Big Blue Kickoff Live 7/23 | Training Camp Begins!

Paul Dottino and Matt Citak discuss everything they saw at day two of Giants training camp, talk about Russell Wilson and the offense, and take calls from fans.

:00 - First day of camp

22:50 - Calls

27:00 - Youtube questions

32:00 - Russell Wilson

41:15 - More calls

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
It's time for a Big Blue Kickoff line.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Nobody can ever tell you that you couldn't do it
because you're.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
On Giants dot com.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Do you know what I saw to York Giant Crack
and the Giants Mobile at seventeen fourteen the final one
time down we are world tampering?

Speaker 3 (00:21):
They did well happen?

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Part of the Giants Podcast Network.

Speaker 3 (00:23):
Let's go on?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Hell craz Dog hasn't Hello again, everybody, and welcome to
Wednesday's edition of Big Blue Kickoff Live, presented by Cadillac,
the official luxury vehicle of the New York Football Giants.
It is the day of the first practice of trading cap.
How jacked you, baby?

Speaker 1 (00:42):
How jack do you? Is the question?

Speaker 3 (00:43):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, Well, I'm always pull Tatino Matt's sietech with you
and we will be here for the next hour to
talk New York Giants football. Two O one nine three
nine four five one three from the Giants Podcast Studio
presented by Hackensack Meridian Health. Keep getting better, My goodness,
could the weather have been any better?

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Beautiful day and not too hot, which we're gonna appreciate
with the next come the next few days we got
coming up.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
I seen ninety eight coming.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
I think on I don't know if it was tomorrow
or Friday, but one of those Fridays, Friday ninety high nineties.
That's not gonna be fun. Yeah, So yeah, today was nice.
Today felt nice.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
But they don't go into pads until Monday, so the
players will actually be happy that they get the scorching
weather on a day when they're still kind of in
light clothing and like, yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Today they were just in helmets and I believe that's
stretch and shorts, shirts and shorts, and tomorrow as well,
then they're gonna they gradually go into shelves for two
days and then I believe it's Monday, we'll get the
first full padded practice, which I think that's the one
that we're all extremely excited for because I know, at
least I have been dying to see those O line

(01:56):
D line one on one matchups.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
How about Shane and Day.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
That more so than me, But me just as a spectator.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
Absolutely one hundred percent agree with you on that. I
will tell you folks that today we did get a
chance to hear from Brian Dable and Joe Shane. The
presser I believe was already up on the website. Yes,
and so if you guys want to listen to that,
you certainly can. The synopsis is very very simple. Joe Shane,
the general manager, said that he expects Andrew Thomas to

(02:27):
be ready by opening day. So even though he is
on the pup list right now because of rehabbing of
his foot, does not appear to be concerned. And so
for all those of you yesterday who went into a
panic when Thomas showed up on the pup list, remember,
at any time he can be activated off of that list.
The thing that the giants want to do is to

(02:49):
make sure that they kind of glide him along easily
at the beginning of camp so that once you activate him,
you can't put him back on, and so they don't
to deal with any setbacks with him. That's why they're
gonna ramp him up very very slowly. But again, to repeat,
Joe Shane said, no concerns about long term with Thomas.

(03:12):
He believes that he'll be ready opening day against Washington.

Speaker 4 (03:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:15):
I mean, I wasn't on the show yesterday, but as
soon as I saw the news, I knew people would
be freaking out, and I saw it on social media.
Everyone freaking out. Oh here we go again. As you
just mentioned, just because a guy gets put on the
pup list on day one does not mean he's actually
a missing time. You can go just as far back
as last year where there were two guys placed on

(03:36):
the pup list going into training camp. Aaron Robinson was
one of them. He was practicing one week later. He
was on the puplist for the first couple of days
and then he was fine. Evan Neil was on the
puplist for like two weeks and then he was practicing fine.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
So Theo Johnson was on for a day or two,
wasn't it, I believe?

Speaker 1 (03:55):
So yeah, yeah, he came off pretty great. He just
the rookies reported earlier. So yeah, it was like day
three or four of trading camp again. People were freaking
out last year, and then day three or four he
gets cleared and then he's out there. So hearing Joe
say we think, you know, obviously things can change. You
never know how a rehab is gonna go one hundred percent.

(04:16):
But the fact that Joe Shane said we think he
should be fine for the season open, that's all you
need to hear. All Right, you should feel confident barring
any set back, he will be out there against the commanders,
which is the most important thing.

Speaker 2 (04:29):
Okay, so that's news item number one out of the
press conference. News oudem number two, as if anybody really
needed it. But you figured with all the questions from
the press corps badgering both the coach and the GM
about Jackson Dart and when's he gonna play and what's
the deal for his schedule, how's his progress going to look?
Should there be a competition at quarterback? Brian da will

(04:50):
shut that down with one very simple statement, Russell Wilson's
the starter, which is.

Speaker 1 (04:55):
The same message that he has been reiterating time and
time again for month now, and yet some members of
the media continue to still ask him the same exact
question trying to create which seriously, it's like the media
is trying to create a quarterback competition despite the Giants
saying straight up there is no competition. QB one is
Russell Wilson. That's it, period. So hopefully now that Joe

(05:19):
and Dave's straight up said it again, hopefully that will
calm those questions down at least for a little bit
so he can just focus on football.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
Now to be fair. Brian Dable was pushed about the
rest of the room and he said everybody's in a competition,
so he would not name a number two. We all
believe Winston is the number two. I think that's logical.
But then again, I guess if somebody doesn't painted on
one of the faces of Mount Rushmore, it's not true, right.

(05:51):
I mean, that's that's the way it's become now when
you talk about what is written, all right, So that's
number two issue number three. Malik Neighbors, who had been
dealing with a tour injury during the spring, did practice
in full today. Quite frankly, I would name him as
the offensive star of the day. He caught one pass

(06:13):
where he had a high point the ball in the
end zone, made a terrific grab. He also caught a
diving grab at the end of practice. I thought he
looked terrific. The fans loved it. Neighbors did say after
practice he's still managing a bit of soreness in that tow.
Doesn't know where that's all going to wind up. But
he certainly looked great today, and he said he felt
good in terms of being able to get out there

(06:34):
and do what he loves to do.

Speaker 1 (06:36):
Yeah, so we'll start with the injury aspect, because we
all know he did not do anything during the spring.
He was a spectator, as were some of the other
star players who were also out there today, like Dexter Lawrence,
but he didn't do anything in the spring. Joe and
Davids were asked about him before practice and they said,
he's good to go. He's going to be out there.
He's fully ready, he's prepared, and sure enough, he was

(06:59):
out there. But the first team offense, like I at least,
did not notice him missing any reps with the first
team Offen looked like his normal self. He looked like
the guy that just set the franchise reception record as
a rookie less than.

Speaker 2 (07:13):
A year or two catches I just talked about.

Speaker 1 (07:15):
Yeah, so I believe it was the second one. Was
it the first one? Or set the first one was
the first one? Where So the Giants focused on red
zone work today.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
Yes, we should tell you that red zone works seven
on seven, eleven on eleven.

Speaker 1 (07:29):
Yeah, every single offense is not was taken inside the
red zone. Russell Wilson threw a ball where he placed
it perfectly right over the defender where only Malik Neighbors
could could make a play on the ball. Malik jumped up,
made a nice, leaping, contested grab, pulled it down for
a touchdown. I mean again, Joe and Dave saying that

(07:51):
Malik was healthy was all I needed to hear. But
then seeing Malik make a play like that left me
no doubt that he's fine. He's healthy. Look and then
he said it later as Paul, as you just mentioned
this tow injury, whatever it is, it's been something that
he has talked about that he's dealt with since his
days at LSU and his last season at LSU. What

(08:13):
were his stats? Insane's stats last year set the franchise,
the rookie wreck or the rookie sorry, the reception record
as a rookie with one hundred and nine grabs dealing
with the same toe injury. So it might be something
that he continues to have to deal with in some capacity,
but at least for right now, it doesn't seem to
be a hindrance at all.

Speaker 2 (08:34):
No, So those were kind of like the news items,
if you will, that came out of today. Unless there
was something I missed, well, I mean.

Speaker 1 (08:42):
I just briefly touched on it, but again Dexter Lawrence,
who didn't do anything in the spring, was fully out there.
He's good to goat the fact that and Cam Scadabou
and Darius Alexander, because they also did not do a
lot in the spring.

Speaker 2 (08:54):
The fact that only Eric Gray and Andrew Thomash were
the two guys listed on PUP yesterday. To me, once
that list came out, I fully expected the guys you
just mentioned to be participating, and they were so par
for the course. You got what you expected today. No surprises.

Speaker 1 (09:13):
Yeah, I guess just after not seeing them do anything
in the spring. It's just good to see them.

Speaker 2 (09:18):
Good to clarify, make sure everybody understands those guys did do.
In fact, Camp Scataboo, I want to say they ran
three pass plays with him and showed soft hands on
all three plays. One of them was a nice catch,
the other two were just very easy and routine. But Scataboo, folks,

(09:38):
if you didn't watch him at Arizona State and all
you've heard about, especially the way we talk about how
ferocious he is as a running back, don't sleep on
his ability to catch passes out of the backfield. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (09:51):
I mean, he was one of, if not the best
pass catching running back in all college football last year,
certainly up there. I mean, he was what the first
running back since Christian McCaffrey to have fifteen hundred rushing
yards and five hundred receiving yards in a season. And
it's easy to see why he was so successful as
a pass catcher in college. He has great hands. Yeah,
and so does Tyron Tracy obviously as a former wide receiver,

(10:14):
which makes the two of them obviously they're not, you know,
the same exact type of running back, but at least
in terms of their ability to catch the football, you
can use them interchangeably. You know, it doesn't matter. Both
of them are more than capable of catching the football
running routes. I mean, we saw Campskatabou run you know,
several different routes more than just like your generic running
back you know, screen or you know, whatever you want

(10:36):
to call it. So yeah, Camscataboo has the potential and
Tyron Tracy both have the potential to play big impacts
in the passing game in addition to the running game.
I mean, Tyron Tracy caught a touchdown pass from Russell
Wilson today. It was that one was a kind of
an easy screen pass where he was wide open, but
nonetheless he caught it like he was supposed to, got

(10:56):
into the end zone for a touchdown. So yeah, I
expect both of those backs to be, you know, pretty
big parts of the passing game. We saw it last
year with Tracy I believe he finished fourth on the
team in receptions or targets, behind the top but behind
the top three receivers. I believe he was fourth. And
again that was with him not playing much the first

(11:18):
four weeks, right, and then kind of splitting a little
bit with Devin Singletary after. So yeah, I expect both
of those backs to you know, play big roles in
the passing game. All right, So let's quickly go through
highlighted players today. I've already mentioned Neighbors. I thought he
was the star of the day, but you could also
make a case for the starting quarterback who on the
first snap of seven on seven's today through touchdown pass

(11:42):
to Wandlle Robinson a fade in the left corner of
the end zone and that ball was just lolly popped
right in there. Yeah, So that play transpired right in
front of me where I was standing on the sideline.
It was an amazing throw by Russellison. Again, I don't
know how many times over the next six weeks we're
gonna say what a beautifully plays ball by Russell that
I have a feeling it's going to be a lot.
But again, he just placed it perfectly, like in between

(12:04):
two defenders. We're right into Wandell Robinson's arms, who caught
it and was able to get both feet down before
falling out of bounds for the touchdown. Great throw, great catch.
Russell Wilson would probably be my pick for Offensive MVP today.
I fully get Malik and can't argue with you there,
but Russ, I mean again, it's I guess we should

(12:25):
be expecting it from him because he's been doing this
for so long at such a high level. But just
to see this, like I guess, this level of a
quarterback play in person, right in front of you, it's
just not something you know, I've got to see at
least from Giants quarterbacks for several years now, so it
was refreshing to see. He's just he commands the huddle.

(12:46):
He's clearly the leader, the veteran leader of this team.
Obviously there are several leaders, but his voice. Everyone listens
when he speaks. He has a total control and command
of the offense already, despite only being in this offense
for a couple of months. He would be my pick
for today's Ovens and MC being again, I feel like
there's gonna be a lot of days are going to
be saying that, you know.

Speaker 2 (13:07):
What, I think maybe the best way to describe Russell
Wilson in terms of his practice habits and what we
see from him on snaps, he really raises the floor
even if he doesn't have what we've come to now
know is a typical Russell Wilson day and he's a
little bit off. Okay, so if he's got two or

(13:28):
three passes that were a little bit off, he never
makes you walk away from practice shaking your head saying, wow,
he had a bad day that I've had that happen yet. No.

Speaker 1 (13:37):
I mean he also just does not often have throws
that are just like completely you know, completely off target,
where you're just like, where was he going with that one?

Speaker 4 (13:47):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (13:47):
He does everything with a purpose. I mean even there
were several plays during eleven and eleven where clearly his
first and probably second read were you know, covered quickly,
so he immediately then turned to like the option in
the pass game, which sometimes were you know, the sort
of screen passes to a running back or to a
tight end. But that's what you want your quarterback to
do if the first and second reads are not there.

(14:09):
You don't want him to hold onto the ball and
wait for the defense to converge on him. You want
him to get the ball out quickly. And Russell Wilson,
obviously he's been doing this for such a long time.
He knows pretty much like he knows how when to
get rid of the football, and we saw it a
little bit today with eleven or eleven's like, yeah, there
were some passes thrown to the running backs, but again

(14:29):
those were passes where you want him making that instead
of holding out of the ball further hoping that a
receiver can maybe get open in another couple of seconds,
because in a real game, you're gonna get sacked if
you do that most of the time.

Speaker 2 (14:40):
And he'd rather take a sack than throw it. Never pass. Yeah,
we know that that's the way his career has gone.
And that's not a problem because their receptions turnovers are
absolutely the bane of every head coach's existence, and he
gets that.

Speaker 1 (14:54):
Yeah, and I just I see a comment here that
you know Russ was dumping the ball off a lot
during eleven on eleven's.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
Wait a second, Wait a second, they were doing red
zone the whole day, which, by the way, means you
can't possibly by mathematics, throw the ball more than twenty
yards maximum because you're in the red zone and.

Speaker 1 (15:14):
Most of the snaps are also inside the ten yard line,
even deep red zone, deep red zone. Yeah, and again,
what issues they're throwing the ball to your running backs
when you have Tyrone Tracy and Camps Kataboo who are
proven oh good Cats catchers.

Speaker 2 (15:28):
Okay, see, well this is why people who come out
to watch practice, they even need to listen to the
show so we could explain to them exactly what it
is that they saw. All right, defensively, I actually thought
that there were three guys who kind of stuck out
to me today. Nick Jones had to pick six on
a ball he took back the other way. Impressive for him,

(15:50):
obviously a guy who's trying to make a name for himself.
I thought Tate Banks and a Depot both both had
really good days in terms of their blanket coverage. They
didn't always get their hands on the ball, but they
were literally like gum on the receivers backs almost every

(16:11):
time a ball was thrown in their vicinity, and at
the very least it was an incompletion because the coverage
was just too good to make the play so even
if they didn't get their hands on it. I thought
Banks and the Deebo played very well.

Speaker 1 (16:25):
Yeah, I mean especially Banks in my opinion. I mean
they were you know, there were several plays during practice
where the receiver just made it an amazing play and
caught a pass like over Deontay Banks. But Deontay Banks
had sticky coverage almost every play that I was like
looking at him that he was targeted, like, yeah, he

(16:46):
had some passes again that he got caught, but he
had good coverage on just about every single one of
those plays. It just you got to tip your cap
when the quarterback makes an amazing throw and the receiver
makes an amazing catch, like leaping over you like Malik
did on one of those touchdowns. That was the no
fault of Deontay Banks. He had no great coverage. Is
just the star wider receiver made a star wider receiver play.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
Simply put, Banks and the debo both did a great
job of not allowing any separation.

Speaker 1 (17:14):
Yes, that was very clear on day one, which is
good to see. It's terrific to see, especially because we
know this is a big season for Deontay Banks, so
for him to get camp started on an encouraging note.
That's all you can ask for.

Speaker 2 (17:28):
One other really nice grab that I thought was made today.
I wanted to mention it, and then I'll let you
pick out another play if you had some other secondary
play you wanted to mention, and I mean second level play,
not secondary play. I thought Greg Dolcic made one really
nice one handed stab in heavy traffic over the middle
down by the goal line. I mean there were so

(17:50):
many bodies, arms and hands all over the ball. It
was a throw from Jameis Winston. We had a lot
of mustard on it, and Dolci's just reached up with
that paw and was somehow able to bring it down
despite the fact that it seemed like there was an
entire city around him. I don't know how he came
down with the ball, but it was a nice play.

Speaker 1 (18:08):
Yeah, Well for starters, I don't know how Jamis got
the ball to that too in all that traffic that too,
And then you're right, I don't know. I mean, Dulcis
had just amazing concentration to be able to, you know,
focus on the ball with all that traffic going on
right in front of him, because he had basically almost
the entire offensive defensive line in between him and Jameis
Winston on that throw, and he was still able to

(18:30):
you know, concentrate make the catch. It would have been
like down inside the probably inside the three yard line. Yeah,
it was short of the goal line, just short of
the goal line, but it would have set the Giants
up very very close to the goal line. That was
a great play. I think just that that first Russell
Wilson to Malik touchdown grab would have to be the
play of the day for me because absolutely again, beautiful

(18:52):
throw by Russell where putting it where only his receiver
can make the play. And then Malik Nighbors just doing
star wide receivers things day one, after not practicing at
all during the spring, just leaping up, jumping basically over
the defender and making a contested grant for a touchdown.
That's got to be the play of the day for me.

Speaker 2 (19:12):
I think the problem is we're going to be naming
neighbors as the star of the day or the play
of the day practically every day anyway. So I wanted
to give them such a chance.

Speaker 1 (19:20):
They made a really sweet play, I wanted to get
a pop.

Speaker 2 (19:22):
That's totally fair, folks. As a reminder, Giant season tickets
for the twenty twenty five season are available. Fans were
out of practice today and there is a booth near
the back corner of the end zone where season tickets
can be purchased. If you want to sign up there,
you can certainly go as well to the Giant's website.
Go to Giants dot com slash tickets and you can

(19:45):
get a season ticket membership, which allows you all kinds
of benefits, not just on game day but all season long.
And remember all these things we just talked about. Go
to the Giants social media. They've got a bunch of
the clips of a lot of these plays, and even
more there are unavailable. Giants TV is the official connected
streaming app for the New York Football Giants. It's free.

(20:07):
It's on all of the sites Apple TV, Roku, Amazon, fireTV,
and the Giants mobile app. Go check it out. You
don't have to take our word for some of these plays.
You'll see them. I guarantee you. Michael backed In and
the rest of his crew shot those plays, and you
know they're going up because they were too sweet not
to be seen. Folks, Let's get to your phone calls

(20:30):
now that we got those things out of the way.
Hopefully some of you want to call us up because
you were here today, and if not, that's okay too,
because we'll be glad to answer any questions that you have.
Let's go to line one, and I believe it's Coach
Marvin who's first up on the show.

Speaker 1 (20:44):
Hello, Hey, coach, Hey, coach, how are you.

Speaker 5 (20:49):
I'm doing okay. I'm hoping to see you on Sunday.

Speaker 6 (20:53):
We will be here.

Speaker 5 (20:54):
We'll be here, Yeah, I'll be there Sunday. What I
wanted to talk a little bit about you were just
talking about Russell Wilson and never I'm going to tell
the coaches what they should do and not do. I'm
not qualified to do that, but what I would say
is what I would have do. I think Jason Dart

(21:15):
is in a pretty good position for a young kid.
The reason I say that because the room it has
all types of history. In that room, you have Tommy
DeVito who was a undrafted free agent and he made
the team and he played in some games coming from

(21:38):
being undrafted, which is could be a great story to
listen to if I'm Jackson Dart. You have Winston who
was the first overall pick, Heisman Trophy winner, and he
played some pretty good games and he plays some bad ones.

(21:58):
His story is I can learn from this story. And
then you're talking about Russell Wilson, who was I believe
a third round pick.

Speaker 2 (22:08):
I thought might have been of four four. I thought
he might have been a four, But you're right, coach,
he was not a number one.

Speaker 5 (22:14):
Right, So and he went in and he beat out
I think it was Flynn he beat out in Seattle
at that time, which was paid you right, coach.

Speaker 2 (22:24):
He was a three by the way, Yes, And he
did beat out flat who was giving a lot of
money at the time of one game.

Speaker 5 (22:32):
Yes, and he beat him out fairly.

Speaker 2 (22:35):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (22:35):
And he beat him out fair and square. And there
wasn't no controversy or anything like that. Where oh we
do I'm not sure who should be starting. They knew
who should be starting in the team. So all three
of those guys have a story that he can learn from.
And I think what happens with young people today, and
I talked to a lot of young people I deal

(22:58):
with that the gym that general manager Mikey judge me crazy.
Young guy don't know it a lot of the history.
And I just told him a couple of days ago,
that's what's wrong with young people. You don't want to
listen to people that's been here before or seeing some
of this stuff before. And that's what Jackson Dark has
to be. He has to be a person that wants

(23:21):
to learn from these guys. And I had a player
that was similar to that, and I used to say
he was nosy. Every time I was telling one player
or something, he was standing right next to me listening
what I was telling that player. And then when he
wasn't standing next to me, I would see him later
talking to the kid that I was talking to after

(23:42):
the kid made a mistake, and I found out he
was asking the kid what did I had to tell him,
And he was taking all that information in using it
and he became one of my star running backs when
he never was one of my star running backs. But
he became one because of but he was learning the
year before. And I used to always say he was

(24:04):
so nosy that he got in everybody's conversation when it
came to learning the game. And I think, and I
would say that to Jackson Dart, you gotta be nosy.
You got to get in everybody's business and learn this
game from every angle. And you have three guys in
that room with you. I would just sit and ask

(24:27):
so many questions of them, of their story. And that's
even Tommy DeVito coach.

Speaker 2 (24:32):
You'll be glad to know that from everything we've heard
from the coaches and from the players, Dart is very inquisitive.
He is a workaholic. He's very much detail oriented. He's focused.
I mean, Russell Wilson mentioned today that in the meeting
rooms he had Dart sit next to each other, and

(24:53):
he's become very impressed with Dart because he sees how
much this kid is on top of things. So know,
your point about the three guys he can learn from
is all the more enhanced because each one of them
have different experiences. It's not just like there's two veterans
in the room and they both went through the same thing. No. No,

(25:15):
In this case, Dart has a full palette of guys
who have done different things, coming from different angles, with
different circumstances. Before he even steps on a field, he
is getting a whole salad bar of stuff thrown at him.

Speaker 1 (25:30):
Yeah, and not only that, but I think it's important
that the guys that he does share the room with
are willing to help mentor him and show him the ropes.
I mean that might sound like, oh, that should be
a given, but you see every year a rookie get
thrown into a quarterback room with a veteran that's been
there for a while, and the veteran basically says, it's

(25:52):
not my job to, you know, show him what to do.
He's got to find his own way. That's not the
case here, Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston and tell me to
v are more than happy and willing to help Jackson
with his development. All of those guys in that room
are just committed to help this team win, do whatever
it takes to help the team win. And they know

(26:12):
having all of the quarterbacks in the room prepared and
ready to go and playing at the highest possible level
is going to put the Giants in the best possible
situation to win week in and week out. So it
does help that he's in a room with guys that
are willing to help show him along the way. Coach,
I got a bunch of calls and I got a

(26:32):
bunch of comments online.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
We'll let you go. Okay, we'll talk to you soon.
All right, you got it, safe travel, Thanks coach.

Speaker 1 (26:39):
Real quick. I just want to touch one, just one
YouTube comment, do it about why the team today ran
drills on a far field today. First of all, practice
each day will take place on a different one of
the practice fields. Yes, they sort of rotate between the
three so they don't beat up the field. Yes, But
speaking of the issue today was there was a little

(27:00):
bit of a let's call it a field malfunction on
the field that they were practicing for the first part
of practice, and after one or two guys slipped, they
were like, very quickly they said, no, no, no, none
of this. Let's go to the other fields of no
one else slips again. So at least for today, that
is why about halfway through practice they switched to the
far field, further away from the fans. It wasn't to

(27:21):
purposely you know, not let you guys see those going on.

Speaker 2 (27:24):
No, it was for the safety of the players, and
that's always coming first because they'll consult with Rob Davis,
who was the chief groundskeeper here after there's a threat.
Just tradition, phenomenal. And the fields looked awesome. Yeah, but
there were some slips going on there. And look, the
last thing anybody wants is an injury because of somebody
slipping and losing their footing on a field. You can't

(27:45):
blame the coaches for doing that, not at all. All right,
real quick, a couple of YouTube comments, real fast, we'll
go right back to the calls. Christian in Europe says,
let Andrew Thomas take his time coming back. Don't need
him in training camp getting hurt. You're one hundred percent correct.
JMT Production says, just my opinion, if our old line
stays healthy, the sky's the limit. Okay, wait and see right,

(28:07):
we're in a wait and see mode with the old line.
Aiden Finks says, what are your thoughts on signing Quadra
Diggs to add to the safety room? Will the Giant's
just made In fact, I'll let you mention this. There
was a swap in roster spots with safeties.

Speaker 1 (28:18):
Yesterday, Yeah, yesterday, the Giants signed a Cavon or Kavan.
I believe it's Kevon Wallace, veteran safety that's been in
the league for I believe since twenty twenty. He spent
a few years with the Eagles, then jumped around to
a few different teams. He was here during veteran mini
camp on a tryout basis and clearly made a strong
impression on the coaching staff and the front office because

(28:41):
he was signed yesterday and he took the place of
Anthony Johnson, who was waived with an injury designation. So
Keevan Wallace is again a veteran safety that s got
some you know, a track.

Speaker 2 (28:53):
Record with Tennessee under Shane Bowen.

Speaker 1 (28:56):
Yes, that is one of the teams he's jumped around
with after his first three season with the Eagles. Look,
he's not like the you know in all pro safety,
but there aren't all pro safeties typically available for what
I don't know what the numbers are on his deal,
but for reasonable money. On July twenty, third of the
off season or right as the training camp is the beginning,

(29:16):
So yeah, I unless you know there are more injuries
or things change, I would say, I don't think adding
quandary digs or another veteran proven safety like that is
on the table. But as we come to see every year,
things change pretty quickly, so you never know. But for
now I would say likely not.

Speaker 2 (29:36):
I agree, all right. Also, Indan Fink says, what's latest
with Eric Gray's injury. He's on pup as of yesterday
with a sorenee, which again he may be short, he
may be longer. We don't know the details on that.
No one did ask about it. We did see Turbo
Miller take a bunch of snaps today because obviously with

(29:57):
Gray not available, there's more snaps for.

Speaker 5 (29:59):
The other guys.

Speaker 1 (30:00):
Looked good too. That's your guy, one of your guys.

Speaker 2 (30:03):
He's one of my guys.

Speaker 1 (30:04):
Getting him in the ball in his hands on the outside.

Speaker 2 (30:07):
In some space members like me, you just take that
little switch in the back and you turn it. You
turn it, you turn it, and then you just hit
the button and let them go right with a lot
of energy.

Speaker 1 (30:18):
But for you, instead of turning, it's just feeding you
a couple and you're ready to go.

Speaker 2 (30:24):
Jen Bogati, where can I watch training camp? Are there
any videos online? Asking I just mentioned Giants TV. Giants
TV is an app where again with all the different
platforms I mentioned that you can get it. There'll be
a bunch of clips there. You could also look at
giants dot com. There'll be highlights there. You can go
to the Giants Twitter site just right there if that's

(30:46):
your most popular place to go. There's a lot of
highlights and videos on Twitter. And they're not just even
from the team. A lot of folks in the in
the stands take highlights too.

Speaker 1 (30:56):
Yeah, at least from our social team. You know, First,
our production team captures a lot of highlights throughout practice.

Speaker 2 (31:02):
Multiple cameras and multiple angles.

Speaker 1 (31:04):
Yes, we got cameramen and all over the field, covering
just about every inch of the field as possible. And
then our social team is very good at getting a
lot of those clips up. So it's not gonna be
you know, a full an entire you know, video of
every single play from practice, but you can definitely find
plenty of highlights on the Giants Twitter account. I believe

(31:28):
later today we should have like a bigger sort of
highlight video that will be you know, sixty seconds plus
there'll be some more plays, so yeah, just you know,
keep checking Giants dot Com, Giant social media Giants TV
should get everything you need there.

Speaker 2 (31:43):
All right, back to the phone, Andrew in North Carolina,
your next time Big Blue Kickoff Live. Hello, how are you, Andrew?

Speaker 3 (31:51):
Andrew?

Speaker 7 (31:52):
I'm doing good. I had two questions, but I wanted
to say something first. I'm super excited for us and Wilson.
For Giants fans, if you haven't seen Hard Knocks or
any of his interviews, just please check him out. It's
like you, guys said, he just has a magic area bathroom.
And even if he loses games, I feel like we're

(32:13):
going to win the next team. I really feel like
this is the best offense he's had in a while,
and I think he's gonna win us a lot of games.
I'm really excited for it.

Speaker 3 (32:22):
Guys.

Speaker 2 (32:23):
Well, the guys shown incredible leadership skills and I believe
that the talent level is still there. For anybody who
thinks that he shot or he's over the hill, I
think you're sadly mistaken.

Speaker 1 (32:35):
Russell Wilson has some gas in this tank, and he
seems to be in the mindset of going out there
and proving everyone yeah wrong that like thinks that he's
kind of over the hill. He seems very determined this
year at the show that as Paul just mentioned that
he does still have plenty of gas left in the tank,
and I'm with you, I cannot wait to see it.

Speaker 3 (32:55):
I love it.

Speaker 7 (32:55):
So one of my first questions was, I do predict
him to have success? And I'm tensiling in right now.
I believe we're gonna have a winning season. I think
we'll make the playoffs, and I'm tenseling him in for
thirty plus touchdowns already. I'm that sled in on this guy.

Speaker 3 (33:11):
And just for this.

Speaker 7 (33:13):
Scenario hypothetical, if he was to have this good season,
how would that end with him on this one year
deal and having Jackson Dark coming up. I don't think
Dark will I don't want to see Dark. I think
the only way he plays is if, like you guys said,
if Russell gets hurt, which there is a probability to

(33:35):
do to his age, but I don't expect to see
him and I think it's best if we don't. But
just that scenario down the road, if I do think
Russell has the season that he does, how do you
guys think that will play out? And my second question
I don't know if anybody's addressed it, but is there
any chance that oh Dann can come back home.

Speaker 3 (33:59):
Every game?

Speaker 2 (34:02):
Andrew? Surely you, Jess, nobody has addressed it. You you do?
Do you listen to the program? We I think we
fielded that question a bunch of times in the last month.

Speaker 7 (34:14):
Oh man, I've been keeping up like I used to.

Speaker 1 (34:18):
Okay, that's all.

Speaker 7 (34:19):
Right, there's no shot. But in the locker room, Will
really loved him. I remember going to the game and
just the just wanting to see him touch passes. I
just felt like it would just be magic. And from
a business standpoint, bring in ticket.

Speaker 2 (34:36):
But it's really no shot, all right, Andrew. I think
the easiest way to say this is that the Giants
wide receiver room right now, uh is one that they
really want to take a look at. And if you
suddenly bring in another veteran and I'm not even gonna say, Odell,
it could be any veteran if you bring one of
those guys in now, they're taking snaps away from from

(35:00):
this wide receiver room and they're trying to figure out
is Jleb Hyatt gonna be the real thing or not
You're gonna take snaps away from him. No, that makes
no sense. You're not gonna take snaps away from the
first three guys on your depth chart because they need
to work with these quarterbacks. And you're not gonna take
snaps away from the undrafted rookie free agents because it
looks like they got a pretty good class of those guys.

(35:20):
You need to find out what they are. So it
doesn't make sense to add to the room, at least
not to me.

Speaker 1 (35:26):
Yeah, I've all I'll add is you know, we spoke
during OTA's the offseason working on program how a lot
of those undrafted rookie free agent receivers looked good, and
again it's OTAs there's no contact. Well, now is the
real test to see if that was like an outlier
performance or if these guys are the real deals. So
what I'll say is Joe Shane has shown over the

(35:49):
last few years that he will do whatever it takes
to help this team improve and get better. If he thinks,
you know, in a week, two weeks, a month, if
he thinks that the wide receiver room isn't looking like
the way they want it to look, I'm sure he
will then look to address it. But until that time comes,
it seems like they are pretty content with the group

(36:09):
that's currently here.

Speaker 2 (36:10):
You got to identify exactly what they have in all
of these guys. Hey, Andrew, thanks for the call nine nine.

Speaker 1 (36:18):
Well, then the other thing he asked about with if
Russell has a great year. All I'll say is this
that hypothetical again, Yes, that hypothetical again. All I will
say is this. Now, I'm not, by any means saying
that Jackson Dart is the next Patrick Mahomes, not saying that,
but just similar situations where the Chiefs drafted Patrick Mahomes

(36:41):
in the first round of twenty seventeen, where they had
Alex Smith a veteran quarterback. Alex Smith in twenty seventeen
in fifteen games fifteen of sixteen and Mahomes started the
last game of the season. He led the Chiefs to
a nine and six record. He had over four thousand yards,
sixty seven point five percent completion percentage, twenty six touchdowns,

(37:04):
five interceptions. Hey, the lowest intercession interception percentage in the league,
the highest passer rating in the league, and the Chiefs
still moved on to Patrick Mahomes after that season. So
you never know what could happen. Obviously, Jackson Dart's development
will be the biggest determining factor in that question. But

(37:24):
it would take I would think, Russell Wilson having such
an outstanding year and Jackson behind the scenes looking you know,
so poorly for that to probably be a realistic option.
Because let's not forget they signed Jamis Winston to a
two year deal. It's not just a one year deal.
Two years, so there's a decent chance that he will

(37:46):
be back next year. Pursuit maybe is the you know,
the veteran backup to Jackson Dart.

Speaker 2 (37:51):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (37:51):
Obviously, there's a lot to determine in that decision over
the next however, six plus months.

Speaker 2 (37:58):
I mean, I almost hate to address the question, but
you did ask get in good faith. So here's what
I would say. It's a long shot. I think it's
a very small percentage in terms of all the possibilities
that as to how this plays out. But think about this,
The most likely scenario for Wilson to stay and Matt's right,

(38:19):
Dart in the coach's minds has to not be close
to being ready by the end of the season. That's
first second thing. Wilson's gonna have to play really, really well,
and maybe the Giants even need to be a playoff
team for them to reluctantly, reluctantly allow Wilson to go.
But think about this, Wilson's on a one year deal.

(38:42):
He's a bargain right now economically. If Wilson has the
kind of year with speaking of, don't you think he's
gonna want some more cash And I don't know that
the Giants are gonna want a pony that cash up.

Speaker 1 (38:54):
Well, not only that, but as you know, so many
people around the NFL talk about every year, when you
draft a quarterback to be what you hope to be
your franchise quarterback moving forward, you want to take advantage
of that window where he's under a rookie contract, because.

Speaker 2 (39:09):
What if he's not ready, he's not ready. No, no,
that part's irrelevant.

Speaker 1 (39:13):
Then yes, yes and no, because if he's not ready,
then yeah, that is the most important thing. But at
the same time, you know, rookie quarterbacks they have four
years plus the fifth year option. But even that fifth
year option, that number jumps up pretty significantly from the
first four years. That's a small window to build what
you hope to be a Super Bowl contender around that

(39:35):
rookie contract before. I mean, obviously you hope that that
rookie quarterback plays to a level where you want to
give him that massive contract because that means good things, obviously,
but that makes it a little harder to build the
team around him when you start paying a quarterback, you know,
fifty plus million as opposed to the rookie deal.

Speaker 2 (39:52):
Now, you folks who'll remember I've said on this show
many times before they drafted Dark, when they went after Wilson,
my thought was, you sign him, you got into the
one year deal, and if he plays really well, and
if you don't take the next franchise guy this year,
there's always a chance you bring Wilson back. For sure,
that was in play, I think before they traded up

(40:15):
to get into the first round to take Jackson Dart.
Now I think the odds of Wilson being able to
come back, I don't know that. I don't know that
that puzzle piece fits very well, So I think it's
very unlikely. But again, if you're Russell Wilson and you're
a one year deal and you're trying to prove to
the world that you still have gas, and you show

(40:37):
that you do, You're gonna want to get paid and
somebody out there probably is gonna wind up right in
a check one.

Speaker 1 (40:44):
So leave it as you never know what could happen, right,
But it seems like the Giants had a plan at
the quarterback position, and I would be a little surprised,
but again, crazier things have happened. So Connor from Connecticut
your next on the program.

Speaker 6 (41:01):
Hello, what's up, guys? How you doing very well?

Speaker 2 (41:04):
How are you?

Speaker 1 (41:05):
How are you?

Speaker 3 (41:06):
I'm all right, but I'm a little frustrated with this
team right now and the shape of the O line
going into this season.

Speaker 5 (41:13):
I think it's the same as last year, and I
don't know.

Speaker 3 (41:16):
What changes have been made that are going to make
our team look different.

Speaker 2 (41:21):
Well, Carmer Brisillo is in his second year as the
offensive line coach. If you believe that the same five
will start this year that did last year, I refer
you to the show we did the other day when
the Giants had those five offensive linemen intact. They had
a two and three record, and the offensive line was

(41:41):
not the reason that they had lost those three games. Well,
the one game against Minnesota, yes, they just got hammered.
But in the other four games, they were as competitive
as can be. So I offer that to you to
chew on. But more importantly, I offer you Carmen Brisillo.
I have tremendous respect for him, and I believe he's
the best offensive line coach the Giants have had since

(42:02):
Pat Flaherty, and I think you got to give him
a little more credit and show a little more faith
to him that given this class of offensive lineman for
a second season, he could do some things with them.

Speaker 1 (42:15):
Yeah, that I think is the biggest thing. The last
point you made. We talked, or everyone talks all the
time about continuity on the offensive line, and we were
saying it last season in terms of from week to week. Well,
it's just as important year to year. This is now
year two of at least going into the season the
same starting five that you had last year with the
same offensive line coach for the second straight season as well.

(42:36):
Continuity is so important upfront, which is why, again we've
said it countless times that Andrew Thomas is the lynchpin
to that unit. Him being healthy and out there is
the most important factor to that unit's success. Obviously, he's
an all problem.

Speaker 5 (42:51):
That sounds beautiful.

Speaker 3 (42:52):
I hope it works out. But when you take the
same players with the injury history that they've had, I
don't see why it would be different.

Speaker 1 (43:01):
But they also went and addressed the depth, that is
where the changes were made in the off season. They
addressed the depths on the offensive and you.

Speaker 5 (43:09):
Want your your first guy up to be healthy all
season A long sure.

Speaker 1 (43:13):
Of course. But as every single person that spoke to
the media today said, injuries happen. You can't control that.

Speaker 2 (43:20):
Look, I blame that.

Speaker 3 (43:22):
On the perf I blame that on the MetLife purf man.

Speaker 2 (43:25):
All right, Cod, I appreciate the call. Thank you. I'm
going to add this to again, He's the wild card here,
Evan Neil. Today he took snaps at both guard spots.
He's the wild card. If Evan Neil goes out on
the field and plays like a first round pick, albeit
in a different position, the Giants are a better team

(43:47):
for it, for sure.

Speaker 1 (43:48):
Also, JMS going into year three. Year three is a
year that a lot of time offensive linemans make a jump.
And again I've said this so many times before, but
JMS did take a step in the right direction last season,
maybe not as big of a step as everyone would
have hoped, but he did improve. So if he can
now make an even larger jump in year three, that

(44:12):
is going to be a huge boost to the interior
offensive line, where he's gonna have at least one veteran,
if not two veterans, you know, maybe running and Neil
running in Van Ruaden, whatever, the combination of guards. Are
him playing at an improved level in the center, commanding
the whole unit, that will help that offensive line take
a big jump overall as well.

Speaker 2 (44:34):
Okay, we go to line three Charlie's in Portland, Maine,
and Charlie which inaccurate opinion that you saw online today?
Would you like to base your comments on because you
certainly love to do that.

Speaker 1 (44:46):
I think I know where he's gonna go. Oh, I
think I know too, all right.

Speaker 4 (44:50):
I just wanted this. This is what Joe Shane said
about Andrew traumas good. I'll say again, should be ready
for the opener. That is what they anticipate. That is
the weakest statement that you could ever say about somebody
who is injured and it's only the first day of camp.

(45:12):
That doesn't that isn't like guaranteed. Like I mean, the
way you guys talk.

Speaker 1 (45:17):
Oh, he's a good Charlie.

Speaker 2 (45:21):
Taxes are guaranteed. We are all going to leave this
earth at one time. That is guaranteed. Nothing else is guaranteed.

Speaker 4 (45:32):
But you made it sound like he's ready to go.

Speaker 3 (45:35):
He's not.

Speaker 4 (45:35):
We don't know if he's gonna even play.

Speaker 1 (45:37):
They expect he said. What Joe Shane said is that
they think he should be ready. Obviously. Joe Shane himself said,
there could obviously be a setback, things could change, but
as of now, the expectation is he will be ready
for week one. Yeah, that's all. That's the information we
have to go off of, Charlie.

Speaker 2 (45:55):
What else should we go off?

Speaker 4 (45:56):
Well, he said, Look, all I'm saying is this is
not a lock to start. That's all on same And
I just want to say one other thing that I
have a little problem with Matt. You did it, John
did it too. You guys tell us who throws the
touchdown pass and who catches it, you know, like Wilson

(46:18):
through a touchdown pass to Robinson, But when someone throws
an interception, you never tell us who through the interception.
You said that Jones had a pick sifick. Matt, you
didn't tell us who threw that ball, and John didn't
tell us who threw that ball. Why don't you tell
us who throws the interception?

Speaker 1 (46:35):
I'll tell you.

Speaker 2 (46:36):
I'll tell you.

Speaker 7 (46:39):
Yeah, you can tell me.

Speaker 5 (46:40):
Now.

Speaker 4 (46:40):
I found that out through the Beat writers. But Matt,
you never mentioned it and John never mentioned it.

Speaker 3 (46:46):
Why don't you just not here?

Speaker 4 (46:49):
I know, Matt, I'm asking you. Why didn't you tell
us who through the interception?

Speaker 2 (46:53):
We were discussing what happened to practice today? You asked
a question, We answered it honestly, What do you want
from us? We're not ducking the question you asked me.

Speaker 4 (47:02):
Tell you asking Matt Paul. He did a little thing
on Twitter and he gave us a little breakdown and
he told us who threw the touchdown, but he never
told us who threw the interception. Why Matt didn't you tell?

Speaker 1 (47:16):
First of all, Charlie, you made your comment knowing very
well who threw it because it was all over Twitter.

Speaker 4 (47:24):
So did you say it?

Speaker 1 (47:25):
Why do you need me to say it?

Speaker 4 (47:27):
Because you're the BBK, You're the mouthpiece of the New
York Giant.

Speaker 1 (47:31):
I am the I am the mouthpiece of the New
York Giants. That's that's news to me.

Speaker 4 (47:36):
Why don't you tell us who throws interception. If you're
gonna tell us who throws the touchdown, you should tell
us who throws the interception. That's all I'm saying. It's
very simple. I don't know why you guys don't do that, Charlie.

Speaker 3 (47:50):
Charlie.

Speaker 2 (47:51):
I look, I don't want to speak on behalf of
team policy because that's not my place. I will simply
tell you you call up, you're on the program, If
you have a question, we will answer it. If we
cannot answer it, we will tell you we cannot answer
it because it's privileged information and we're.

Speaker 1 (48:09):
Not allowed to.

Speaker 2 (48:11):
I couldn't be more honest with you, Charlie. You asked,
you asked, I told you what. I don't understand. I
didn't I didn't hide anything.

Speaker 4 (48:22):
I understand. No, you didn't, Paul, but John didn't mention it,
and neither didn't Matt. And that is if you don't
tell me, then who who throws the touchdown? Path just
tell me who catches it, because if you're not going
to tell me who threw the interception, I don't want
to hear about it.

Speaker 1 (48:37):
But then you're gonna comment on my tweet saying, well,
who threw the touchdown?

Speaker 4 (48:41):
No, I'm not, because if you, if I know that
you're going to do that, then that's.

Speaker 2 (48:45):
The post Charlie. Anything else, No, that's it.

Speaker 4 (48:49):
Matt tell us who throws the interceptions from now on?

Speaker 1 (48:52):
Be good, Charlie, take care, Thank you, Charlie.

Speaker 2 (48:55):
Maybe if Charlie wants to make a couple of trips
down from me and he'll be able to see for himself,
But then again, he won't have the pleasure of reading
all the stuff that's out there online, which he obviously
takes great pleasure in doing.

Speaker 1 (49:06):
Me seriously, oh my.

Speaker 2 (49:10):
Again, folks, you know we have a policy here. I
know I've always had a policy, and I believe all
of us do. Whoever sits at this table. We will
answer every question honestly with you. And if we can't
answer you, we tell you. Privileged information is not something
that we can answer either. Stuff that's coming from inside
the building upstairs and bargoed information that you know the

(49:33):
team is going to have a press release on, well,
then it comes out when the release comes out. We've
never hid that from anybody. And furthermore, okay, furthermore, Charlie, again,
we've actually taken your phone calls for many, many years,
and we have answered everything that we can answer for you.
We've never ducked you here on this program, so I

(49:55):
don't think you need to get upset about it. Line too.
Charles and Maryland, you're next of the sh show.

Speaker 6 (50:02):
Good afternoon, gentlemen, long time listener and first time calling.

Speaker 2 (50:07):
Very kind of you to dial us.

Speaker 1 (50:08):
Thank you for calling us in.

Speaker 2 (50:11):
I know you how to follow him. I mean, what
a shame.

Speaker 6 (50:14):
Hopefully going from Charlie to Charles is a little bit
of a transition.

Speaker 2 (50:17):
Please please help us out here. Be nice.

Speaker 6 (50:21):
No, I did want to be nice, and I really
wanted to give you guys a sincere phone call and
thank you for everything that you guys do from the
Giants fan perspective. And I want to give you a
little anecdote when I went to Marine Corps boot camp
and you're there for you there for technically three months.

Speaker 2 (50:44):
Did you serve sir?

Speaker 6 (50:46):
Yes, sir twenty years.

Speaker 2 (50:47):
Well, thank you so much. We appreciate that. I always
say that to all of our military people. I had
family in the military and I have great, great, great respect,
So thank you, thank you, thank you.

Speaker 6 (50:59):
And they teach you something at boot camp that most
people never never forget because you're not supposed to think
of all three months otherwise you'll go crazy. So they
have a saying it's called Sunday to Sunday, child to child.
Every day, just focus on getting to the next meal,
and then at lunch, focus on getting to dinner, and
then dinner focus on getting to breakfast the next morning.

(51:20):
And then Sundays are great because it's a little bit
more lax than you get to go to church. So
that was the saying for three months, don't work, don't
think about twelve weeks, eleven weeks, ten weeks, think about
Sunday to Sunday, Child to child. And that is how
I've always viewed Big Blue Kickoffs Live. You get us
through off season, you get us through the OTA's, the

(51:44):
Combine training camps, and you just keep us going instead
of just going, oh, well, here's the super Bowl, now
you gotta wait till till preseason. No, We've got Big
Blue Kickoff Live to help us get there and keep
us informed of what's going through the Giants organization. And
as a huge, huge Giants fan, I just sincerely want

(52:07):
to say thank you from the bottom of my heart
and all the Giants fans out there, Well.

Speaker 2 (52:11):
That is an awfully nice thing to say. We appreciate that.
I never thought of us as a first aid ointment
for military camp bruises and bumps and wounds, but if
you want to equate it that way, we certainly do
appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (52:27):
Yes, thank you, Charles. That really does mean a lot
to absolutely.

Speaker 2 (52:32):
Anything else we can do for you today. Ohway's gone, Charles. Again,
thank you for the call, and please do call again.
And if you don't get out the training camp, you
know again, watch all the stuff. We have other stuff
online too. In fact, I need to remind folks the
Giants suddle is constantly up there, just full of all
kinds of interviews that John's doing with NFL and Giants personnel.

(52:55):
Is there something that went up today?

Speaker 1 (52:57):
Yes, today the Safeties Okay, and sat down with Tyler Nuban,
Javon Holland and Dane Belton.

Speaker 2 (53:06):
And you know what, if you haven't listened to Javon Holland,
do it. He is a very astute fella and with
his experience in this league, he's bringing a lot of
leadership to that room.

Speaker 1 (53:19):
Yeah, I think you will help tremendously with the growth
of those other two young safeties. On the podcast with
John and Tyler Nuban and Dane Belton, although it's the
fair tot still called Dane Belton young. He's now going
into year four.

Speaker 2 (53:32):
He's a young veteran.

Speaker 1 (53:33):
He's still on his rookie contract.

Speaker 2 (53:34):
So a young veteran.

Speaker 1 (53:35):
Yeah, young veterans.

Speaker 2 (53:36):
Okay, that's the way I go with with first contracts.
They are young veterans. When they get to the second contract,
they're just veterans. Yes, okay, we eliminate that first adjective.
Two on one nine three, nine four five one three,
Only a couple of minutes left on the program. If
you haven't called us and you want to sneak one
in there, just like Charles just did, we'd be glad

(53:57):
to take it real quick again this tomorrow. Now, if
you have your tickets, we understand the weather's supposed to
be terrific again. It's gonna be hot. There are canopies
over the aluminum bleachers out here at the field, so
the good news is you don't necessarily get scorched by
the sun, and they do have water stations right behind

(54:18):
the bleachers. Folks, Nobody wants to see anybody in jeopardy
or in an emergency situation, so please do hydrate. Coach
Coughlin would always scream it as players before a game, hydrate, hydrate.
He would sometimes have passed out gatorade bottles at the
lockers before the games himself. Don't be afraid to do that,
because the one thing you need to do under these

(54:40):
hot conditions is make sure you drink. Make sure you
drink water, get as much of it as you can.
We have watering stations out behind the bleachers all around
the practice fields, and please do partake if you're going
to come out. But the good news is there are
canopies over the bleachers, so again you don't worry about
getting sun drenched. You just worry about the heat.

Speaker 1 (55:02):
Yeah, which, as we said, it's supposed to get real
hot these next couple of days.

Speaker 2 (55:06):
Yeah. All right. Uh, we go up to line one
and it looks like we have Mike from Indiana. You're
next on the program.

Speaker 3 (55:16):
Hello, Hey, Paul, Hey Andrew, how are you guys doing
this day?

Speaker 2 (55:20):
Good to talk to you.

Speaker 1 (55:20):
What's up? Mike?

Speaker 6 (55:22):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (55:22):
Yeah, So something that has like really like strong my
curiosity this year compared to previous years, and you know,
looking at some of the other historic runs in the
history of the last forty to fifty years of the Giant,
the depth that we have on this roster this year,
it kind of seems like, like you all mentioned it before,

(55:45):
we actually had players that might get picked up off waivers,
you know, once training camp and the final fifty three
is released and all that. I'm really excited about the
depth that we have. And it almost feels like, you know,
barring you know, the offensive line, we got to get
five guys out there gelling together, working together, and Andrew
Thomas being the anchor point of that. But it almost

(56:06):
seems like all throughout the roster, you know, as far
as depth goes, you know, are ones and twos are
our ones and twos or our twos and threes are
what are ones and twos were last year? And like
we've made progress and we stepped up, We've made the
right roster moves this year. It just seems like it

(56:29):
like it kind of reminds me of like twenty sixteen,
the depth that we had back then whenever we had
a great run with a McAdoo and just the gel
of the team It's got me really excited about this depth.
But what do you think as far as like, is
there like one more piece or two or three more

(56:49):
pieces that we might need depth on, Like at what position?
What are we looking at, you know, like other than
like the offensive line having you know, like fourteen guys
on the roster right now, trying to get that down
to nine to ten.

Speaker 2 (57:03):
A lot of numbers there now. Yeah, I honestly, I
had been talking all season about maybe bringing you in
a veteran corner. I had been talking about that for
a while. Now. I think the coaches really want to
look at the guys they have now. They want to
push Banks. They want to see if they can get
a Flot to take another step from where he was.

(57:24):
And again, that's kind of a way to push Banks.
You know, I'm going to say this, Matt behind Phillips,
I don't know right now who the backup slot would be.
I would hate to see them put Flot back there
out of necessity like when he first came into the league,
because that's not a good position for him.

Speaker 1 (57:44):
No, No, I'm with you. If there is one position
that I would add, maybe one more body between now
and the start of the season, I guess it would
be bringing in the veteran corner help with that room. Again,
we like the top of the depth chart, but as
you mentioned, injury happened every single year, so it's good
to have guy proven guys ready to step up if

(58:05):
called upon. So that would probably be the number one
position for me. I don't think it's you know, a screaming,
blaring need, but it never hurts to have more depth.
And now, prior to yesterday, I maybe would have said
safety as well, but that fourth safety on the roster,
but I think there's a decent chance that Wallace, who
signed yesterday, could earn that spot. Again, he's a proven

(58:28):
veteran in this league. The only other position that I would,
I guess maybe consider would be tight end because obviously
I'm very I'm very encouraged by THEO Johnson, but it's
just behind him, there's gonna be a good competition between

(58:49):
you know, Manhurtz, Bellinger, Dulcich, Fidoni. But I wouldn't mind
potentially bringing in one more guy that can both block
and catch the ball to at least just compete. I'm
not saying it's got to be someone that is going
to be brought in to guarantee your roster spot too.
It's going to be hard just to increase the competition
a little bit.

Speaker 2 (59:09):
If you do ask a Vett to come in at
that spot, he's going to say, look, your tight end
room's already pretty full of pretty good guys. He's probably
not going to want to come.

Speaker 1 (59:17):
But after THEO Johnson, everything else seems to be up
for competition right now, the number two and number three
it is a good competition. But you know, Chris Manherts
Let's for example, he's probably not probably he is the
team's best blocking tight end, but in terms of his
pass catching ability, where would he ring between the crew

(59:38):
further down? And so you'd look at some of the
other guys. I mean, Fidoni, we haven't really seen him
do much yet, so it's unfair to put him in
the conversation. But you know, Daniel Bellinger after that, you know,
promising first half of his rookie season hasn't quite taken
the next step that you know, we would have hoped
he would have taken by now going into year four.
So again that's me kind of reaching as by third

(01:00:03):
position that I would maybe consider bringing someone in just
for competition, but really, if there were any position, it
would be cornerback.

Speaker 3 (01:00:11):
Yeah, all right, thanks for the entail for how to
the state of the rosters in right now. So thank
you guys. I hope you all have a great rest
of your day.

Speaker 2 (01:00:18):
Appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (01:00:19):
Thanks, thanks for getting in.

Speaker 2 (01:00:21):
Just before we sign off, I'm gonna go real quick
to our final question that came in online through the
YouTube Programming Network, because folks, we do stream both on
giants dot Com, the app and also on the YouTube channel.
That's been something we kind of brought in some months ago.
Excuse me, I'm sorry, and it's going very well, Terry
A says Tyler. Nupen had a BALLHWK reputation coming out

(01:00:43):
of college out of course with the Minnesota Golfers, which
ivon Holland now in the mix. How do you see
Nupen getting back to that playmaking form this season. Well,
to be honest with you, Holland has only one interception
in his career, despite the fact that he makes a
lot of plays. What people have told me in Miami
is that he'll make impactful plays. They may not be

(01:01:06):
highlight plays that you'll see at the end of the
night on highlight reels. In other words, turnover plays, force fumbles,
fumble recoveries, interceptions. You may not see those, but he
may be the guy who fills a hole on a
third and one, comes in on safety blitz and makes
the tackle to prevent the first down. It turns out
to be a big play in the game, but it's

(01:01:26):
not a highlight play that you're going to see on
sports set. So that's what people tell me about Holland.
He'll make impactful plays, but they may not be statistical plays.
You know, they won't be stats to identify those plays.
So I see no reason why, you know, with Holland
back there, the veteran that he is and helping to

(01:01:46):
set the defense, that Nuban maybe you know, has an
opportunity to make some more interceptions.

Speaker 1 (01:01:52):
Yeah, I mean in terms of how Holland directly could
impact Nuben's you know, interception total this year you mentioned it.
I think obviously has shown the ability throughout his NFL
career to play at the line of scrimmage, which Tyler
Nuben was asked to do sometimes last year. If he's
given the ability to more you know, serve in the
secondary and just sort of be that ballhawk waiting for

(01:02:15):
the quarterback to throw a slightly error pass. That's obviously
going to lead to more opportunities for him to create
turnovers or takeaways. And not only that, but potentially more
of an impact on Tyler Nuben's interceptions than Javon Holland.
I would say was be the pass rush. Yeah, the
pass rush is very true. Every we haven't spoken about
the pass rush at all this today. So that's why

(01:02:36):
I feel like at the very end, I got to
squeeze it in.

Speaker 2 (01:02:38):
We could go one day without it.

Speaker 1 (01:02:39):
I don't know if we can. I don't know if
we can. But the ability especially wants come out for sure.
But the ability that we think this especially the starting
front four is going to have in being able to
get after the quarterback pressure the quarterback, force the quarterback
to make mistakes and Aaron throws. That's going to lead
to more take away opportunities for Tyler Neuban, for Paulson

(01:03:03):
adebo Holo, at all the cornerbacks, everyone, even the linebackers.
There's going to be more takeover potential. Obviously if the
pass rush at the front is able to get the
quarterback constantly under duress, which as Dexa Lawrence said today,
the defense in the pass rush has not done anything yet.
Everyone's crowning in a you know, we've both said it

(01:03:25):
too that this pass rush has the potential to be elite. Well,
Dexa Lawrence made it very clear today that unit has
not done anything yet. They've done Dittai Squad. He's challenging them,
and he challenged them. He's like, we treat every single
day as if it's the super Bowl coming up. So
I'm just excited to see what that front can do
and how it's going to help impact in a positive

(01:03:45):
way the entire defense, all three levels.

Speaker 2 (01:03:47):
All right, that'll do it for this edition, A Big
Blue Kickoff Live presented by Cadillac, the official luxury vehicles
with the New York Football Giants. You can get an
archive of this show on the Giants mobile app podcast
platforms every Wearing at Giants dot com, Slash Podcasts from
the Giants Podcast Studio presented by Hackensack Meridian Health. Keep
getting Better, He's mat Sidetech on Poldatino. We'll see you

(01:04:10):
next time.