June 6, 2025 • 16 mins
On this episode of the Giants Huddle podcast, John Schmeelk chats with Giants beat reporter from Newsday, Evan Barnes. He discusses the potential of this Giants defense, the rookie class, and the quarterback room.
:00 - Giants defense
4:39 - offseason additions
6:24 - Russell Wilson
10:05 - Jaxson Dart
11:22 - WRs and RBs
14:10 - Offensive line
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time to get inside the Giants. Hulet's go, Let's go,
Let's go. Get the Giants bubbling, give me some jobs.
Part of the Giants podcast Network.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Let's roll.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Welcome to another justition of the Giants Little podcast brought
to you by Citizens, the official bank of the Giants.
Are coming from our podcast studio, which is presented by Hacking,
Sack of Verty and Health Keep getting Better. New guests today,
new to the beat you came in.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
With last December.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
December.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Yeah, So we're joined by Evan Barnes. He covers the
Giants for Newsday.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
He took over for Kim Jones a little more than
halfway through last season. So how has it been first
offseason trying to kind of figure out what the New
York Giants are all about?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I tell you it's it's been cool kind of learning
some things. I mean, it's been a chance to kind
of see how the Giants are doing things, how the
NFL does things with their schedule, because obviously I've been
so used to an NBA calendar covering the Nets. So
it's a lot to learn in this offseason. Like it's
not you know, there's more practices, there are more things
of that nature. But it's been pretty fun.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Yeah, you mentioned it, so you covered the nets. What
do you think, from your opinion, are the biggest differences
between covering an NBA team versus an NFL team.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
This is in the off season.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
That you can actually go to right right like the nets.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
For example, like when they were done they hired a
new coach last off season, we couldn't see any of it.
The first time we saw anything was really Summer League,
so that was like two months after they hired a
month after they hired their coach. Now we get to
have more practices with the Giants, so I could see
a little bit more. We can see Jackson, Dardum, Dual
card In, some of these guys, a little bit more,
see really the new additions because in the NBA you
(01:23):
don't get to see the free agents until preseason really,
so this has been kind of great.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yeah, I gotta imagine.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
And then you were at the Senior Ball I remember correctly, right,
I was, And you were at the Combine as well. No,
you're at the Senior Bowl. Is that kind of like
NBA Summer League where you have kind of everybody there
and it's kind of like an NFFL convention the same
way Summer League is kind of like an NBA convention.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
I'll say in that sense, yes, like there were a
lot of people there. Obviously it's definitely a little bit
different because you know the little nuances, but it does
feel similar where it's a lot of people there. There
were a lot of you know, teams, lots to learn,
a lot to see. It is like, wow, this is
a not a meat market, but definitely was a good
exposure to see a lot of people around the.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
League combine is more beat market eve that they and
Mobile Alabama, not quite Las Vegas. For the people that
have been in the boat for both places a little
bit different, not exactly, no, not quite the same thing.
All right, So what's your let me start here. You
popped in late last year. Obviously the Giants did not
have a good year. They did not win a lot
of football games. Go without saying, what was your impression
(02:27):
of the locker room and how guys were interacting with
each other and things of that nature. So I think
it's actually valuable sometimes to have fresh eyes on it
that hasn't been through this like we have the last
few years.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yeah, I mean I was only here for five games.
But what you could tell is there was not a
lot of guys pointing fingers or name calling. There was
a lot of you know, trying to stay unified for
the mission. Obviously it's hard to be on a losing team.
There was a lot of excitement, but you could tell
that there was still a togetherness. I would say there
wasn't since a guy's drifting apart or things of that nature.
(02:58):
You can tell that when a bad team a bad team,
sometimes guys can go for theirs or whatever. But you
really saw a togetherness and I think for me it
was a good way to get to see how did
this team handle adversity because obviously a lot of losing
drains you know.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
As you look at the offseason as a hole and
what the Giants have done free agency, draft, etc. What
stands out to you the most that you think can
be used as a guidepost for fans as they think
about the twenty twenty five seasons.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
I think the defense. I mean, we we were here
at the end of the season when John Merrick came
out and basically said, you know, he was really disappointed
with the defense.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Tired of watching teams march up and down the freight.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
He singled them out. So you look at how much
money will spend on the defense, getting Pulse Debo, Javon Holland,
Johnson Goldston, all these guys. I think the key is
fancial to see house this defense is going to get better?
Is this defense going to be an improvement where you know,
you can get some takeaways, you can get some playmakers,
you know, playmakers doing those things. That's gonna be what
I'm looking for. I think fan shall look forward too,
because this defense spent a lot of money to get
(03:58):
these guys in. You want to return on that investment
right away.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
And we heard from Shane Bowen today.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
He spoke to the media and he pretty much said
that right One of the last things he said in
that press commence is that we need to take the
ball away a lot better. And that seems to be
they got the treasure chest thing going. That seems to
be a real focus of the defense in the offseason.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yeah, And it's funny you say it, cause it reminds
you of like college where college teams have like the
takeaway gimmerick or whatever. Hey, whatever you gotta do to
help keep guys motivated do it because this team struggled,
Like I think the first game I covered was one
of the games where they got to take away with
broke the streak of eleven straight games. I think, so
they need more takeaways. They're emphasizing it. And you got guys,
you know how to get the ball like a DdO,
especially huddle up and get in here. If you're lined
(04:36):
up here, you gotta go over the middle with at
the score great. How do we make that happen?
Speaker 1 (04:42):
I don't know, but citizens?
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Does it makes sense of your money with citizens Official
Bank of Eli Manning.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
And look, you know we heard from Brian Burns today
as well and from the coordinator. Everyone seems legitimately excited.
Everyone always says they're excited, but you can tell what
the intidation of their and how they say it. People
seem legitimately excited about the veteran editions in the secondary,
first and foremost in Holland and Deebo and then just
having abdual quarter is a chess piece up front. I
(05:11):
think the belief seems to be from the coaches and
the veterans in the locker room that this defense can
just do a lot more. This year in terms of execution,
but also in terms of things you can try to
do based on the personnel they brought in.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Absolutely, and let's be honest, this team has wont super
Bowls on the backs of his defense. Right. They've had
great defensive players in the past who have made this
franchise what it is. So if you add some players
who can raise the caliber and the guys who are
here who can meet that mark, I think that's where
this identity of this team really wants to be.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
What's your early impressions of abdual Quarter.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
He's something, isn't he. That's not like I say, He's
something like obviously it's pads and we're not you know,
we're not seeing guys you know, ten Orf for whatever.
But you just see him. He just he loves it.
Like I saw some energy from him at one practice
where I was like, oh, he really gets it. He
wants to be out there doing these things. He looks
like he can definitely be an impact right away.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
And he has an edge to him.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
But just when you talk to him, he just seems
like not that he's not a good dude, he just
seems very serious, like he is very, very locked in
wanting to be a really good football player.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Yeah, and I'll talk to his D line coach at
Penn State and he basically said, look, when he wants
to do something, he said on it like he went
to Penn State, wanted the eleven jersey that a lot
of players of Warner. He wanted it, he worked for it,
got it, and lived up to it. So I think
for him, when he has a goal he wants to meet,
he wants to go for it. So I think that's
something that impresses me is he's driven, he wants to
get better, and most importantly, he's hungry, Like, yeah, that's
(06:32):
what you want to see at of the univer three pick.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
All right, let's jump over to the offensive side of
the wall. But first or reminded that Gihants Little Podcast
is brought to you by Citizens, the official bank of
the Giants, from game day celebrations to your everyday financial needs,
Big Blue Fans and get the most out everyone with Citizens.
Learn more Citizens Bank, top bag dot Com, slash Giants.
All right, let's go to the offensive side of the ball. Obviously,
the big move this offseason in free agency at least
was bringing in Russell Wilson a lot of the other
(06:55):
offensive pieces aside from the quarterback room, and we'll talk
about that mostly today. I mean the same, there weren't
that many other dishes Russell Wilson. It's like somebody programmed
the guy to play quarterback the way he talks.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
And I'm making that as a comment.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Like he he knows how to answer every question, the
way he wants to answer the questions, the way he
you see him in practice go up to every teammate
and have something different to say.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
To each guy.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Is he's just like a guy that's like born to
play that specific position.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I think so. And you know, obviously I wasn't covering
the NFL, but just watching him, obviously knowing of him,
you see that leadership. You see that sense of I
want to get to know every player. I'm not afraid
to mention every teammate, every person that I come in
contact with.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
And he does do that and his answers by the
way he does, he's I think today if I'd have
mentioned twenty five different players thus prescottin well.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
I mean that's more than he mentioned. It is a
zoom problem. Like he was the name dropping everybody. I
was like wow, But it shows you the care that
he has about the details. And I think if you're
a fan, you say, if he cares as much about
this detail, what's he going to care about in the
locker room, what's he gonna care about in the meeting room.
That's you want to see that, So you may look
at it and say he does say a lot. He
feels like he's very programmed, but the details matter and
(08:06):
he cares about that, and he's got to ring to
prove it.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
And it does seem like he has one of the
Robinson spoke today, but even from hearing from the other players,
he has naturally assumed a leadership role on this team
very very quickly.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Yeah, Like clearly the guys have talked about how much
as soon as you know, as soon as he got signed,
he goes to work out with Jalen Hyde and Darius
Slayton and Theo Johnson. Like the guys understand Russell Wilson's here.
There's a different poise, a sense of him, like there's
a sense of he knows who he is, what he's
done in this league, but he also wants to get
better every day. Russ talked about like he's not worried
about you know, Jackson Dart behind him as much as
(08:41):
I'm trying to be the best person I can be
every day. And I think that singular focus is impressive
and needed on this team because you need to have
that kind of change at quarterback, you know, to kind
of spice things up and get things going a little bit.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Yeah, I thought it was interesting.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
One of the Robinson spoke today about how when they
went to throw with him in Atlanta in the offseason,
him and Slaton were talking afterwards and they both said, boy,
this was even better than we thought it was going
to be.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, geez, like, when they're talking that
highly of somebody, you know that, Okay, they've been around,
they see things. They're not just doing hyperbole. They see
it and if it's important that they see it, because
obviously you could sell to the fans, oh, Russell Wilson's here,
you know whatever. But when the players see it and
they're obviously excited about it, that tells you, Okay, there's
reason to get behind Russ and what he can bring.
Obviously we know what he was the last few years
(09:26):
in Denver and Pittsburgh, but what can happen on a
team where you already have the talent, you bring in
a change of quarterback who knows you know.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
How do you feel about how they've navigated their way
in the draft to wind up with Jackson.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Dark I thought it was brilliant. We had heard that
they were trying to move into the first round, but
I thought it was brilliant and how really didn't give
up too much two third round picks. Okay, that's fine.
You got a quarterback you can groom. We've talked about it,
and I've heard it as I got here, how much
Brian Abele would love to have a quarterback that he
can kind of groom and build and show the quarterback
guru label that he's had. You get aquarterback who is
(10:00):
played a lot of football, who's experienced that they're really
high on. We just talked to assistant GM Brandon Brown
about how much they were really high on Jackson Dart.
So now the chips are here and you say, hey,
you got your guy. Let's see this process play out.
How do you groom this quarterback?
Speaker 3 (10:15):
And the one thing I've noticed when him in practice,
and I cautious fans of this all the time, like
results from these OTAs guys it's a passing camp and
guys are fans. Don't take that too seriously. Yes, I
am impressed with his natural athletic ability. He moves very smoothly.
He's flexible, He's able to roll left, throw right. He
just seems to be a very fluid athlete with the
way he moves in the pocket.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
He does and you can see him, you know, when
the play, you know, breaks down, he can get out
of the pocket and move around a little bit. That's
gonna be an interesting dynamic. I think, you know, you
want to see a quarterback that can move in this era, like,
not just someone who can stand there, read a play sheet,
throw downfield. You want to see a guy who can
extend plays.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
And it's funny.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
There was a play earlier and won the ROMs in
reference in today where he kind of like dives for
the pilot out of play and Robinson's like, yeah, he
needs to chill with that. The nfled out. You're a quarterback.
You can't be like dive it and doing all sorts
of crazy stuff in practice.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
No, someone have to teach him how to slide. Don't
know if he has baseball in his resume.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
He does actually actually played baseball in high school.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Well there you go, so it's time to get back
to those rules, like you gotta slid and not die.
Let's let your feet capt somebody, not your shoulder.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
If you want to know how to manage two minutes
of crunch time football, I'm your man.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
But if you're wondering about a long term financial plan,
you should talk to citizens.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Hey, I can also talk long care.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
I'd like to learn about an Mollia routine. Yes, I
knew I.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Could help make sense of your money with citizens. Yeah,
absolutely right. The league neighbors Russell Wilson has been has
had high praise for He's had high praise for everybody,
but he's had high praise for the league neighbors for sure.
What else do you think we'll be able to see
from neighbors with the different quarterback room, and how he's
gonna be able to mesh with with Wilson Winston, who
(11:49):
we didn't even talk about, and then be you know,
Jackson Dart along the way. I think I think Russell
Wilson is going to trust to throw the ball to
him even when he's covered, and that's going to give
him a lot opportunities.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
I think so I mean, you look the fact that
Neighbors put up all those numbers with four different quarterbacks
throwing him the ball last season. What's it gonna be
when you have not just one quarterback, but someone who
has success in the league, who can get guys open,
who can throw that deep ball. I mean, we didn't
get to see Neighbors really go downfield as much. I saw,
you know, I saw the Colts game where he was
able to go deep, but he didn't really have a
lot of There were a lot of deep passes and
(12:19):
deep plays in this offense last year. Now you see that.
I think the sky's the limit for what Maleae can
do and how you can build on last season where
you have to kind of adjust and work with different quarterbacks.
Now you got one guy's the limit for him.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Yeah, and look he's been very Russe Wilson was positive
about Jalen Hyde as well.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
He's had some really nice moments in the spring.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
But I think you hit something interesting where I think
a big reason they wanted to bring in Russell Wilson
and the way they talked about it, We're gonna see
a lot more downfield passes this year. I just think
you're one of the best deep ball throwers. One of
the Robinson talked about how we just got the ball
perfectly in the bucket. Yeah exactly. I think this is
gonna be a much more high variance offense. I think
(12:57):
they're gonna try to run a lot play action, but
when they throw the ball, this is not gonna be
dunk and dunk time in the past game.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
They're gonna throw the ball downfield.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
And I think that's what people want to see. They
want to see this offense open up a little bit more,
be exciting, and really players like that too.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
But I think Dables wanted to see it. For the
last two years, he just hasn't been able to get
his quarterback.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yeah exactly. So you get Russell Wilson, not just for
his leadership, but yeah, he could throw that deep ball.
I mean, let's see Jalen Hyatt what he can do.
Let's see what he can do with Iman Slayton. I mean, yeah, sure,
I'm excited to see that. As a reporter. If a
fans excited shoots, that's amazing.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
I found two questions on the offense. How do you
see this running back group sorting itself out in terms
of how they're gonna utilize all three or four guys,
depending on how many they keep.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Yeah, I mean, I'd love to see kind of a
you know, I heard people talk about a thunder and lightning,
with Scotty will be in the thunder to Tracy being lightning.
But let's not forget Devin Singletary's here too, So I'd
like to see him mixing all three of them, because
I think with football now, you don't want to see
a bell cow unless if a really special talent. You
want to see a guy you can mix in another
guy who can mix and keep them all fresh. And
then if you need to wear somebody down, oh you
(13:57):
got Scotty here. You know who can do that. So
I like to see a mix of that. I want
to see. Obviously, Kent's gotta fit into this offense right away,
and how will Tracy improve from last season where he
had over a thousand scrimmage yards. And obviously Singletary, we
want to see kind of what he can do because
obviously the Giants didn't bring him here for no reason.
They believe in him, so let's see how he can
bounce back with the year two in the system. So
I'm excited to how the running backs. There's a lot
(14:18):
of options here.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
That's really Yeah, I'm with you. Final question, offensive line.
This has been the bugaboo for this franchise for a
long time. You weren't here for the first sixty games,
six games last year. Whe it actually did look pretty
good when you were here, did not look very good.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
I was hearing the injuries.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
So how do you view this group?
Speaker 3 (14:36):
How set do you think that starting five is? And
do you think players if they play well enough when
we get to the summer and the pads come on
and you know it's actually real football, not just guys
run around the T shirts, that guys can maybe fight
their way into that starting line, specifically at that right
guard spot where where kind of Greg Venrooz.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Yeah, I was gonna say, you know, for me, obviously
we want to see Andrew Thomas looks like when he
gets healthy, that's gonna be the biggest key. But obviously
a lot of attentions on that guard. Obviously Greg van
Rode in his back, Evan Neil's gonna be moving to guard.
I kind of want to see how does Evan Neil
fit into this obviously position change from taple a guard.
How will he fit, how will he adjust? It's not easy,
Greg Greg Van Roone told us that the other day, like,
it's not easy playing guard. But I want to see
(15:14):
what Evan Neil can do. Obviously with you know, Krodrack
on the line and everything like that, but I want
to see how this group meshes together and see if
they can stay healthy because we haven't really been able
to see that what Andrew Thomas getting hurt the lastuple years.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Yeah, just a quick follow up.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
I think what Brandon Brown said about what their expectations
are for the guard position in terms of Evan was valuable.
Where you don't want him get into the second level
trying to pick out linebackers and move to those guys.
You want him as the guy that protects the depth
of the pocket and also a guy that can physically
move people.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
So I feel like if he ends up claiming that spot.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
You're gonna see a lot more double teams, power and
things like that where he's not kind of getting in
there in space where they're trying to keep more in
that fune booth area.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
That makes sense, and obviously he's such a big guy,
you know, that could be an advance for him. You know,
clearing out some ways or just kind of holding that
pocket type.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Absolutely, Evan, this was fun man. Good getting to meet you.
It's good having you on the beat. Pleasure. Thank you
forciate it. Glad to be here.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
That's the Johns Total Podcast, brought to you by Citizens
Official Bank of the Giants. Thank you for joining us
in the Hackensack and Mariney Health Podcast Studio.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Keep getting better. We'll see you next time.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Everybody,
It's time to get inside the Giants. Hulet's go, Let's go,
Let's go. Get the Giants bubbling, give me some jobs.
Part of the Giants podcast Network.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Let's roll.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Welcome to another justition of the Giants Little podcast brought
to you by Citizens, the official bank of the Giants.
Are coming from our podcast studio, which is presented by Hacking,
Sack of Verty and Health Keep getting Better. New guests today,
new to the beat you came in.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
With last December.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
December.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Yeah, So we're joined by Evan Barnes. He covers the
Giants for Newsday.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
He took over for Kim Jones a little more than
halfway through last season. So how has it been first
offseason trying to kind of figure out what the New
York Giants are all about?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
I tell you it's it's been cool kind of learning
some things. I mean, it's been a chance to kind
of see how the Giants are doing things, how the
NFL does things with their schedule, because obviously I've been
so used to an NBA calendar covering the Nets. So
it's a lot to learn in this offseason. Like it's
not you know, there's more practices, there are more things
of that nature. But it's been pretty fun.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Yeah, you mentioned it, so you covered the nets. What
do you think, from your opinion, are the biggest differences
between covering an NBA team versus an NFL team.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
This is in the off season.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
That you can actually go to right right like the nets.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
For example, like when they were done they hired a
new coach last off season, we couldn't see any of it.
The first time we saw anything was really Summer League,
so that was like two months after they hired a
month after they hired their coach. Now we get to
have more practices with the Giants, so I could see
a little bit more. We can see Jackson, Dardum, Dual
card In, some of these guys, a little bit more,
see really the new additions because in the NBA you
(01:23):
don't get to see the free agents until preseason really,
so this has been kind of great.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yeah, I gotta imagine.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
And then you were at the Senior Ball I remember correctly, right,
I was, And you were at the Combine as well. No,
you're at the Senior Bowl. Is that kind of like
NBA Summer League where you have kind of everybody there
and it's kind of like an NFFL convention the same
way Summer League is kind of like an NBA convention.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
I'll say in that sense, yes, like there were a
lot of people there. Obviously it's definitely a little bit
different because you know the little nuances, but it does
feel similar where it's a lot of people there. There
were a lot of you know, teams, lots to learn,
a lot to see. It is like, wow, this is
a not a meat market, but definitely was a good
exposure to see a lot of people around the.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
League combine is more beat market eve that they and
Mobile Alabama, not quite Las Vegas. For the people that
have been in the boat for both places a little
bit different, not exactly, no, not quite the same thing.
All right, So what's your let me start here. You
popped in late last year. Obviously the Giants did not
have a good year. They did not win a lot
of football games. Go without saying, what was your impression
(02:27):
of the locker room and how guys were interacting with
each other and things of that nature. So I think
it's actually valuable sometimes to have fresh eyes on it
that hasn't been through this like we have the last
few years.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yeah, I mean I was only here for five games.
But what you could tell is there was not a
lot of guys pointing fingers or name calling. There was
a lot of you know, trying to stay unified for
the mission. Obviously it's hard to be on a losing team.
There was a lot of excitement, but you could tell
that there was still a togetherness. I would say there
wasn't since a guy's drifting apart or things of that nature.
(02:58):
You can tell that when a bad team a bad team,
sometimes guys can go for theirs or whatever. But you
really saw a togetherness and I think for me it
was a good way to get to see how did
this team handle adversity because obviously a lot of losing
drains you know.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
As you look at the offseason as a hole and
what the Giants have done free agency, draft, etc. What
stands out to you the most that you think can
be used as a guidepost for fans as they think
about the twenty twenty five seasons.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
I think the defense. I mean, we we were here
at the end of the season when John Merrick came
out and basically said, you know, he was really disappointed
with the defense.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Tired of watching teams march up and down the freight.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
He singled them out. So you look at how much
money will spend on the defense, getting Pulse Debo, Javon Holland,
Johnson Goldston, all these guys. I think the key is
fancial to see house this defense is going to get better?
Is this defense going to be an improvement where you know,
you can get some takeaways, you can get some playmakers,
you know, playmakers doing those things. That's gonna be what
I'm looking for. I think fan shall look forward too,
because this defense spent a lot of money to get
(03:58):
these guys in. You want to return on that investment
right away.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
And we heard from Shane Bowen today.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
He spoke to the media and he pretty much said
that right One of the last things he said in
that press commence is that we need to take the
ball away a lot better. And that seems to be
they got the treasure chest thing going. That seems to
be a real focus of the defense in the offseason.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yeah, And it's funny you say it, cause it reminds
you of like college where college teams have like the
takeaway gimmerick or whatever. Hey, whatever you gotta do to
help keep guys motivated do it because this team struggled,
Like I think the first game I covered was one
of the games where they got to take away with
broke the streak of eleven straight games. I think, so
they need more takeaways. They're emphasizing it. And you got guys,
you know how to get the ball like a DdO,
especially huddle up and get in here. If you're lined
(04:36):
up here, you gotta go over the middle with at
the score great. How do we make that happen?
Speaker 1 (04:42):
I don't know, but citizens?
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Does it makes sense of your money with citizens Official
Bank of Eli Manning.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
And look, you know we heard from Brian Burns today
as well and from the coordinator. Everyone seems legitimately excited.
Everyone always says they're excited, but you can tell what
the intidation of their and how they say it. People
seem legitimately excited about the veteran editions in the secondary,
first and foremost in Holland and Deebo and then just
having abdual quarter is a chess piece up front. I
(05:11):
think the belief seems to be from the coaches and
the veterans in the locker room that this defense can
just do a lot more. This year in terms of execution,
but also in terms of things you can try to
do based on the personnel they brought in.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Absolutely, and let's be honest, this team has wont super
Bowls on the backs of his defense. Right. They've had
great defensive players in the past who have made this
franchise what it is. So if you add some players
who can raise the caliber and the guys who are
here who can meet that mark, I think that's where
this identity of this team really wants to be.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
What's your early impressions of abdual Quarter.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
He's something, isn't he. That's not like I say, He's
something like obviously it's pads and we're not you know,
we're not seeing guys you know, ten Orf for whatever.
But you just see him. He just he loves it.
Like I saw some energy from him at one practice
where I was like, oh, he really gets it. He
wants to be out there doing these things. He looks
like he can definitely be an impact right away.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
And he has an edge to him.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
But just when you talk to him, he just seems
like not that he's not a good dude, he just
seems very serious, like he is very, very locked in
wanting to be a really good football player.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Yeah, and I'll talk to his D line coach at
Penn State and he basically said, look, when he wants
to do something, he said on it like he went
to Penn State, wanted the eleven jersey that a lot
of players of Warner. He wanted it, he worked for it,
got it, and lived up to it. So I think
for him, when he has a goal he wants to meet,
he wants to go for it. So I think that's
something that impresses me is he's driven, he wants to
get better, and most importantly, he's hungry, Like, yeah, that's
(06:32):
what you want to see at of the univer three pick.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
All right, let's jump over to the offensive side of
the wall. But first or reminded that Gihants Little Podcast
is brought to you by Citizens, the official bank of
the Giants, from game day celebrations to your everyday financial needs,
Big Blue Fans and get the most out everyone with Citizens.
Learn more Citizens Bank, top bag dot Com, slash Giants.
All right, let's go to the offensive side of the ball. Obviously,
the big move this offseason in free agency at least
was bringing in Russell Wilson a lot of the other
(06:55):
offensive pieces aside from the quarterback room, and we'll talk
about that mostly today. I mean the same, there weren't
that many other dishes Russell Wilson. It's like somebody programmed
the guy to play quarterback the way he talks.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
And I'm making that as a comment.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Like he he knows how to answer every question, the
way he wants to answer the questions, the way he
you see him in practice go up to every teammate
and have something different to say.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
To each guy.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Is he's just like a guy that's like born to
play that specific position.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I think so. And you know, obviously I wasn't covering
the NFL, but just watching him, obviously knowing of him,
you see that leadership. You see that sense of I
want to get to know every player. I'm not afraid
to mention every teammate, every person that I come in
contact with.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
And he does do that and his answers by the
way he does, he's I think today if I'd have
mentioned twenty five different players thus prescottin well.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
I mean that's more than he mentioned. It is a
zoom problem. Like he was the name dropping everybody. I
was like wow, But it shows you the care that
he has about the details. And I think if you're
a fan, you say, if he cares as much about
this detail, what's he going to care about in the
locker room, what's he gonna care about in the meeting room.
That's you want to see that, So you may look
at it and say he does say a lot. He
feels like he's very programmed, but the details matter and
(08:06):
he cares about that, and he's got to ring to
prove it.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
And it does seem like he has one of the
Robinson spoke today, but even from hearing from the other players,
he has naturally assumed a leadership role on this team
very very quickly.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Yeah, Like clearly the guys have talked about how much
as soon as you know, as soon as he got signed,
he goes to work out with Jalen Hyde and Darius
Slayton and Theo Johnson. Like the guys understand Russell Wilson's here.
There's a different poise, a sense of him, like there's
a sense of he knows who he is, what he's
done in this league, but he also wants to get
better every day. Russ talked about like he's not worried
about you know, Jackson Dart behind him as much as
(08:41):
I'm trying to be the best person I can be
every day. And I think that singular focus is impressive
and needed on this team because you need to have
that kind of change at quarterback, you know, to kind
of spice things up and get things going a little bit.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Yeah, I thought it was interesting.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
One of the Robinson spoke today about how when they
went to throw with him in Atlanta in the offseason,
him and Slaton were talking afterwards and they both said, boy,
this was even better than we thought it was going
to be.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, geez, like, when they're talking that
highly of somebody, you know that, Okay, they've been around,
they see things. They're not just doing hyperbole. They see
it and if it's important that they see it, because
obviously you could sell to the fans, oh, Russell Wilson's here,
you know whatever. But when the players see it and
they're obviously excited about it, that tells you, Okay, there's
reason to get behind Russ and what he can bring.
Obviously we know what he was the last few years
(09:26):
in Denver and Pittsburgh, but what can happen on a
team where you already have the talent, you bring in
a change of quarterback who knows you know.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
How do you feel about how they've navigated their way
in the draft to wind up with Jackson.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Dark I thought it was brilliant. We had heard that
they were trying to move into the first round, but
I thought it was brilliant and how really didn't give
up too much two third round picks. Okay, that's fine.
You got a quarterback you can groom. We've talked about it,
and I've heard it as I got here, how much
Brian Abele would love to have a quarterback that he
can kind of groom and build and show the quarterback
guru label that he's had. You get aquarterback who is
(10:00):
played a lot of football, who's experienced that they're really
high on. We just talked to assistant GM Brandon Brown
about how much they were really high on Jackson Dart.
So now the chips are here and you say, hey,
you got your guy. Let's see this process play out.
How do you groom this quarterback?
Speaker 3 (10:15):
And the one thing I've noticed when him in practice,
and I cautious fans of this all the time, like
results from these OTAs guys it's a passing camp and
guys are fans. Don't take that too seriously. Yes, I
am impressed with his natural athletic ability. He moves very smoothly.
He's flexible, He's able to roll left, throw right. He
just seems to be a very fluid athlete with the
way he moves in the pocket.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
He does and you can see him, you know, when
the play, you know, breaks down, he can get out
of the pocket and move around a little bit. That's
gonna be an interesting dynamic. I think, you know, you
want to see a quarterback that can move in this era, like,
not just someone who can stand there, read a play sheet,
throw downfield. You want to see a guy who can
extend plays.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
And it's funny.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
There was a play earlier and won the ROMs in
reference in today where he kind of like dives for
the pilot out of play and Robinson's like, yeah, he
needs to chill with that. The nfled out. You're a quarterback.
You can't be like dive it and doing all sorts
of crazy stuff in practice.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
No, someone have to teach him how to slide. Don't
know if he has baseball in his resume.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
He does actually actually played baseball in high school.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Well there you go, so it's time to get back
to those rules, like you gotta slid and not die.
Let's let your feet capt somebody, not your shoulder.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
If you want to know how to manage two minutes
of crunch time football, I'm your man.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
But if you're wondering about a long term financial plan,
you should talk to citizens.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Hey, I can also talk long care.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
I'd like to learn about an Mollia routine. Yes, I
knew I.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Could help make sense of your money with citizens. Yeah,
absolutely right. The league neighbors Russell Wilson has been has
had high praise for He's had high praise for everybody,
but he's had high praise for the league neighbors for sure.
What else do you think we'll be able to see
from neighbors with the different quarterback room, and how he's
gonna be able to mesh with with Wilson Winston, who
(11:49):
we didn't even talk about, and then be you know,
Jackson Dart along the way. I think I think Russell
Wilson is going to trust to throw the ball to
him even when he's covered, and that's going to give
him a lot opportunities.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
I think so I mean, you look the fact that
Neighbors put up all those numbers with four different quarterbacks
throwing him the ball last season. What's it gonna be
when you have not just one quarterback, but someone who
has success in the league, who can get guys open,
who can throw that deep ball. I mean, we didn't
get to see Neighbors really go downfield as much. I saw,
you know, I saw the Colts game where he was
able to go deep, but he didn't really have a
lot of There were a lot of deep passes and
(12:19):
deep plays in this offense last year. Now you see that.
I think the sky's the limit for what Maleae can
do and how you can build on last season where
you have to kind of adjust and work with different quarterbacks.
Now you got one guy's the limit for him.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Yeah, and look he's been very Russe Wilson was positive
about Jalen Hyde as well.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
He's had some really nice moments in the spring.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
But I think you hit something interesting where I think
a big reason they wanted to bring in Russell Wilson
and the way they talked about it, We're gonna see
a lot more downfield passes this year. I just think
you're one of the best deep ball throwers. One of
the Robinson talked about how we just got the ball
perfectly in the bucket. Yeah exactly. I think this is
gonna be a much more high variance offense. I think
(12:57):
they're gonna try to run a lot play action, but
when they throw the ball, this is not gonna be
dunk and dunk time in the past game.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
They're gonna throw the ball downfield.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
And I think that's what people want to see. They
want to see this offense open up a little bit more,
be exciting, and really players like that too.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
But I think Dables wanted to see it. For the
last two years, he just hasn't been able to get
his quarterback.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yeah exactly. So you get Russell Wilson, not just for
his leadership, but yeah, he could throw that deep ball.
I mean, let's see Jalen Hyatt what he can do.
Let's see what he can do with Iman Slayton. I mean, yeah, sure,
I'm excited to see that. As a reporter. If a
fans excited shoots, that's amazing.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
I found two questions on the offense. How do you
see this running back group sorting itself out in terms
of how they're gonna utilize all three or four guys,
depending on how many they keep.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Yeah, I mean, I'd love to see kind of a
you know, I heard people talk about a thunder and lightning,
with Scotty will be in the thunder to Tracy being lightning.
But let's not forget Devin Singletary's here too, So I'd
like to see him mixing all three of them, because
I think with football now, you don't want to see
a bell cow unless if a really special talent. You
want to see a guy you can mix in another
guy who can mix and keep them all fresh. And
then if you need to wear somebody down, oh you
(13:57):
got Scotty here. You know who can do that. So
I like to see a mix of that. I want
to see. Obviously, Kent's gotta fit into this offense right away,
and how will Tracy improve from last season where he
had over a thousand scrimmage yards. And obviously Singletary, we
want to see kind of what he can do because
obviously the Giants didn't bring him here for no reason.
They believe in him, so let's see how he can
bounce back with the year two in the system. So
I'm excited to how the running backs. There's a lot
(14:18):
of options here.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
That's really Yeah, I'm with you. Final question, offensive line.
This has been the bugaboo for this franchise for a
long time. You weren't here for the first sixty games,
six games last year. Whe it actually did look pretty
good when you were here, did not look very good.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
I was hearing the injuries.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
So how do you view this group?
Speaker 3 (14:36):
How set do you think that starting five is? And
do you think players if they play well enough when
we get to the summer and the pads come on
and you know it's actually real football, not just guys
run around the T shirts, that guys can maybe fight
their way into that starting line, specifically at that right
guard spot where where kind of Greg Venrooz.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Yeah, I was gonna say, you know, for me, obviously
we want to see Andrew Thomas looks like when he
gets healthy, that's gonna be the biggest key. But obviously
a lot of attentions on that guard. Obviously Greg van
Rode in his back, Evan Neil's gonna be moving to guard.
I kind of want to see how does Evan Neil
fit into this obviously position change from taple a guard.
How will he fit, how will he adjust? It's not easy,
Greg Greg Van Roone told us that the other day, like,
it's not easy playing guard. But I want to see
(15:14):
what Evan Neil can do. Obviously with you know, Krodrack
on the line and everything like that, but I want
to see how this group meshes together and see if
they can stay healthy because we haven't really been able
to see that what Andrew Thomas getting hurt the lastuple years.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Yeah, just a quick follow up.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
I think what Brandon Brown said about what their expectations
are for the guard position in terms of Evan was valuable.
Where you don't want him get into the second level
trying to pick out linebackers and move to those guys.
You want him as the guy that protects the depth
of the pocket and also a guy that can physically
move people.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
So I feel like if he ends up claiming that spot.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
You're gonna see a lot more double teams, power and
things like that where he's not kind of getting in
there in space where they're trying to keep more in
that fune booth area.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
That makes sense, and obviously he's such a big guy,
you know, that could be an advance for him. You know,
clearing out some ways or just kind of holding that
pocket type.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Absolutely, Evan, this was fun man. Good getting to meet you.
It's good having you on the beat. Pleasure. Thank you
forciate it. Glad to be here.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
That's the Johns Total Podcast, brought to you by Citizens
Official Bank of the Giants. Thank you for joining us
in the Hackensack and Mariney Health Podcast Studio.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Keep getting better. We'll see you next time.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Everybody,
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