And I guess
whether we give up the twenty twenty seven seventh round
pick depends on Waller meeting whatever conditions needs to with Miami.
(09:32):
Otherwise that pick just comes back to us.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
No one goes back to them. They're giving it up.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
No, no, the Giants gave up the conditional twenty twenty
seven seventh round pick. The only thing the Giants got
in this trade was the twenty twenty six sixth round pick.
Look this is okay from the website.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Okay, okay, So then I got.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
It reversed so if Waller does not meet whatever the
requirements are, happens to my.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Brain when I'm not here for two weeks, It's.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Okay, get this out now before training.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
You know, the day it was reported it was that
we the Giants were getting the two picks, Yes.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
The original, your original, the from whatever it was reported
right off the bat turned out to be not the
exact terms, which is why we say all the time
these reporters put out reports of deals, whether it's trades,
free agent signings, whatever, you gotta wait for it to
actually be announced officially. Otherwise it's not setting stone until
(10:31):
the team's officially announced it. And this is a perfect
case because you're right. It was first being reported that
the Giants were potentially giving up a seventh round pick
as well.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
I was on vacation and I'd gotten a note about
the deal, and so I looked it up, and all
afternoon it was reported as Giants giving Waller to Miami
for two picks. So when did it? When did it change?
A day or two later, two days later, three days later.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
That I don't know. I was actually I was out
of the country when this happened. Okay, So I'm not
exactly sure, but yeah, I mean the terms again, I
never see these updates. These are great terms for the Giants,
you know. Sure they are at the most that the
Giants are giving up as a twenty twenty seven to
seventh round pick again because Darren Waller was not playing
for the Giants. Again, No, so the most the Giants
(11:17):
are giving up in this deal is a seventh round
pick in twenty twenty seven. And again, if Waller does
not meet whatever conditions are required to fulfill that part
of the trade, then the pick comes back and the
Giants basically just got a six round pick next year
for basically nothing. So again, not the biggest trade ever,
but it is definitely a plus in a small w
(11:38):
for the Giants.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Oh yeah, for sure. All right, so that's number one.
Now as far as the tight end room is concerned,
there's no doubt you mentioned the Giants basically had not
even given him another thought because he had been retired
for a year. Well, you know what, this tight endroom
doesn't need him. I mean, let's be honest, between Theo
Johnson and Daniel Bellinger and Man Hurts, you know, Dulsage,
(12:04):
the Giants for Dony Giants have tight ends from here
all the way down to Hopbloken. I mean, they've got
a bunch of them, so I don't think they needed
him at all anyway, So even if he wanted to
come back and play here, I don't know that they
would have been room for him. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Look, when Darren Waller is healthy, he is a phenomenal
pass catching tight end. There's no doubt about it. The
biggest thing is though his last couple of seasons playing,
he was unable to stay healthy. No question, he always
dealt with injuries, even when you know he was starting
to finally get hot with the Giants when he suffered
an injury. And then I believe he came back towards
(12:42):
the end of the season, and I'll.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Tell you what, he didn't even thought he was a disappointment.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Look, I mean, the Giants gave up but the one
hundredth pick in the whatever Draft twenty twenty three four
NFL Draft for one season to Darren Waller. Clearly they
didn't expect it to be one season. I don't think
you give up a late third round pick for just
knowing it'll be one year. But yeah, obviously that that
move did not end up playing out. Obviously, how the
(13:09):
Giants would have hoped. But you know, again they're getting
some sort of asset for him now and again for
a player that was long out of the picture for
a year now. So yeah, there was no way he
was suiting up for the Giants again. The Giants. It
seems like the Giants are pretty you know, pretty content
(13:30):
with their tight end room right now. I know there's
there's been so much buzz around THEO Johnson these last
couple of months, starting with Russell Wilson. I mean again,
we've spoken about this loves him, that Russell Wilson loves
him and speaks about him all the time. And you
know the group of tight ends are part of the
group that Russell Wilson. I'm sure it was Russell Wilson
(13:50):
leading the way. But the Giants' offense basically met last week,
I want to say, in San Diego for a bit,
one of those big throwing sessions. Yeah, and the tight
ends were there. I believe it was Man Hurts, THEO Johnson, Bellinger,
and I want to say, Fiddoni, I'm not positive if.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
See the list. What I did see was that there
were eighteen offensive players.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
I believe I saw the group photo with Oh, I
assume was all of them, if not most of them,
And for sure Bellinger, THEO and Chris Manhurts were there.
I want to say Fidoni was there as well. I'm
just not one hundred percent positive, but yeah, the Giants
are happy with the tight end room. They want to
see what THEO Johnson could do. I think they expect
(14:35):
a pretty big season from THEO Johnson. Honestly, you know,
he had that foot injury last year right as he
was starting to heat up. But he's been a full
go since the start of spring practices, so there's no
reason to believe once training camp starts next week that
he won't be fully out there participating and doing everything.
And then it's a big year two for him. Now
with what we hope to be more consistent quarterback play,
(14:58):
THEO Johnson could be the one of the players that
makes the biggest jump this upcoming season.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Oh, there's no doubt he certainly could be. He has
all the tools for it. The other news item that
kind of happened while we were gone for two weeks,
so Eli Manning and his group apparently are not going
to make any a chance to bid for the ten
percent of the Giants, which still leaves Michael Strahan and
his group in play. But we don't have any details
(15:24):
or any information on any of that other than Eli
apparently was on a pod or somebody show and he
is no longer part of the group that's going to
be in the running. They pulled out of it. I
think Eli's quote was something about maybe it's too expensive.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Shaker and a piece of an NFL franchise too expensive
because for most of us, he's just.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Gonna say, I mean, you know, if there's anybody who
might be able to do it right, but not to be.
So that was the other piece of news that came
out over the last two weeks. Frankly, it was really
slow and that's what you want now. I did see
and I'm not gonna go into any details on this one,
but there was another fireworks issue with another player this summer,
(16:09):
and I only bring that up, and I don't want
to get into it. I only bring it up for
one reason and one reason only, because when we tell
you at the end of our programming and we go
on hiatus for the summer, and when we say look,
in all honesty, every coach in GM is scared about
getting that phone call that somebody did something either accidental
(16:32):
or foolish and it turned out to be a bad thing.
Because ninety five percent of the time, if you get
a call during this month, the early part of the month,
it is bad. It's usually not good. And lo and
behold it happened. Now again, I don't want to get
into it because I don't want to make any judgment
pass any judgment on the player who was not a
(16:52):
New York Giant. But they're talking about the fact that
he had an injured eye. There seems to be some
conflicting reports out how serious it is. They are. By
the way, on the Giants schedule this year, they do
play the Giants.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
This is the Chargers, that's what I mean. Yeah, I
don't know if you've said the Chargers.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
I purposely didn't say because I'm not saying who. But okay, so, yes,
the Chargers do play the Giants this year. And this
is a predominant knit player. I mean, this is a name, okay,
and for whatever reason he can't play. Yeah, that's a
big deal. Now again, they're not saying for sure. There
seems to be some reports that says it's not going
(17:31):
to be that bad and he'll be back right away.
There's others that say he might not be so, but
this is why we talk about that. It's it's a
legit stressor for every coach in GM.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Yeah. Look, the dead period is when Mini camp, at
the period between Mini Camp ending and training camp starting,
and we say every year all the time, that is
the time of year, you know, a five week period.
As much as it might you know, make our discussing,
you know, trying to come up with things to talk
about for an hour each day a little more difficult,
(18:05):
but that is a time period where you want no
news because most of the time, if you do get news,
it's not good news. Obviously, there was an exception this year,
the news about the Darren Waller trade came out of
nowhere that was during this dead period, and it ended
up being a positive bit of news. But for the
most part around the league, any news that comes out
(18:27):
about a player now is not good, you know, whether
it's the fireworks issue with that player, another player got
arrested this past weekend. Like, no good comes from someone
making headlines right now. It is why you are completely right.
The one thing when Mini Camp is over that you
pray is that all your guys are just staying out
of the news until training camp comes around. That's it
(18:50):
and it you know, so far, at least that has
been the case with the Giants. The only news has
been you know, the player offensive player is getting together
for a throwing session San Diego. That is obviously perfectly okay,
it's great, but yeah, this is the time of year
where you just you want everyone staying out of the news.
You want quiet. Let the headline start next week when
(19:13):
the players report, or even tomorrow when the rookies report.
Nothing until then, which again, at least for now has
been the case with the Giant So we'll take it.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
All right, So that's where it is right now, we
will go to YouTube. We've got a question from Mark
Bennett wants to know does trading Darren Waller save anything
toward the cap? It has nothing to do with the cap.
This won't This won't impact the Giants finances at all.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
No.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Now, having said that, anytime that you do make a
deal and it's one of your top fifty one players, yes,
the cap usually does come into play in some way,
shape or form. But because he was already on the reserve,
retired list.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
It does not, yep, no financial impact other than again,
when you look towards next year's draft, the Giants now
have an extra six round pick to somewhat account for,
but that will not be anything that Joe shay to
the front office will be thinking about, at least in
terms of salary cap.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Lies.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
No until after the season, until after next free agency.
Even so, it's a while before anyone has to concern
themselves with.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
That part, all right. So s s also hits us
up on YouTube. He says, who is the player that
has the most pressure on them to show up in
training camp? Well, I think that's an interesting question, and
we could probably look at it from a lot of
different angles here. I think to be Frank the guy
(20:43):
who's coming in with a tremendous amount of hype and expectations.
Abdul Carter, I think everybody expects him to come in
and he erupted right away. There's a lot there's a
lot of hype on him, and justifiable. He's a great player.
He was taking number three overall in the draft. I
totally understand if you want to look at it from
(21:03):
a hype perspective, if you want to look at it
from a more realistic perspective. I think Andrew Thomas coming
off his injury. We've talked about this at left tackle,
he is such a critical part of what the Giants
do because when he has been out with injury, the
offensive line has crumbled. So there's a tremendous amount of pressure.
(21:24):
It may not be self induced, maybe he doesn't feel it,
but there's a lot of pressure on this offensive line
to do well, and Thomas is the linchpin for sure.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
I mean, you and I have spoken about that countless
of a number of times on the show. I don't.
I wouldn't put him in that category, though, only because
the only thing with Andrew Thomas showing up a training
camp is whether or not he's healthy. If he's out there,
I don't think any any of us have much concern
about his level of play.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
No, not at all, which it's just put him in
bubble wrapping, don't.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Let him get injured yet, whether or not he actually is,
you know, out there and participating fully, that is certainly
a big question.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
That's not how I read the question. To look at
the way that I read the question is just which
player needs to I guess. I know they put show up,
but I think they step up and have a strong
summer training camp performance. And for me, there's just three
guys immediately that come to mind, and I don't think
it's frankly close between these three and then the rest
(22:24):
start on defense because there's only one guy on defense
I think is looking at some pressure, and that is
Deontay Banks because he's heading into year three. He had
a rookie year that he showed flashes of being, you know,
that number one corner for the Giants, and then last
year did not take the year two step that the
Giants and he himself probably hoped that he was going
(22:45):
to take. So going into year three, I think he
has some some pressure. I mean, the addition of Paulson
Adebo does help take some pressure off because Paulson Adebo
is the team's number one cornerback. Now they signed him
to a contract. He's getting paid to be a number
one corner. He will most likely, I would think, be
matching up against the other teams top wide out more
(23:08):
often than not. I don't know if you will necessarily
shadow across the field. They might just say, you know,
Paulson has the left side or the right side, and
then Deontay Banks or Cordell Flott has the other. But
Paulson and Debo was clearly brought in to be the
team's number one cornerback. But Deontay Banks, you know, I
think going into training camp he is probably the favorite
(23:30):
to be the number two cornerback. But that's not something
that's just gonna be handed to him. He's gonna have
to go out and earn that other starting spot over
Cordell Flat, over some of the younger guys the Giants
have at cornerback, So on the defensive side of the ball.
I get where you're coming from with Abduel, but I
guess for me just what I saw from the spring, which,
as we've said many many times, there's no contact in spring,
(23:52):
so take everything with the grain of salt. But what
we did see from Abduel, I don't have much or
any concern about him. I think he's gonna come out
next week and almost immediately start showing out.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Yeah, it depends on the context. When you say pressure,
what's the context. Yeah, Carter's got all this hype, that's
the pressure on him.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
That's true.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
I agree with you in terms of level of play
Banks has to, but by the same token. And you
want to look at this a third way, how about
Holland and Adeebo who got big money at the top
of the free agent market, and if they don't live
up to the contract that they signed, that's that's a.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Lot of pressure that That is a fair point. That
is a totally fair point. I didn't again, I guess
I didn't think of it that way, because.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Yeah, there's a lot of ways to look at this.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
I I took it, Yeah, you know, you're right. I
just took it as guys that have not maybe played
up to expectations in the previous seasons and that really
need to this year. So again, Deontay Banks is the
one guy when you look at it that way, I
think on the defensive side of the ball, and then
there are two guys, yeah, the offensive side of the
(25:00):
ball that fit that same exact bill. We'll start with
the offensive line. Evan Neil, obviously mate now finally made
the transition from tackle to guard. There is some, you know,
encouraging feelings that he will be able to succeed, at
least more so as a guard than he did as
a tackle. We didn't really get to see much of
(25:21):
it in the spring, because again, you don't really get
much from the line play in the spring training camp.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Though, when the pads come on.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
And the contact is allowed, that's gonna be his first
time to really show like, hey, not only can I
succeed in this, but I can thrive as a guard.
And you know, he's going to at least be given
an opportunity to earn that starting right guard position. You know,
it seems like it's going to be a competition between
Evan Neil, Greg Van Rooden. You know, you can maybe
(25:48):
throwing even like Jake Kubas some of the other guys
in that conversation, but Neil's going to be given an
opportunity and what he can do with that remains to
be seen. But going into your four now, after the
Giants decided not to pick up this fifth year option,
like there's no doubt about it, this is a very
big season for Evan Neil and it's you know, the
time for him to finally show that he can be
(26:10):
a successful offensive line And so I would say he probably,
in my opinion, is looking at the most pressure going
into this training camp to show up.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
But it's truly a maker or break it for him. Yeah,
I mean, if he's going to be a giant and
a productive giant, he's got to do it now or
it's over.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Yep, especially because of the change in position. Yeah, you know,
now now is the time. And quite frankly, not far
behind him, in my opinion, is Jalen Hyatt, who's going
into just as big of a year three as Evan
Neil going into year four. You know, Jalen Hyat the
Giants moved up in the draft a couple of years
ago to take him in the third round. Last year,
he had eight total receptions. That's obviously not good enough
(26:51):
for anyone, let alone someone that the Giants had plans
for it to be a big part of this offense.
I will say Jalen Hyatt looked very.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Good in the spring.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
You know, those of us, the giants dot com writers
kind of all agreed that he was probably the biggest
offensive standout in the spring. You know, he clearly showed
that him and Russell Wilson have already developed a pretty
pretty strong chemistry and pretty strong connection. But again, similar
to the offensive line play, no, you definitely can gain
(27:22):
more from the wide receiver cornerback matchups. But in those
matchups the cornerbacks there's no press coverage, they're not allowed
to make contact with the receiver. So once training camp
starts and those cornerback wide receiver matchups can be legit matchups,
you know, they can play the way that they would
in the actual game. That will be a chance for
(27:42):
Jalen Hyatt to show that the spring, his strong performance
in the spring, wasn't just a fluke, and that it
was the start of what we hope to be a
strong year three in the Giants offense.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
I totally agree with Hyatt. In fact, I probably would
have put him even ahead of Neil.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
That's totally fair.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
You know. But in any event, Brandon Thomas comes on
our YouTube page and does comment he thinks Jalen Hyatt
as well, and that makes perfect, perfect sense. The only
reason that I might put Hyatt over Neil, and it's
a very small reason, is because, quite honestly, to this point,
Neil's been kind of a flame out and if he
(28:23):
doesn't do anything, I don't think anybody is going to
be really let down by it, because they're not expecting
much from him, at least the people outside the building
they're not expecting much from him. They're not expecting him
to win the job. You and I are telling people
that he's in the competition. Most people outside this building
don't think he's got a chance and heck about winning it.
(28:44):
But so in that regard, yes, there's self imposed pressure
in the building because they'd love him to be productive.
But outside the building, I don't know that any fan
is going to be let down if he doesn't win
the job. I think they will be this let down
and disappointed if Hyatt doesn't do anything in his third
NFL season.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
I agree, But you know, going into this year, Jalen
Hyatt right now, he's the team's number four receiver. Yeah,
Elite Neighbors is above him. Obviously, Darius Slaydon just got
re signed to a multi year contract. He's above Hyatt,
and Wandell Robinson is the starting slot receiver. So I
kind of think that at least right now, in terms
(29:22):
of lineup wise, they're in sort of similar positions Neil
and Hyatt in that they're not being penciled in as
the starters and their respective positions, but they will be
given an opportunity this summer to show that they deserve
to at least be in the conversation for the starting lineup.
I do think Evan Neil has a I guess easier
(29:44):
path to the starting lineup than ya, sure, because it
would be tough at this point in my opinion for
Hyatt to leap frog Darius Slaydon, and they do have
similar aspects to their game. But if Hyatt can have
a strong training camp and show that, you know, he's
taking a step in year three, the Giants will find
ways to get him on the field and he will
(30:04):
be given an opportunity to make an impact on the offense.
For sure.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
I may not be reading outside correctly here, but I
still think that there are people outside the building who
have some hope and expectation for Jalen Hyatt. I think
most Giant fans have already given up on Neil. To me,
that's the difference between the two guys. I do think
there's expectations outside.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
A somewhat you know again, somewhat, I guess I'm uprising
in encouragement about Neil with the move to guard I
hope so from outside the Villion, I've just, you.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Know, too many people who just buried him already that
I think in a lot of Giants fans minds he's
already forgotten. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Well, honestly, the best way to think about it now,
in my opinion, is just going with low expectations and
if he exceeds them, great, If not, it's what you expect.
It's all right.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
It's dry. X on YouTube says, what do you think
of FLOORA is this season? Given we have the hardest schedule.
I mean, if you're looking for a one loss record,
you're not going to get that from us, because there's
no point in predicting a number of wins or losses.
I think we all in this building, and people on
(31:16):
this show in particular, believe that the roster is improved.
I don't think anybody can argue against that this roster
is better. Now, how much better? That's hard to say.
And then how many wins will it translate into? That's
even harder to say. So I'm not touching that one
(31:40):
unless you unless you have a floor you'd like to offer.
Speaker 3 (31:43):
No, I don't want to give a win loss number either.
You know, it just doesn't make any sense. It's it's
just tough because as is the The commenter wrote, the
Giants do going into the year have the hardest strength
of schedule in terms of twenty twenty four percentage. But
(32:03):
as we have discussed many times, as we see every year,
last year's records, I mean diddley squat once the season
starts because it's a new season. So many teams go
through big transformations, whether it's the coaching staff or the
rosters themselves. So last year's record doesn't really matter that much,
to be honest, Nope. But at the same time, if
(32:24):
just looking at the opponents, most of the Giants opponents
this year made the playoffs last year. That's obviously tough
going into the year.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
Thanks for reminding us. It's just the simple facts.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
So I'm with you. I don't want to give a floor.
I mean, it's it's going to be a difficult schedule
no matter how you put it, no matter how you
look at it. But if the Giants can play up
to their own expectations, then that difficult the difficult schedule
won't matter much.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Here's what I will say. I will give you somewhat
of an answer, and it's a really weak one, but
since you asked, I'm I'm going to attempt to give
you a response. The floor for me is that they
will be competitive well passed what we've seen the last
few years, when Halloween Thanksgiving the Giants were already out
(33:22):
of the race. I will say this, I do think
the floor is at the very minimum we get to Thanksgiving,
you'll still be interested in looking at the standings and
the scoreboard. That I will say, I think the team
is going to be competitive at least two thirds of
the way through the season. I hope for more. I'm
personally expecting more, but I'm going to say the floor
(33:44):
is for at least two thirds of the season, you're
going to be able to sink your teeth into Giants
football without having to worry about being out of it.
Ye does that sound?
Speaker 3 (33:55):
I can see that, And honestly, I think, no matter
what the win loss record might be throughout the season,
this is the year that I feel like everyone is
going to be keeping a very close eye on the
Giants the entire season. Because obviously we've spoken about Abuil Carter,
but there was another first round pick the Giants made,
which we don't know when Jackson Dart will go get
(34:18):
into the game action.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
We went for almost forty five minutes without mentioning his name.
Speaker 3 (34:23):
We don't know when he's going to go in, obviously,
Paul and I have absolutely no idea. We can guess,
but we don't have any actual idea. It depends on
how the season is going. But chances are he will
get in at some point, and then whenever he does
get in, how he performs. That's going to obviously be
a very very big storyline for the Giants, and it
probably there's a good chance that it doesn't happen until
(34:44):
much later into the season. So even if the win
loss record is not where any of us hope it is,
you know, come Thanksgiving break, Thanksgiving time, there is a
good chance that either he will have already gone in
or the Giants will be preparing him to go in
around that time, even if the season is not going well,
(35:04):
which will obviously keep things very entertaining for us throughout
the entire season. Because even if the Giants win loss
record you know, is not that great this year, if
Jackson Dark goes in, even if it's for the last
month of the season, the last four games after the
bye week, if he comes in and plays well and
looks really strong, that will give all of us so
(35:25):
much confidence going into next year that this team is
ready to take a really big step up. Obviously, we
hope it comes this year, but the development of Jackson
Dark is one of the most important things.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Huge.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
Even if it's not till the very end of the season,
it's huge.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
Jeff Smith wants to know what will the rookies do
next week besides getting weighed and running around in Short's
holm with some T shirts poll Okay, Jeff, not a
whole lot. They'll get acclimated. That's what this is about.
This is about getting them back in here this week.
They come in tomorrow, okay, and they will slowly be
(35:59):
weaned in to the process of being a rookie NFL player.
It's just that simple. Next week, on the twenty second,
the Giants players, the veterans, the rest of the roster
is required to report. They will go through conditioning drills,
conditioning tests, and then the following day they will then
(36:20):
get out on the field. Now here's what I can
tell you, because this is not a secret, we're not
allowed to give you all the practice plans for the
training camp that we cannot do. But what I can
tell you is, because this is common knowledge around the NFL,
that first week of training camp. Nobody isn't full pads. Nobody,
all right, we're talking shirts, shorts, possibly shells by the
(36:45):
end of the week. Maybe that's the half shoulder pads
on top of the shoulders. That's it. So that first
week again, it's the twenty second is Tuesday.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
Right, The twenty second is next Tuesday.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
Okay, twenty second is Tuesday. So there will not be
any fully padded practices until the following week. That we
can tell you because that's commonplace around the NFL. Nobody
practices in full pads that first week. So I don't
know if that kind of answers your question, Jeff, but
that's what we're looking at. I will tell you though,
(37:19):
I believe some of the rookies already came in today,
not not to officially report, but they're doing some work
in the weight room and stuff of that nature as
they get some of their conditioning stuff done.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
Yeah, tomorrow is the big report day for them. The
whole rookie class will be in the building, which will
be good, like you said, to kind of just get
them back in the groove a week prior to the
rest of the team showing up. Yeah, I'm just ready
for this to start.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
Yeah, tell me about it, tell me about it, all right.
So anyway, that's where we are. Well, let's see, Well,
we got a couple more questions here. I'm sorry I
didn't see you a moment ago. Darren Andreoli says, why
is Evan playing left guard instead of right guard? Well,
John Runyan was still coming off injury. Remember he got
(38:10):
hurt at the end of last season, and because he
was kind of unavailable, they're bringing all the injured guys
along very slowly with a very, very turtle like schedule.
During the course of the offseason program, Runyan wasn't doing
his usual stuff at left guard, not as usual a stuff.
Speaker 3 (38:29):
He did get in a little bit, though it's not
like he was completely because there were other guys that
we saw that did not participate at all. White neighbors
like neighbors like Andrew Thomas Running did get in a
little bit, so very not a lot, but in a scule,
some action at least a little bit.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
The point is they had to find ways to get
those snaps done in drills and in the practices. So
with all that extra snap time available at left guard,
Neil did a lot of work in there. Pretty simple.
All right, let's see Vallone says, I hope we find
our identities on defense and offense this season and then
(39:07):
build upon that. We have to be realistic and build
the team the right way. Well, I don't know that
anybody would disagree with that. I mean, what did we
hear from the coaches? I want to say both Dable,
was it Michael also said a Kafko? Or was it
only Shane Bowen. I'm gonna jog your memory here for
(39:28):
just a second, but at least two of the three
coordinators talked about how they did pile a lot of
stuff onto these guys during the off season, as coaches
usually will do because they want to know how much
these fellas can retain. I got the impression, especially when
Dabele was talking about Dart, that they really stressed him
(39:51):
out by giving him a lot to lift, and he
did a pretty good job of retaining stuff, at least
at that point.
Speaker 3 (39:57):
Yeah, I mean, at least the first part. Jackson Dart
himself said that the team gave him a whole lot
and that at the very beginning he felt, you know,
maybe a little bit overwhelmed, but then he very quickly
was able to adapt and pick things up. And he
said it wasn't long before he was just feeling very
comfortable in this offense, which is obviously very great and
(40:18):
encouraging thing to hear from a rookie, you know, going
into a completely new system. But yeah, just going going
to the question V Loan put, Yeah, this is completely right.
You know, having to be realistic is the biggest thing
I take from this comment, because like to be realistic,
(40:39):
the Giants won four games last year. You can't expect
to go from four wins to you know, fourteen wins overnight,
well three three wins, sorry, yes, three wins to fourteen over.
Speaker 2 (40:51):
We're both rusty today. You have.
Speaker 3 (40:54):
It's building. It's a process to build a team the
right way, and I do have a lot of confidence
that that is what is have been being done the
last couple of off seasons, and I do think the
team is will take a step in the right direction. Now,
will that be as big of a step as some
fans probably hope? Maybe, maybe not, But I do think
(41:16):
that we will be taking a step in the right
direction on both offense and defense. I think the identity
of this team and the strength of this team is
going to lie within the defense. I don't think that's
you know, me going.
Speaker 2 (41:28):
Out on the stretch to get special teams.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
Special teams as well, that's going to be. That was
clearly an emphasis in the offseason without based on some
of the free agents that the Giants brought in who
are known for being special teams aces. So clearly, you're right,
cannot overlook special teams, but it, you know, I think
it's fair to say the strength of this team probably
will lie in its defense, because this defense has the
(41:53):
potential to legitimately be among the best in the NFL
this year. I'm not saying it will be. It has
the potential if each level of the defense plays up
to you know, what they easily can play up to.
It's not like I'm saying that, you know, players X, Y,
and Z all need to make big jumps in order
for the defense to play well. If the guys just
(42:14):
play up to what like they're like, baseline is, the
defense will take a big step from where it was
last year. And yes, some guys outperform maybe just that
baseline expectations. Then this change, the unit has a chance
to be something really special. And on offense, again, a
lot of the pieces of on the offense are the
(42:35):
same as last year, which I know has some fans
a little concerned, but they revamped the most important position
on the field, which is the quarterback position. There was
so much work done. You know, we've spoken about it
endlessly for months now we don't have to go into
it again. But the whole quarterback room is going to
be completely different from last year. You know, right now,
(42:57):
there's four guys. The only one that's returning from last
year is Tommy DeVito, and we don't even know for
sure if Tommy DeVito will be on the roster come
Week one. There's a chance that all three quarterbacks could
be different from last year. So that is a monumental change.
And then the other part is just having a healthy
offensive line, which you know, we still don't know for
(43:19):
sure if everyone will be back in time for Week one,
where he can't make any guarantees, but if Andrew Thomas
is back and starting at left guard a left tackle
week one, and the rest of the guys who seem
to be on pace to be starting week one, I mean,
the only one I guess would maybe be in question
is run In but the fact that he was out
there at all in the spring, makes me think he
(43:41):
should be okay for the start of the season. The
offensive line the first six weeks of the season, outside
of the Week one disaster against the Vikings, they were solid.
It wasn't an elite offensive line, but it also wasn't
one of the worst offensive lines. It was kind of
middle of the pack, which if the Giants were to
get middle of the pack play from the offensive line
this year with the addition of Russell Wilson at quarterback.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
That's my magical word. Functional.
Speaker 3 (44:05):
Functional, that's the magical word. Functional offensive line.
Speaker 2 (44:08):
Functional offensive line, that's all you need to have.
Speaker 3 (44:10):
Which if Andrew Thomas is healthy, I have no reason
to believe that this line won't be functional.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (44:16):
And now that might be a big if because we
don't know what the status that Andrew Thomas is. But
if he is out there and the rest of the
starters are out there with him, I don't see how
this won't be at least a functional offensive line, which
is all this offense needs to take a big, big
step from where it was last year.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
Now AJS and I guess that's an abbreviation. I don't
think it's aja's. I think it is. Ajas says, we're
going to the playoffs. Team's unproven due to how young
they are. This will be a great showcase to see
what we can see. He lists Cam, Tyrone, Neighbors, and
our dual vertical tight ends we can score points. I
don't know who Cam is. Is there a cam on
(44:56):
this office?
Speaker 1 (44:58):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (44:59):
Okay, I still still call him Cameron. I don't call
him Cam.
Speaker 3 (45:03):
He's camera goes by Cam Scat.
Speaker 2 (45:05):
He does go by Cam, but I kind of know
him as Cameron, right, But okay, I gotta ask I
gotta ask him what he wants to be called, by
the way, because a lot of people call him Scat.
Speaker 3 (45:16):
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2 (45:18):
That's the other problem. So uh, in any event, yes, uh,
you're right, this offense certainly has a lot of ability.
They still got to be able to put it together.
And obviously it goes back to the offensive line, because
that's the foundation of everything you do on offense. If
that line does not jail correctly and become functional, all
(45:41):
this other stuff doesn't matter.
Speaker 3 (45:44):
Yeah, I mean, look, outside of Malik Neighbors last year,
there's no one else on the offense that you could say.
I mean, I guess Tyrone. Tracy had a pretty good
year as well, But.
Speaker 2 (45:53):
Yeah, he had a good year. He's not a headache player, no.
Speaker 3 (45:56):
But like outside of those two, like no one else
you can really saying. The Giants offense had a good
year of the playmakers, and a big part of that
was because the poor quarterback play, which at least in
part was due to just inconsistent offensive line play. If
the offensive line can just again give you functional play
out there, that's gonna make that's gonna raise the floor
(46:18):
of this offense because that means that's gonna allow Russell
Wilson time to operate in the offense. And we all
know he's been doing it long enough. Given some time
in the backfield, Russell Wilson will will be able to
operate this offense and have it again is a functional
unit for sure, And talking about all these young players,
(46:39):
you get solid, functional offensive line play. That's gonna allow
all of these playmakers the opportunity to truly showcase their capabilities.
Without the offensive line play, none of those guys are
gonna have the time or the opportunities to show anything well.
Speaker 2 (46:56):
A Ralph won twelve asks us on YouTube, biggest question
going into training camp, and doesn't it always have to
be the offensive line until they prove.
Speaker 3 (47:03):
Otherwise for over a decade now.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
I mean that's just a given.
Speaker 3 (47:07):
I will say that if again, it could be a
big if. But if the unit is healthy going into
this year, it will likely be the most confident I
felt about the offensive line at least.
Speaker 2 (47:18):
In a while.
Speaker 3 (47:20):
But again, I'm gonna have to wait and see Andrew
Thomas out there before I can really say that I
feel comfortable with the The.
Speaker 2 (47:28):
One thing that Joe Shane the GM has said time
and time agains during this offseason. He continues to talk
about how many bodies they brought in. He's a big
believer at least right now that the Giants have numbers there,
They for sure do. That's that's what he's hanging his
hat on. They've got numbers. We don't know how these
(47:48):
guys are gonna play out, but he knows he's got numbers.
Let's see what happens.
Speaker 3 (47:54):
Yeah. Like, Look, one of the biggest competitions in training
camp to watch will be how does the bottom of
the offensive line depth chart play out? And for the
doubt and for the first time in a in a while,
there will be guys competing, and there could be guys
that don't make it that will then get picked up
(48:15):
by other teams. In years past, when the Giants decided,
you know, this offensive lineman is the first guy out,
most of the time that guy did not get picked
up by another team, right, and there's a reason for it.
The depth along the offensive line is certainly better than
it has been in years. That was clearly a priority.
I mean, James Hudson was one of the first moves
(48:36):
the Giants made in free agency, and that's not to
be a starting, starting lineman. They brought him in to
be a very solid backup at tackle. Stone Forsyth was
another pickup they made pretty early on. Brought Aaron stinnyback.
You know, Marcus bow was used on with the fifth
round pick. The Giants prioritize just like they you know,
(48:57):
we talked earlier with bringing in some special teams. Ass
clearly having depth along the offensive line so there wouldn't
be a situation like there was last year or even
the last two years. Clearly that was a priority for
Joe Shane in the front office this offseason.
Speaker 2 (49:11):
All Right, we got a couple more quarterback comments here.
Violan says he's talking about Jackson. Dart says he just
wouldn't want to throw him in early when you have
Jamis Winston and you also have Tommy Cutletz. I like
how the Packers handled the love at quarterback. Had some
inconsistencies last year, for sure did Love, but they're hoping
things will be better this year. And then Brandon Thomas
(49:35):
also says he's speaking of the quarterback room. With Tommy
DeVito being the only one of the room who knows
this offense, what would it be like for this room
to go through the season without a system knowledgeable quarterback.
He is saying that he assumes de Veto doesn't make
it through waivers. He can't see the team keeping four
qbs on the roster. Well, we've told you all along
(49:56):
there's not going to be four on the fifty three.
That's just impractical. It does not make any sense. I
happen to believe. I think you agree. If the Veto
gets waved, if if there's nothing unaudedly ordinary that happens,
the three quarterbacks on the fifty three are going to
be Dart, In, Winston and Wilson.
Speaker 3 (50:17):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (50:18):
They're not gonna They're not gonna keep a fourth on
the fifty three. It's not gonna happen. So if those
three guys are fine, de Vito is going to get waved.
Unless somebody trades for him, he's gonna get waved. Then
you gotta worry about Hm getting picked up. I absolutely
believe he will get picked up, and he's not gonna
be able to come back on the practice squad. If
(50:39):
he does, hallelujah, I'd be thrilled to see it. I
just don't think he makes it back.
Speaker 3 (50:45):
I agree. I think he's won enough games, as you know,
a third string quarterback these last two years, to deserve
a spot on an NFL roster. But given the work
that the Giants have done on the quarterback room this offseason,
something unforeseen. I am with you and don't think it's
gonna be, you know, on this roster again, barring some
(51:06):
unforeseen changes which we see every year, that could easily happen.
But you know, what would it be like for the
room to go through the season without a system knowledgeable quarterback. Well,
let's not forget while he is new, Russell Wilson is
not new to the NFL. No, he is just about
as veteran of a quarterback as you could bring in
(51:27):
and has a repute, a very very you know, positive
reputation around him as a leader and someone that is
able to pick up offenses. I mean this is now
his fourth team.
Speaker 2 (51:39):
Yeah, but he's and here's the other thing, he's almost
fifteen years in the league. In Winston, I think is
like in the league for eleven years.
Speaker 3 (51:45):
Winston was twenty fifteen NFL draft.
Speaker 2 (51:47):
Okay, so you know you're talking about between the two guys,
that's two dozen years of experience.
Speaker 3 (51:52):
And it's guys that have already you know, switched teams
and have already been able to pick up new offenses.
I mean, we've we saw Russell Wilson moved first to
first it was Denver, yeah, and then it was Pittsburgh.
And you know, obviously that first season in Denver was
not good. No, but that was that The blame does
(52:12):
not fully go on Russell Wilson for that.
Speaker 2 (52:14):
And you don't let me let me say something about Wilson.
I want to. I want to just put Paul's one
second here because I want to interject this. Most fans
think that he was a disaster in Denver. He was
not a disaster in his second year in Denver.
Speaker 3 (52:26):
No, no, not at all.
Speaker 2 (52:28):
Yeah, the first season season was overall a disaster. Everything
about the Broncos was messed up. Yes, But that second
season in Denver, it wasn't that he was terrible. He
got benched because of the injury clause in his contract.
Speaker 3 (52:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (52:41):
You know, a lot of folks are under this perception
that his two years in Denver were a mess and
he was terrible. He got benched. Nobody wanted. That's not
what happened. He played well his second year in Denver.
He was benched because of an injury clause. Much like
the Giants at the same situation with Daniel Jones. They
didn't want to have to pay guaranteed money the following season,
(53:04):
so did You got to keep him out of the
lineup because if he gets hurt hurt, you're on the
hook for an injured player.
Speaker 3 (53:09):
And he still started fifteen games that year. We're only
talking about the very last two games of the season
that he did not play. And in those fifteen games
that year, twenty six touchdowns to eight interceptions.
Speaker 2 (53:21):
Tell me you wouldn't take that.
Speaker 3 (53:22):
I would sign up for that in a heartbeat. So Yeah,
I'm with you. The second season was not bad at all.
It just it was clear that was Sean Payton's first
season in Denver. It was clear that he had already
decided in the offseason that the team was going to
move on from Russell Wilson. They wanted to bring in
a quarterback in the draft, which they ended up selecting
bon Nicks and all that. But yeah, him getting benched
(53:44):
that year had nothing to do with his level of play,
because I'm with you, he was very solid in that
second season is Denver, and he was solid last year
in his first season with the Steelers in a very
heavy run first offense, where reports have come out since
that there may not have been the best connection between
him and the offensive play caller, which you know, could
(54:05):
have also played a role in you know, the passing
guards maybe not being as high as some people would like.
But Russell Wilson has shown that he is able to
go to a new team and pick up the offense
pretty quickly and get comfortable with it.
Speaker 2 (54:18):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (54:18):
So if Tommy Devido ends up not being on the
fifty three men roster and the Giants have three quarterbacks
that are in their first year in the system in
Brian Dable and Mike Kafka system, that does not concern
me because they also have had all offseason. All three
of the you know, Russell Wilson and James Winston have
been on this team since March. Jackson Dart joined a
(54:38):
month later. You know, it'll be months that they've had
to learn the whole playbook, have meetings with Brian Dable
and Mike Kafka, shake tiernanny, get everyone on the same page.
So if that ends up being the case where the
Giants have three new quarterbacks in their quarterback room, which
seems like the likely scenario, that does not concern me
at all. And I think it also helps that your
offensive coordinator is a former quarterback himself that knows the position.
(55:02):
So all of that I think helps me feel pretty
confident in that having a quarterback that is beyond year
one in this offense, that won't really matter come the
start of the season.
Speaker 2 (55:13):
These qbs have actually talked about the fact that Kafka
was a QB and they like that.
Speaker 3 (55:18):
They love that. Yeah, it's big, So.
Speaker 2 (55:20):
That's not just talk, that's something that they're actually believing in.
A couple items. As always, the Giants TV app is available.
It's free. You can get all kinds of nice fun
things on there in some highlights. It is always there
on all of your iPhones and all of your androids
if you want to download the Giants TV mobile app.
(55:41):
Giants season ticket memberships for the twenty twenty five season
are also available. You can catch the season here at
Metlive Stadium as well as during non game days. All
you have to do is go to Giants dot com
slash tickets to get information about your membership. The Giants
Huddle has a ton of interviews. John did a bunch
before we went on break. They have been pumping them
(56:03):
out like left and right on the website. What is
up there right now, do you know?
Speaker 3 (56:08):
I don't know if it's been posted yet, but sometime today,
if it's not already up, there will be John's conversation
with some of the Edge Rushers. I forgot exactly who,
because I know there's at least one of them is
getting his own standalone interview that's dropping I believe tomorrow,
which is Brian Burns. Today would be several of the
(56:28):
other Ed Rushers, maybe Caveon and someone else. I'm not
sure if it's up yet, but yeah, John sat down
with a couple of the edge rushers that will be
going up today. Oh it is up, Okay, it is okay.
Speaker 2 (56:39):
So what do you got to see?
Speaker 3 (56:40):
Real quick? It just says giants ed rushers.
Speaker 2 (56:45):
This day has been discombobulated. We are totally thrown off,
of course, by being out of practice for two weeks,
so we do apologize for that.
Speaker 3 (56:53):
But also on Friday, over the weekend, we released the
latest episode of the Drive, which has been Sean O'Hara
sitting down or going on a little drive the assistant
with some of the assistant coaches. On Friday, we posted
markwon Manuel, who's in charge of the DBS, talking about
all the team's DB's expectations for the group. And I
(57:14):
believe the next one, which is either going today or tomorrow,
will be Ladell Bets, the running backs coach, talking about
that room. So those are been very interesting and entertaining
to watch and kind of we don't get to hear
much from the assistant coaches. We don't hear them from
them too often, especially sort of in depth interviews like this,
so I highly recommend giving those a watch.
Speaker 2 (57:35):
Okay, folks, we hope to have all of our technical
difficulties squared away by tomorrow when you come back to
Big Blue gick Off Live. It's presented by Cadillac, the
official luxury vehicle of the New York Football Giants. As always,
you can catch an A I Kaiva the show on
the Giants mobile app, podcast platforms everywhere and at giants
dot com slash podcasts. We have come to you from
(57:56):
the Giants Podcast Studio presented by Hackensack Meridian Health. Keep
getting better. That'll do it for today's show, folks. Thanks
for sticking with us, Thanks for your patience. For Matt,
I'm Paul. We'll see you again next time.
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