Giants Minicamp Review Special

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Good anything, everybody, and welcome to the Giants Mini Camp
Review Special presented by Bob Discount Furniture and the official
Furniture Store. A match just partner of the New York
Football Giants. John Schmolt, Paul Tatino. We've snuck in or
broken in, Paul, to the Giants practice facilita here needs
to other for New Jersey. It's like us in a
couple of security guards and whatever, like night time nocturnal
animals are running around the practice field.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
You mean you didn't get taste, No, I did not.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
And for you, the players have been released from spring work.
The coaches have more or less been released from spring work.
So the next month over here in the Meadowlands will
be extremely extremely quiet, as the teams now get about
five weeks off until they report for training camp on
July twenty seconds. So, Paul, it's been a busy spring here.

(00:51):
We've had a draft that we've talked about at length.
We've had ten OTA's really nine because the last one
got canceled for a bowling outing. And then you add
a couple of maybe one and a half mini camp
practices and we've seen a lot of football, and I
think it's before we start talking about what we've seen.
The first thing I think it's important to stress is
that we did not see any real football over the

(01:12):
course of the last month and a half. The rules
for these practices and for mini camps and OTAs it's identical,
is that there are no pads and there is no contact.
So it's impossible to take a ton out of this,
especially when it comes to play up front. We'll talk
about some of that, but you can't really see anything
when the guys in the trenches are not wearing pads

(01:34):
and they cannot hit each other. This is more of
a passing camp, so you definitely get more watching the quarterbacks,
wide receivers and the guys on the second and third
levels of that defense.

Speaker 3 (01:43):
Yeah, there's no doubt.

Speaker 4 (01:44):
John.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
You know, when we talk about what coaches want from players,
they want alignment and assignment and they want execution. Well,
the first two issues are the alignment and the assignment.
That's what you can really tell from these early spring presses.
Because execution in most positions of the NFL, in any

(02:05):
level of football, involves contact. So what execution can you tell? Well,
does the quarterback throw the ball? Well, does the receiver
catch the ball well or does he drop it? Does
he get all tongue tied with his feet and have
trouble running routes. There are certain parts of the execution
you can tell, but for most of the guys on

(02:27):
the field, that third box isn't incomplete grade. It's the
assignment and the alignment that really matter.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
And you can tell whether or not the rookies are
out of sword, if they're swimming, if they look like
they're a deer in the headlights. So those are the
type of high level things you can see as you
go along here. So it's time for our Spring Standouts,
brought to you by Sloman's. So, Paul, I'm gonna start
with something that's not even on the field. We can
kind of go back and forth here and pick out
a few different things that we want to talk about,

(02:56):
because I really don't care what I saw from Russell
Wilson on the field. The guys been in the league forever.
He's won Super Bowls, and he looked in practice exactly
like he looks watching him for the last decade and
a half. He throws a great deep ball, he can
move around well, but I have never seen and I've
been here since two thousand and seven working for the team.

(03:16):
You've been around, you know, about fifty years longer than that.
So I have never seen a group of players you
to formally be impressed with the locker room presence and
leadership of another player the way this team has been
impressed with Russell Wilson. I was here for the vast

(03:38):
majority of Eli Manning's career. As much as the players
loved Eli, you'd never heard the effusive praise for Eli
because he was never a vocal guy. He was a
lead by example type of guy, right true. But the
way these guys have all talked about Russell Wilson, and again,
the results on the field is what's going to matter.
How well he plays in games overall is what's going

(03:58):
to end up mattering. But you can tell he's already
made an impact on this locker room. And I think
what's impressed me the most is what all the individual
players have said about him, including guys on defense, by
the way, has all been remarkably consistent.

Speaker 3 (04:13):
Yes, you would think.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
They're reading out of the same book and parroting talking
points like a press secretary's reading out of a book
at a podium. That's what it sounds like, but that's
not what's happening. He's just that similar and consistent from
player to player, whether it's a defender like Brian Burns,
whether it's a receiver like Jalen Hyatt, or an offensive

(04:35):
lineman or a fellow quarterback in his room like Jackson Dart.
All these guys have just been effusive with how much
of a clear communicator he is, how much he encourages everybody,
brings them together, how he's very clear in what he
wants from the players so they can give him what
he wants in the field. That specific to the receivers yea.

(04:55):
And again it's just been so consistent and universal from
player to player.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
John He's an equal opportunity leader. There are those guys
who play quarterback who will lead the skill position players.
There are those guys who play quarterback who will lead
the huddle well and lead the offense well. Russell Wilson
has decided he's taken upon himself from the moment he
got to the Giants facility that he was going to

(05:22):
be a leader of the entire team, and he was
going to do it vocally. It wasn't going to be
just by example. It wasn't going to be just with
his work ethic or just with his attention to detail.
He was going to talk every position and every player
on this roster up as much as he possibly could.

Speaker 3 (05:46):
Look.

Speaker 2 (05:46):
You and I have been to all of these spring practices, etc.

Speaker 3 (05:50):
Etc. The media has had some limited access.

Speaker 2 (05:52):
But we've been to them all and the one thing
that you notice time and time again is that he
makes no differentiation between positions or units. He will be
walking out to the field with a defensive back one day,
the next day, he's walking back into the locker room
with a defensive lineman.

Speaker 1 (06:11):
And by the way, he doesn't care veteran, no high
draft picked undrafted free agent, like you'll pull Dalen Cambry
aside the same way he'll pull aside Jalen Hyatt. Yes,
that's just what he does.

Speaker 2 (06:23):
He is an equal opportunity leader. That's the only way
I can describe it. And you'll watch him out there.
Practice will be over right now. The CBA, everybody knows
the CBA, the labor union agreement between the players and
the league requires a whole tunnel restrictions in terms of
what you can and cannot time My field time in

(06:45):
the meeting room at But here's what is allowed to happen.
When the coaches stop practice because their time is up
and they're not allowed to be on the field.

Speaker 3 (06:55):
With the players anymore. That's per league rules.

Speaker 2 (06:58):
They'll come inside and you will see several small clusters
of guys, and on different days it may be different
clusters and different positions, and they'll be hanging out there
for another twenty minutes and they'll be working on their
own pass routes. They'll be working on their own shadowing
a defensive back on a wide receiver or a linebacker

(07:21):
on a tight end. They've done this on numerous occasions
throughout the spring, and quite often Russell Wilson will stay
out there with one of those small groups.

Speaker 3 (07:31):
And he'll be talking up with those guys.

Speaker 2 (07:35):
Russell Wilson made a decision when he signed with the
Giants he was going to be all in and it's offense.

Speaker 1 (07:40):
He is all in, all right, I know he still
we'll go back and forth, but you brought something up,
so I want to build on that a little bit.
I've been very impressed with a couple of the Giants
young players that you hope will become superstars at some point.
We already saw some of that from the league neighbors.
As a rookie, y Hope continues to build on that. Unfortunately,
he's been banged up. He's coming back from that tow

(08:01):
which is something that's kind of bothered him chronically since
his college days. He hasn't done much on the field.
But what I've seen from him that it's made me
happy is that once he's done with his rehab working
on the side with the trainers, he stands behind the play,
whether it's eleven on eleven in team or he's usually
not out there for the seven on seven, and that's
too early when they get to eleven to eleven on team.

(08:23):
For folks that don't understand how practice works, you basically have,
you know, the offensive defense going against each other on
the field, and on one sideline, the offense is lined
up watching. On the other sideline, the defense is lined
up watching guys usually separated by position groups. You're ready
to substitute, do whatever you got to do. They're talking
to each other. So it would have been really easy
form Lake Davers to come out from his rehab and
come out from his work, come over from his work

(08:43):
on the side and just stand with the wide receivers
on the sideline and watch the rest of practice. That's
what we see ninety five percent of the guys that
are rehabbing, that's what they do. And it's fine if
you would have done that, no problem. What he's gonna
add of his way to do is stand with the
quarterbacks behind the play. So the only players that are

(09:04):
not on the sideline with their teammates are the quarterback group.
They're standing behind the offense running the play.

Speaker 3 (09:10):
He goes in the huddle.

Speaker 1 (09:11):
First, well, I'm gonna get there with the coaches, and
then he will stand with them, talk to him between plays,
get inside on certain plays that they're running. And then
especially when it was Russell Wilson, because he's been with
the ones all of the spring, he'll put his helmet on,
stick his helmet into the huddle. Hear the play call,

(09:34):
so he knows exactly what the offense is doing. And
by the way, he also did some walk through stuff
in the last few practices as well. As he's gotten
closer and there's no concerns. Brian Dable said he should
be good to go for camp. But I just thought
the fact that, knowing he's not getting the physical reps,
that he was trying to maximize the mental work he

(09:54):
was doing during these practices. Look, is it gonna mean
a whole lot when he goes out and plays and
the fall isn't going to have an impact on his play.
Probably not, but it's something he didn't have to do.
But the fact that he wants out of his way
to do that, And you know, we've had other star
wide receivers that haven't done those types of things, and

(10:17):
he's doing that because he cares enough to hear Russell
Wilson call plays, talk to him in between plays, and
the other quarterbacks between plays to understand what you're trying
to do on certain plays. So he's in rhythm with
these guys. And that to me has been pretty cool
to say, because I don't think he would have done
that as a rookie. To be honest with you.

Speaker 3 (10:36):
I don't think so either.

Speaker 2 (10:38):
But I can't be sure.

Speaker 1 (10:39):
No, I could have be sure because he was healthy
during most of camp, so there's no way to know.
But I think it is a sign of maturity to
me that he's going above and beyond, and again, no
other players doing that even the other guys that are
banged up.

Speaker 3 (10:52):
I'll give you two additional facets that may also be
coming into play here. John. I'm not saying for sure,
because I don't know either to you, right, but I'll
add two other facets here. I think one.

Speaker 2 (11:05):
I think he's really frustrated about being held out of
these spring practice He does, he loves it, and I
think just by at least getting in practice gear and
being able to go out onto the field and go
into the huddle gives him a sense of still belonging
and still being involved. I think that might alleviate some

(11:26):
of the angst that he's feeling about because you know,
injured guys will always tell you when they get left
off on the bike and they get left off inside
the trainer's woman in his practice.

Speaker 3 (11:36):
Yeah, some guys.

Speaker 2 (11:37):
May like that, but a lot of guys who are
competitors will tell you it burns their stomach inside. They
don't like that. They want to be involved as whatever
way they can, So I think that's part.

Speaker 5 (11:47):
Of it, too, agreed.

Speaker 2 (11:48):
Third thing or to add to your one on my
two and my three?

Speaker 1 (11:52):
Now good math?

Speaker 2 (11:54):
Right, Hey, we did pass fourth grade math. I think
the other item that comes to play here is that
you do have new quarterbacks. Yeah, whether it's Wilson, whether
it's Winston, whether it's Dart, and all three have taken
reps with the first team. I think it's important to
understand the communication in the huddle, the environment in the huddle,

(12:17):
the demeanor, how this guy runs his huddle. I don't
think that Neighbors wanted to miss an opportunity to get
familiar with how Russell Wilson runs a huddle. I know
it sounds simple, it sounds odd, that's more of it.
I agree with you, but I think that's also part
of the deal.

Speaker 1 (12:32):
And by the way, I do think the offense looks
a little bit different too with the new quarterbacks. I
think it's pretty clear that Brian Dables adjusted what his
passion game looks like. It looks a lot different. There's
been a lot of downfield passes, a lot of passes
down the field from Russell Wilson, from Jamis Wiinson, from
Jackson Dart, all of them from Tommy DeVito. They're gonna
be very conscious to push the ball down the field,
which is what this offense desperately needs.

Speaker 3 (12:52):
I don't think there's any doubt.

Speaker 1 (12:53):
All right, just a couple other quick fire ones because
we have to get to our first break here one.
I think the rookies have been as add advertised. Again,
you can't see much more going on up front, but
Abdul Carter has just been flying around like a maniac.
He's so fast and bendy, and he's the other guy
after practice he's doing extra pass rush shows Charlie practice.
That guy is very serious in all business. I did

(13:15):
a bunch of interviews that'll be showing up on the
Johnsontle podcast over the next month. Go find it on
your favorite podcast platform, Giants app, Giants YouTube channel, and
all the guys on defense like, yeah, we're just trying
to get him a smile more because he's so like
locked it and serious all the time, which, buily is
not a bad thing for a guy that you want
to hurt the quarterback. That he's not like, you know,
laughing and jowling around everywhere. You're pretty happy that he

(13:37):
he's me his business and he's very fierce in terms
of how he goes about things. And then we haven't
seen must of Darius Auz and their campscatable. They've been
on the side a lot, so not much to see there.
But Jackson Dart, who is the other Giants high pick
look guys, he's looked like a rookie quarterback normally looks
like in the spring. He's had some really good moments.
He's had some moments that have not been very good.

(13:59):
He is not looking overwhelmed. He's looked like the guy
that was old Miss. He's been pretty accurate. He throws
nice touch on his passes. He has a good enough
NFL arm is not elite, but it's good enough. He
looks exactly how I thought he was going to look
after studying him in college. So let's see what it
looks like when the real game start, the pads come
on and things like that. But he's looked exactly how

(14:22):
I expected him to look.

Speaker 2 (14:23):
John I'll say this, I agree with that statement, But
I'll also say of all the rookie quarterbacks, who if
who I've seen come through these doors, and that includes
Eli Manning.

Speaker 3 (14:33):
All right.

Speaker 2 (14:34):
Now, I was here when Phil Simms was a rookie
in seventy nine, so I have to eliminate him from
the equation. But all of the other guys I've watched
their rookie camps. I watched their spring camps. I watched
their summer camps.

Speaker 1 (14:46):
Yeah, I had never seen a first round picking camp
as the Giants haven't had a first round pick a quarterback. Well, no,
Daniel obously Dan Dave Brown. Well, I wasn't here for
Dave Brown's Okay, I can't speak to that.

Speaker 3 (14:56):
One, all right.

Speaker 2 (14:57):
And I've seen other rookies who were not first round picks.
But we're rookies, guys like Graham, guys like Danny Canell.
Do you think Dark I've seen those guys.

Speaker 1 (15:06):
Do you think Dark spring was significantly better than what
Daniel did in the spring? I think is in the spring. Yeah,
Daniels spring wasn't great. Hiss there his first exposure to
the pro game. This is the best spring rookie camp
and OTA and whatever.

Speaker 3 (15:23):
Else you want to call these wonderful offseason drills.

Speaker 2 (15:26):
This is the best rookie quarterback performance that I've seen
in my forty three years of being around this team.

Speaker 1 (15:32):
Now, it hasn't been all good, though I didn't say
it was just all great. I just don't want people
getting you on Twitter that you're, you know, trying to
find him the next Eli Manning, Right, away.

Speaker 2 (15:40):
He's had some rough spots. He's had a few detours.
In fact, most recently in the last week or so.
You know, there's there's been some Aaron throws where it's like,
oh wow, I don't know about that one that made
you like shake your head a little.

Speaker 1 (15:54):
But he's a rookie in spring, right, that's fine.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
But I think, on the whole as I great at all.
I cannot remember a Giants rookie quarterback ever coming onto
campus on the whole looking as good as he has looked.
And oh, by the way, he doesn't at all show
any indication personally when you see him in the hole,

(16:17):
you see him in the lunch room, you listen to
him with the podium.

Speaker 3 (16:20):
He doesn't look or sound like a rookie off.

Speaker 1 (16:23):
The field, No, he doesn't. You know, he's very put
together that way. And Brian Dable has been pretty you know,
given high praise for him in these press conferences, and
Dave's is usually pretty hesitant to be too praiseworthy and conservative. Yes,
he doesn't say much, but you can tell when he
lights up a little bit and gets excited. He's he's
excited about Jackson. Yesh, So we'll see what it looks

(16:45):
like as they get further into to the summer. A
couple of the guys I want to mention, Jalen Hyatt
had just had a great spring. Unfortunately he didn't practice
much the last couple of days, but he did a
really nice job all sorts of routes, catches everything, winning deep.
I talked to him in an interview again, that's gonna
ender Johnson the podcast told me he's playing out over
one ninety, which is twenty pounds heavy than when he

(17:06):
played that last year, and it's not bad weight, folks,
and I can't wait to see that show up when
they get with the pads on they start playing in
preseason games. They're also moving the wide receivers around war Like.
Hyatt's playing the slot more, which is what he did
at Tennessee, which is what he likes to do. Wanda
Robinson decided about playing outside more. So all these guys
are excited about being in different spots. I'll throw him

(17:27):
out there. Dave Belton's got a bunch of interceptions. I
counted four, yeah, and a lot of them. He just
figures out a way to be around the ball, and
you know he's gonna be the third safety, but as
a third safety, if you're really good, they'll figure out
a way to make that third safety be on the
field an awful lot. So we'll see how that works out.
Paul Saidedibo has been good as advertised. Yvon Hollin's been

(17:47):
as advertised. He's done a nice job. So those are
the guys that I would bring up. And Chauncey Golson.
I think a Friegient edition is actually a really nice camp.
He's been all over the place. He's had a couple
of big time plays. Who has really jumped out of you, Paul.

Speaker 2 (17:57):
Before we take our first break, well, I just want
to go back to one second for Jaylen Hyatt. Yeah,
because folks, I want to make sure when you hear
John talk about the fact he's added about twenty pounds,
let me just say this, even though they're only in
two thirds gear during these practice sessions, I don't think
he's lost a step.

Speaker 1 (18:15):
I asked him if he lost any speed. He says
his GPS numbers have remained steady.

Speaker 2 (18:19):
That doesn't surprise me because the naked eye says that
his play speed is exactly what it's supposed to be.
That to me is pretty impressive. I don't know who
he went to, what training regimen he followed, what deety followed,
what weight procedures he followed in terms of building the
muscle and so forth. But whatever he did, it's pretty

(18:41):
cool to put on twenty pounds and not lose a step.
That's pretty cool.

Speaker 5 (18:45):
All right.

Speaker 2 (18:46):
The other guy I want to mention, and you know,
Evan Neil has been absolutely eviscerated by this fan base
because he's had a lot of injuries, He's had a
lot of inconsistencies and hasn't lived up to the billing
that the Giants assumed that they were going to get
when they drafted him. He's moved into guard and we've
heard from everybody, teammates and coaches, at how he understood

(19:11):
this was best for the team, this was best for him.
He has embraced it. He's trying to do the best
job he can do. He's learning it. We heard from
alumin Or, who's played multiple positions. He talked to us
yesterday and said, this is hard, this is not easy.
But he's smart, he's got the tools, he's bought in.
I think he's got a chance to be really good.

(19:33):
Let's see and again. We'll know when the Pats come on.
There's no way to know quite yet, no way to
not to see when the Pat's now on.

Speaker 1 (19:39):
All right, one zero one nine eight eight eight eight
eight one zero one nine. That's the phone number. We'll
take a quick break. We'll take your calls for the
next what aron forty minutes or so right here on
the Giants Mini Camp Review Special presented by Bob's Discount Furniture,
Official furniture store Adam Mattress, partner of the New York Giants.
A lot coming your way. We're gonna hear from Jackson Dart,

(20:01):
We're gonna hear from Brian Burns. We're gonna hear from
Jalen Hyatt as well. Our Stapleton will join us at
eleven from the record to give his takes from what
he's seen from the Giants in the spring. That a
whole lot more coming your way. Give us a call.
We'll take your calls next right here on the band.

Speaker 6 (20:15):
Get connected with Wfan to talk about your favorite teams.
The fans always live on the free otes see app.

Speaker 1 (20:26):
Go back to the Giants Mini Caamp Review Special presented
by Bob's Discount Furniture official furniture store Mattress, partner of
the New York Football Giants. Hope you enjoyed our spring
standout segment in our first block. It was brought to
you by Sloman's. The Difference is Human And if you
want to hear more of that review of OTA's in
Mini caamp, go stay tuned and check out Big Blue

(20:47):
Kickoff Live, which is on every weekday afternoon at twelve
thirty on Giants dot Com, on the mobile app the
Giants YouTube channel as well. It'll be on tomorrow at
twelve thirty on Friday, so go check that out. Paul
and I will be on. We'll give our Giant players
that they're least least afford to lose this year, which
and then you hope you never have to talk about
that happening again the rest of the year. But we

(21:10):
will take a bunch of your calls the same way
We're gonna take your calls tonight at eight and eight
eighth eight one zero one nine eight eight eight oh
eight one zero one nine. Get on the hopper, give
us a call on a very busy show today talking
Giants football. I know you know met fans out there,
they're probably not very happy. They've lost six straight. You
want to get your minds off the Mets. You want
to talk some Giants football, Yankee fans, I know you

(21:30):
want today. You shouldn't be that happy either. You can
gave off the six cave losing Street Knicks fans. You
have a coach. You're seeing the Pacers annihilating the thunder
here in game six seven.

Speaker 2 (21:40):
That the Rangers traded Chris Crider a few days ago,
who was the heart and soul of the team.

Speaker 1 (21:45):
Yeah, so it hasn't been great in New York sports
over the past couple of weeks. So no talk some
Giants football with Let's get in the line eight eight
eight ITA eight one zero one nine. But let's get
to our first interview of the show, brought to you
by our friends that visit Barbados and official travel Destiny,
partner of the New York Giants. I had a chance
to talk to Giants rookie quarterback Jackson Dart. Here's my

(22:06):
chat with him and Jackson we just said, jamis year.
It's airing it right before we air yours. And you
know he's been in the league like eight nine years,
and he's like, dude, this is the most complicated offense
I've ever had to learn it. It has been a real challenge.
So what has it been like for you as as
a rookie trying to figure it all out?

Speaker 7 (22:21):
Yeah, you know, my first two days I was swimming
a little bit just with all the information and whatnot.
But at the same time as all I know, so
getting to learn it day in and day out. I
have great guys in the room, great coaching staff who's
you know, on a development plan with me day in
and day out, and I'm just blessed to be here.

Speaker 1 (22:40):
Now that you're here, what are some of the things
that you did do in college that you think have
helped you transfer and be ready for the pros? Some
of the concepts that are similar.

Speaker 3 (22:49):
And things like that.

Speaker 7 (22:50):
I think conceptionally I've pretty much ran, you know, all
the same concepts, and I think that's kind of universal
throughout football. Obviously, the lingo and how you know, maybe
some reads will change up here to there are a
little bit different. What makes it much more complicated is
obviously the players that you're playing against and the scheme
that you're playing against. So having to go against these
our guys day in and day out has been has

(23:12):
been some really good work. But I think that, you know,
for me, something that's gonna carry over is just my
aggressiveness ability to push.

Speaker 8 (23:18):
The ball down the field at the same time I
take care of the ball. I mean, you can look
at my numbers year after year. You know I don't
turn them.

Speaker 7 (23:25):
Over the ball a lot, and you know I keep
it on our on our side. So really excited to implement,
you know, this offense more and more into you know,
some of my play style and whatnot. But yeah, I'm
really excited for the season.

Speaker 1 (23:36):
Now it makes it more complicated for you. But are
you excited about the optionality This offense gives a quarterback
where you're able to, based on what the defense shows,
you make adjustments, do different things. You and wide receivers
can have site adjustments things like that, where you can
take advantage of what's available to you.

Speaker 5 (23:49):
Yeah, no doubt.

Speaker 7 (23:50):
I feel like, you know, this is what separates this
scheme is you can go out there against any defense
and you're gonna have answers.

Speaker 8 (23:56):
And I love that part of it because it lets
the quarterback play.

Speaker 5 (23:59):
Fast and free.

Speaker 7 (24:01):
And you know, you've seen the success level on such
a high level from coach Stable and all of his success,
and then at the same time from coach Kafka win
in a Super Bowl, you know, in Kansas City. So
I'm really excited for this year. I'm really excited for
the future and you know, this offense and where we
can go with it.

Speaker 1 (24:19):
Drinking from a fire holes is an expression that a
lot of people use. When you first get in and
you started doing you said, you're starting to get a
better feel for it. Yeah, is it hard to kind
of put yourself in a figure out what stage you
are at, how much more work there is to do?
What are some of the goals that you have set
for yourself. When you hit training camp, the pads come on,
you start doing more of the next step you want
to take in your development in terms of becoming an
NFL quarterback.

Speaker 7 (24:39):
Yeah, I think that during this time that I've been
here so far, you know, obviously, you have a new
install pretty much every day, so you're constantly learning, You're
constantly getting.

Speaker 8 (24:48):
New reps at new reps at different things. So I'm really.

Speaker 7 (24:50):
Excited for when camp starts just to have the chance
to know that I've already ran.

Speaker 8 (24:55):
A lot of these plays, right, and i can go
out there.

Speaker 7 (24:57):
I can play faster, I can think more freely, and
I can just go out there and play, you know,
just ball. I can just play the way that I
play instead of at times maybe overthinking the things, but
not just because of the complexity. But I can't wait,
and I'm excited for this, you know, this period that
we're in right now, and then even do this break
to continue to develop.

Speaker 1 (25:16):
Awesome. Final question, Russell Wilson came in year one. He
took a guy's starting job. He ended up being the
starting quarterback. What has he told you and give an
advice he's giving you about quickly adjusting to the NFL
and you know, who knows when you're going to get
your opportunity. That's not important, but just advice of figuring
things out quickly and learn the NFL offense and how
to be effective quickly in the National Football League.

Speaker 7 (25:38):
Yeah, obviously have to be very talented, you have to
have the intangibles to do it. But at the same time,
I think that you got to have the work ethic,
you got.

Speaker 8 (25:45):
To have the ability to lead others.

Speaker 7 (25:47):
And I think that that's something that Russ does so
well to answer and him being able to rally the
guys around him, and this is leadership presence. You know,
that's been huge for me to see. And you know,
I feel like I can just take something away from
him every single day, which has been such a blessing.
But at the same time, you're right, you gotta develop
fast and you gotta be ready to play because you
never know when your chance is gonna come.

Speaker 8 (26:06):
And definitely not gonna let that slip.

Speaker 1 (26:09):
Jackson, good stuff, the best of luck, good scene, you man,
thank you. And of course Jackson dor and the rookies
arrive a week before the rest of the Giants do
the fifteenth for trading camp, so they'll be here on
the fifteenth. I actually had to talk to a chance today.
I talked to and I'll give fans a little preview
for it. Had a chance to talk to his head
coaching'll miss link Kiffin this afternoon. Oh we've done to you, yes,
and he would that'll be getting aired again. I mentioned

(26:31):
Johnson podcast, Giants app, Giants dot Com, gihants YouTube channel.
That's it'll come your way that week when they get
back right before camp on the fifteenth, so check that out.
And I mentioned that Dared if you guys we had
a media day earlier this week. It was Monday. I
counted him. I did fifty interviews with different players in
the roster. So those are all be airing on the
Giants YouTube channel over the next month or so. So
if you guys are into it, you want to get

(26:52):
some of the minutia with these players and look, I
get to some deep stuff. If you're into that, go
check it out Johnson'll podcast Young's YouTube channel. It's there.
But look, you heard it. And the thing about Jackson Paul,
there's no lacking of confidence either. No, he believes in himself.
There is. There is definitely a quarterback swagger there with

(27:14):
him that I think feeds into his competitiveness as well,
where he kind of approaches the game almost like a
defensive player, and though he was playing quarterback, and there's
no doubt that leaks out of him when you're having
these conversations with him.

Speaker 2 (27:28):
I think a couple of things come into play here,
John when you talk about how does that manifest itself.

Speaker 3 (27:34):
Remember he started out at.

Speaker 2 (27:35):
USC before he transferred to Old Miss, so he understands
the spotlight of being in a huge media market.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
I remember he got he was playing as a freshman there. Yes,
like he was going he I think week seven or
eight he became the star. That's because he had an
injury earlier that year. I talked to him about this.
But then the next year they bringing the new head coach,
Lincoln Riley. He brings him Caleb.

Speaker 2 (27:56):
Williams, right, and that was his choice. He saw what
was up and he's like, I'm going, oh, I don't
think anyone.

Speaker 3 (28:04):
You don't blame them.

Speaker 1 (28:05):
No, you know some people like the Ding quarterbacks for
transferring that situation. You have to transfer for your quarter
you do.

Speaker 2 (28:11):
You have no choice otherwise you're never gonna develop, You're
not gonna get a chance. So let's let's acknowledge the
impact of his time at USC as part of the
maturing process for him. Then he goes to Old miss
and not only does he have incredibly talented people there
and Kiffen Judge, Charlie Weiss's son, we're talking about.

Speaker 1 (28:35):
How the players around them, Trey Harris Quin, Shawn Jenkins
was there.

Speaker 2 (28:40):
No doubt, but the guy, the guidance, the mentors that
he had, look make no mistake about it. And I
know we talk about how Nil these days has really
given a lot of the college players a pseudo professional
experience because they're getting money, they're getting the accolades, they're
getting all the responsibilities that a lot of guys only

(29:03):
get when they finally make it to the NFL. So
it's kind of morphed that situation a bit, but it's
quite clear from the time at USC in the spotlight
there to the time at Old Miss where he had
a pro cocoon of mentors. Why shouldn't he be confident,
Why shouldn't he be assertive. He's had some of the

(29:26):
best people that you could have to groom him along
and to bring him up the ladder. I just think
he gained the maturity and the self confidence and the
self respect from being in those situations with those people.
And I think that all played into one of the
reasons that Joe Shane liked them so much.

Speaker 1 (29:46):
Hey, look and remember, and I always say this, I'd
much rather have to pull a quarterback back a little
bit than to push him to be more aggressive, no
doubt ten out of ten a million times, no doubt
his you know, and I think we saw this when Daniels.
Sorry even look, when he came out in his first year,
he was slinging the ball over the place to the

(30:07):
point where they were holding the football, fumbles, interceptions and
had to get fixed. And then I think eventually it
went too far the other way where he was maybe
a little bit too conservative and it was hard to
push him past that because he was concerned about turning
the ball over. And I don't think that's ever gonna
be a problem with Jackson Dork. He has that. I
think gunslinger mentality is just a big part of who

(30:28):
he is as a player. I don't think that's going
to change. We've seen it in the spring, Paul, and
that's how he played all miss. He will throw the
ball to a covered receiver. He will trust his receiver
to make a play.

Speaker 3 (30:41):
He did it in practice yesterday and got it picked off.

Speaker 4 (30:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (30:44):
Correct, And that wasn't the only time, and happen to
the other over the course of the spring, I know.
But as he figures out where to place the ball,
what's open in the NFL and what's not open in
the NFL. This is all learning process. And he was
asked out at his press conference that he had on
Wednesday afternoon, he says, look, I'm going to push the
envelope in practice, because I want to learn what I

(31:05):
can do and what I can in the NFL. And
if that means some interceptions in practice, all right, and
that's the right attitude to have. Rather make the mistakes
in practice and figuring out what you can get away
with and what you can't then when you start playing
in games.

Speaker 3 (31:17):
You know what, I'm really interested to see John when
he gets into the practice sessions against the Jets, because
that'll be the first time he sees somebody else in
another helmet.

Speaker 1 (31:25):
And those are the only scrimmages it looks like the
Giants will have in the summer.

Speaker 2 (31:29):
Occur to Brian Dable, Oh we have those dates. By
the way, it's August twelfth and thirteenth.

Speaker 1 (31:35):
I believe, yes, because they play the Jets on the sixteenth.
So if you give it a couple of days off
before that fifteenth, fourteenth, yeah, it makes it thirteenth and
twelfth makes sense.

Speaker 2 (31:43):
That's that's gonna be first. One is gonna be at
Florin point might be thirteenth and fourteenth. Actually, I don't
have to look that up.

Speaker 3 (31:49):
That's you know what.

Speaker 2 (31:50):
I don't want to say something wrong here. I did
actually put it up on my Twitter.

Speaker 3 (31:54):
So let me just go.

Speaker 1 (31:54):
It'll be in the week before the Jets game. And
to your point, it's going to be a home and
home with the first one at Florida.

Speaker 2 (32:00):
It is the twelfth and thirteenth, twelfth and thirteenth first
ones at Flora Park.

Speaker 3 (32:04):
Second one is in East Rutherford.

Speaker 2 (32:05):
That'll be the first time he actually gets to throw
against a different helmet since he's come to this.

Speaker 1 (32:10):
And by the way, a pretty talented secondary that the Jets.

Speaker 2 (32:13):
By the way, I can't wait to see them though scrimmages.
But in any event, here's my point. The one thing
that he said that he's already noticed and it wasn't
so much about.

Speaker 3 (32:25):
You know, everybody says the playbook is really going to
be difficult. Well, obviously, with.

Speaker 2 (32:30):
His training and with what he went through at Old Miss,
the playbook is not too difficult.

Speaker 3 (32:34):
He can handle it. He's not swimming, as coaches like
to say.

Speaker 1 (32:36):
Yeah, but it's gonna take time. It will take because
even veterans, like I said, Jameis, like you heard in
that interview, Jameis Winston is having you know, this is
challenge of learning.

Speaker 2 (32:44):
This offen Table's playbook isoriously complicated.

Speaker 1 (32:49):
A lot of verbs, a lot a lot of not
not a lot of words to convey a lot of information.
I mean there's a lot of memorization, which is hard
for all the players and all the positions, not just quarterbacks.

Speaker 2 (32:58):
But at least Dark is not driving off the road
right now. Correct, Okay, he's holding his own here.

Speaker 3 (33:04):
Here's the one thing.

Speaker 2 (33:05):
That he said that really stuck with me, and it's
because you don't hear a lot of young quarterbacks talk
about this. Even though we see it and we talk about.

Speaker 3 (33:15):
It, a lot of young qbs won't admit to it.

Speaker 2 (33:18):
He told us yesterday flat out, the speed of the
dbs when they close. You look, you see it, You
let the pass go. You think you've made a really
good pass. You think it's going to be completed, and
then what happens You find out that the dB came
in and got his hands on it and made a play.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
He's like, uh, that's that's different. That's different.

Speaker 2 (33:41):
He's already noticed that and he's willing to admit it,
which is what I like about him.

Speaker 1 (33:46):
All Right, get on the lines, folks. Eight eight eight
eight eight one zero one nine eight eight eight eight
oh eight one zero one nine John Pauldatino with you
for the Giants Mini Camp Review Special presented by Bob's
Discount Furniture, Official Furniture Store, a Matches partner of the
New York Giants. Are stable to me coming up at
the top of the hour at eleven o'clock, but coming
on the next wheel from Brian Burns and again we

(34:07):
want to talk some Giants football with you. Give us
a call right here on the fan. We'll be right back.

Speaker 6 (34:12):
Get to scuttle but on your favorite teams here on
the fan.

Speaker 1 (34:20):
Go back to the Giants Mini Caamp Review Special presented
by Bob Discount Furniture, Official Furniture Store, a Matches partner
of the New York Giants. Schmelt Tatino with you again,
get on the line eight eight eight eight oh eight
one zero one to nine, talk some Giants football with
you right here on the fan. We've been talking about
everything that happened in Mini camp at OTAs and in
the spring for the Giants. All eyes have been on

(34:43):
the defensive front, which is going to be not just
the best unit on the Giants, but one of the
best units in the division. That's how strong it is
between the Giants defensive tackles and edge players together. One
of the veterans in that group. They're big free agent
I shouldn't say free agent, they're big tre An addition
from the twenty twenty four offseason then they sign him
to a contract extension was Brian Burns. I had a

(35:05):
chance to chat with him. Brian, what's up?

Speaker 3 (35:07):
What's going on?

Speaker 1 (35:08):
I'm doing good man?

Speaker 5 (35:08):
How are you doing good?

Speaker 3 (35:10):
Good?

Speaker 5 (35:10):
All right?

Speaker 1 (35:10):
So tell me about this edge room. It's loaded.

Speaker 5 (35:15):
I mean, what is it to say? Uh?

Speaker 1 (35:17):
Plenty?

Speaker 9 (35:19):
I mean, but yeah, now we really we're really talented
in this room. We I'm planning on this year is
having waves and waves of rushers, Like not only is
it just me and Kat, but now we have a duel.
We have Chauncey, We have a guy that goes under
radar a lot. His name is tomar Fox. And these
are really guys that can really get out the quarterback.
So I'm really excited.

Speaker 1 (35:39):
So can we cut you down to like seventy percent
of the snaps now? Like you don't have to play
ninety percent anymore?

Speaker 5 (35:43):
Honestly?

Speaker 1 (35:44):
Would that help you?

Speaker 2 (35:45):
Let me?

Speaker 9 (35:45):
Seriously, honestly, as much as I would not like to
come out of the game. It would honestly, it would help,
you know, just to be able to be a bit fresher,
you know, and to keep my winning I could be
even like I just said, fresher or you know, more
energy for the fourth quarter, you know, when it really matters.
So I think it really helped for sure.

Speaker 1 (36:04):
Do you feel that more in the fourth quarter at
the end of the game, or do you feel that
more when you're playing your eighth or ninth snap in
a row. When does that hit you when you feel
like you're playing a lot of plays.

Speaker 5 (36:14):
So they're really different type of fatigues.

Speaker 9 (36:17):
That eighth or ninth is more temporary as far as
like your legs are fatigued in that moment of breath
maybe yeah, because yeah, but the fourth quarter fatigue is
more so the accumulation of all the snaps you've played
throughout the first.

Speaker 1 (36:29):
Three maybe not as much burst off something like.

Speaker 5 (36:32):
Your body's actually the muscles are actually tired.

Speaker 9 (36:34):
Yeah, I think the eighth and ninth player is more
of a mental thing than your actual body.

Speaker 1 (36:39):
Got it, Okay, So there's something too what the Eagles
have always done. Then we're running guys out there for
sixty seventy percent of the snaps, and when they're rolling
in the fourth quarter, your offensive line is winded, they're
still getting you. There's something to that for sure.

Speaker 3 (36:50):
Interesting.

Speaker 1 (36:51):
All right, tell me about U dual Carter. He's been
in your room a little bit. Everyone says he's so serious.
You guys can't keep the smile. Are you trying?

Speaker 9 (36:59):
He's cracked a couple of smiles. He just had to
open up a little bit. But at first, yeah, he
was super serious. Other than that, he's a smart kid.
He's picking the playbook pretty well. He asked questions like
I can really see his IQ shine a little bit
while we're in in the classroom in the meeting room.

Speaker 5 (37:15):
But what is it about?

Speaker 9 (37:16):
Is like Q that jumps out at you. It's just
it's more so the willingness to learn, you know. He
asked me questions. He asks close questions. He kind of
challenges either one of us as far as like whatever
the scheme is, so he kind of challenges you to
explain it, and he picks up on it quick like
a lot of like me coming in as ricky and
having to deal with the stuff that's on his plate
would have been difficult and he's handling it well.

Speaker 1 (37:37):
So how about him physically? Athletically? Does he match everything
you would think you would get out of a third overall?

Speaker 5 (37:43):
Pick what got game? What got skills?

Speaker 4 (37:46):
Man?

Speaker 5 (37:46):
He got skills? Uh.

Speaker 9 (37:48):
We have seen him flash a bit, you know, in
practice and whatnot. The true testaments when we get the
training can put the pass on, let's really see what's up.
But I have no doubt.

Speaker 1 (37:57):
That he's going to be what we expect for him
to develop that power quotion, and like I said, we
haven't had a chance to see that yet because we're
not doing power rushers. There's no pads or anything like that.
So we might have it, just wait for it to explode.
I think we saw when he was in college to
have that power to complement the speed. So you have
those two weapons as counters to each other right when
you're going to get some of these offensive tackles.

Speaker 9 (38:16):
It's very important and I'll definitely be a true testament
that just due to the fact that we were similar
coming out as far as like our speed and uh,
I wish I would have took heed to that power
a lot earlier in my career. So I'm definitely gonna
try to instill and tell him about it. But yeah,
definitely they have that combo and that balance is very important.

Speaker 1 (38:35):
We don't talk about it because we keep the schemes
on the wraps here, but some of the stuff that
we've seen you guys do with the three yo on
the field together UKT and Abdul Carter, it's kind of fun.

Speaker 9 (38:43):
Yeah, it's interesting. It's interesting to say the least. Just
not gonna say anything too specific, but just be ready.

Speaker 1 (38:53):
Would you like to move off of the edge in
some of those spots or do you like just being
on that edge spot of rushers in the edge, or
would you like the opportunity are let me get one
on one with a guard here, let me loop, let
me let me get the center on a te twist
or something like that.

Speaker 5 (39:06):
Uh yeah, And now I love those those opportunities.

Speaker 9 (39:08):
And I like the fact that we have so much
versatility in our room that we now can everybody can
do it, you know, so and you'll never know where
it's coming from or who's doing what. So that's very
like important and it's really gonna be to our advantage.

Speaker 1 (39:21):
Have you won a game lined up as a three tech?

Speaker 5 (39:23):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (39:23):
I have. Are you comfortable doing that. Do you like
doing that?

Speaker 5 (39:26):
I don't want to be on the line.

Speaker 9 (39:27):
I'd rather be a little bit behind, just get a
little head start up, getting a little face.

Speaker 5 (39:31):
But yeah, I'm cool with that.

Speaker 1 (39:33):
Very good. What do you think this defense looks like? Now,
we talked about the front already, you had jvaon and
pauls it. In the back end, you have Bobby still
in his group in linebacker. What does this defense look
like when all said and done, you guys are ready
to go first first weekend of September.

Speaker 9 (39:44):
It's gonna be exciting. Like I said, I think we
have studs in every position, so to speak. We have
a great duo in the back end with our safety
young rising star in Nuban and established star in Holland.
Our corners are very man corners, very dicky and uh
We got the field generals as far as Mike and Bobby,
and then our d line is where it's time the feast.

(40:05):
And like I said before, like we got me at
Duel KT and we have a dex it's kind of
hard to beat. We also have another young Rooky Da
I'm excited to see once he gets out there. So
we got a lot of we got a lot of pieces. Man,
it's a good problem to have. I would say, yeah, I.

Speaker 1 (40:21):
Think the deck's part of it, right, I mean, just
to have that guy that you have to put four arms,
four hands on in the middle, like you have no
choice you have to do. Although I see it's gonna
march your guard center into the quarterback's lap, it almost
does that allow you to scheme things up to really
control who's getting one on ones and who's getting the
advantage with your defense, knowing that teams have to put
two guys on decks.

Speaker 5 (40:41):
It does.

Speaker 9 (40:41):
And that's what I mean when I when I say
like you got to pick your poison in the sense
because you dex is a non negotiable four.

Speaker 5 (40:47):
Hands on him regardless.

Speaker 9 (40:49):
Yes you can chip the edges, that's perfectly fine as well,
but somebody's gonna have a one on one. And with
the talent that we have on this D line and
in this room, it's just feel I see us winning
multiple ways, you know what I'm saying, Because you could
chip both sides, but nobody has a double team on
that three take, so multiple ways.

Speaker 1 (41:07):
Last guy you mentioned, Chauncey, I think he's really flowing
under the radar. He's been all over this place in
the spring where he's lining up and where he's making
plays for that matter. And he's he's as huge, he's
a big dude inside outside. How do you think he
can be utilizing this defense really get the most out
of him.

Speaker 9 (41:26):
It goes to us being so versatile. Like you just said,
he play inside and outside. He played all across the line, honestly,
but he could play across the line, pass rush and
stop run blocking. It doesn't really matter. So with the
person that we have, we can do so many different things.
But he's definitely going to be a key piece to
this defense. I promise you that burns good stuff. Then
thank you, appreciate you.

Speaker 3 (41:43):
Appreciate man.

Speaker 9 (41:44):
One more person that did not before we turn this
thing over, just because he's actually gonna add he's gonna
be a big piece of this as well. Roy, he's huge,
a huge as a huge guy. We didn't talk about,
but Roy established it. He's gonna help us a lot,
help us out of that.

Speaker 1 (42:00):
I like it. See Thoris, my man, Thank you, Brian.
That's Roy Robertson Harris by the way, who was a
friging addition that kind of went under the radar from
Jacksonville over the summer and I just I was at
seven minutes. I had to go on to the next player,
and he's like, no, no, hold on, we got to tell
the way Roy Robinson Harris and you talked to dra
Patterson about him, the Giants defensive line coach. He's been
one of the best defensive line coaches in the NFL

(42:23):
for thirty years. He coached John Randall when he was
with the Vikings to give the old heads some reference.
He's a huge fan and this guy's like six six,
he's two ninety. He's a gigantic human being and loves
his long arm. So he's going to be a factor,
you know, maybe the starter next to decks in those
you know format front packages.

Speaker 2 (42:42):
Physically, he's a very imposing figure when you run into one.

Speaker 1 (42:46):
You want him one of the first guys off the bus.

Speaker 3 (42:48):
Yeah, you absolutely do.

Speaker 2 (42:49):
And now again, you know, throughout his career it's been
rather quiet. I don't think a lot of people outside
of Chicago where Jacksonville really know very well. And of
course last year he finished up with Seattle before the
Giants brought him in. This is a guy who has
never put up gaudy numbers. Now, he's been in the
NFL for.

Speaker 1 (43:07):
Eight years, and I think his highest SAX season paula
three and a half, three and a half.

Speaker 3 (43:12):
Three and a half, three half, so with Jacksonville one year.

Speaker 1 (43:15):
Yeah, not big numbers. But look, I was talking to
Dre on the side and he's like, look, even though
he's been in the league for eight years, that doesn't
mean anyone's ever properly taught him how to use his length.
I'm going to do that and he's going to be very,
very good for us this year.

Speaker 2 (43:29):
See, that's one thing that a lot of people outside
the building will never truly understand, is that sometimes a
player just needs to get with the right position coach.

Speaker 1 (43:40):
Now, look we'll see too. We don't know what that's
gonna happen yet. I don't know either.

Speaker 3 (43:43):
We don't know either.

Speaker 2 (43:43):
But look, Dexter Lawrence was not all NFL until Drey Patterson.

Speaker 3 (43:48):
Got That's correct, and that does happen. Okay, it does
happen in this league. Sometimes the position coach is the
key to unlocking the guy's potential.

Speaker 1 (43:59):
That interview O'Brien earns by the way it was brought
to you by DraftKings sportsbook and official sports betting partner
of the New York Giants. And again, folks that did
about fifty of these interviews are gonna be all shown
up in the Johns Tottle Podcast, Giants YouTube channel. Go
check that out, Giants dot com, slash podcast, just search subscribe.
A lot of good content coming your way on the

(44:19):
Giants Tottle Podcast. Check it out. All right, that's our
number one of the books, but we still got a
lot more coming your way, folks. We're gonna hear from
our stableton, who does an excellent job covering the Giants
for the record, who'll join us at the top of
the hour. Here at eleven o'clock, we're gonna hear from Giants'
third year wide receiver Jalen Hyatt. That's gonna come up
in the second hour as well. He's had a really

(44:42):
good spring. Was fun talking to him about his transformation
as a player. And again, get on the line. We'll
try to get your calls in at eighty eight, eight
oh eight, one zero one nine. A lot coming your way.
Quick update, by the way, the Pacers are maintaining that
big lead. They're up by twenty seven on the Oklahoma
City Thunder with six point twenty five to go in

(45:03):
the fourth quarter, tyres Hali, but we're not gonna see
him again. He's had a nice game with that calf,
so we're gonna get a game seven in the NBA Finals.
There's a lot of fun over the weekend. That'll be good.
Can't wait to see it. Quick break, we'll come back
our number two. Arts Stableton from the Record joins us
to talk some Giants football. Stick with us, we'll be
right back. Go back on the Giants Midcamp Review Special

(45:32):
presented by Bob's Discount Furniture, Official furniture store Mattress partner
of the New York Giants, Smelt Tatino with you. We'll
take your calls at eight A A eight oh eight
one zero one nine, recap the everything that happened with
the Giants in the spring and looking at to what
we're going to see a training camp. We've heard from
Jackson Dart, Brian Burns. Later on in the show, we'll
have Jayalen Hyatt join us as well. But before we

(45:56):
get to that, it's time to bring in Giants b
reporter Art Stables in. That's brought to you by Sloman's art.
It's good to talk to you, my friend. We're not
going to see you for about a month now. Was
we all kind of get our R and R N
before training camp begins and the players report on July
twenty second? They could, of course enjoy all of your

(46:16):
coverage at North Jersey at USA today of course writing
for the record art. Good to talk to my man.
How are you got smoke at the Tino?

Speaker 4 (46:25):
What's up?

Speaker 1 (46:25):
Guys?

Speaker 4 (46:26):
How you doing? And you know, fortunately for you guys,
you won't have to see me for a month.

Speaker 1 (46:30):
Are We always like hanging out and chopping it up
with you, man. So I'm gonna start very simple and
ask you one question. What's your biggest takeaway from what
you saw from the Giants in the spring.

Speaker 4 (46:41):
You know that's a loaded question, John, No, I.

Speaker 1 (46:45):
Only do a loaded questions art. That's it. I just
try to get people into trouble. That's what I'm used
to it.

Speaker 4 (46:50):
I hear you, I hear you, dude. I think, to me,
the biggest takeaway I mean I had to. I mean
I thought I wrote a story for tomorrow. I thought
the two most impressive players of the spring were Russell Wilson,
and Abdul Carter. So I'll go Russell Wilson first, because

(47:10):
I will admit that I expected to see a washed
up quarterback after hearing all the things from Pittsburgh, seeing
what transpired from Afar in Denver, and I thought that
we would be leaving the spring putting the clock on
Jackson Dark to start at quarterback for the Giants. And

(47:31):
while that clock is still ticking, I don't believe that
clock is ticking as fast as I or really anyone thought.
So I'll say, to me, the biggest storyline with the
Giants right now is Russell Wilson and how he has
kind of taken command of the position and of an
offense and kind of you know, look, he still holds

(47:55):
that steam. I think that regard from players and what
he's done on the field so far this spring, he
hasn't lost it, and I think that's the most important thing.
We don't know what's gonna happen week one in Washington,
we don't know what's going to happen after that. But
to me, right now, the biggest story for the Giants,

(48:15):
and I know some fans will look at it and say,
come on, let's get to the rookie. I think it's
Russell Wilson. I really do. I think Russell Wilson has
looked a lot better than I thought he would. And
you know I have if I'm the Giants, I'm looking
at it going, you know what, if this guy has
more in the tank then people thought. I think that
maybe you're gonna get some competent play from quarterback early on,

(48:37):
and I think that could make a big difference in
this offense.

Speaker 1 (48:40):
And you know are in a lot of ways, the
locker room's going to tell you who to play and
who they believe in. And Paul and I opened up
the first hour with us and opened up the program
with this. The team universally, whether it's defensive players, offensive players, receivers, quarterbacks, whatever,
is like they're reading out of a press secretary's handbook.
When they talk about Russell Wilson, they all say the

(49:00):
same exact things about him. And I heard the same
things you did. Paul did to when he was on
the outs with Sean Payton and Denver. But I'm going
to go back to the twenty twenty four Shrine Bowl
where Davis Webb was one of the offensive coordinators and
at that point he had been the quarterbacks coach for
Russell Wilson in Denver, and I went up to him

(49:22):
afterwards and I said, you know, Davis, and this is
after we heard all the noise about everything that was
going on there and all that stuff, and you know,
Sean Payter just got you know, all that stuff. I'm like,
you know, how was he to deal with? And he
was absolutely effusive in his praise for Russell Wilson and
how great it was to deal with him. And that's
all we've heard from the players here too. So to
your point, the players believe in this guy. They think

(49:47):
because of the panache, the history, the leadership, they think
this is the guy and the right guy to lead
this team right now. And I've never heard so many
players say the exact same positive things about one guy,
like reading out of like a press junket.

Speaker 4 (50:02):
And that's the thing, you know, And and look, we
we've all heard that before, right of players. It's very
easy for a player to get here. I mean, I
think back, you know when Jonathan Stewart came in here.
You know a lot of people talked about Jonathan Stewart.
And you know, we know Dave Gettleman's famous, and we
had to bring in a mentor for Saquon and that
whole thing adult, right, Jonathan Stewart couldn't play, you know

(50:25):
what I mean. So it was very quickly realized in
that locker room that Jonathan Stewart was just eating up
a roster spot. I mean, and that's no disrespect to Stuart.
I mean, basically, he was he was done. His his
career was at the end, and I don't think he
ever played again, and he ended up going to Carolina,
you know, retired and as a legend in that franchise.

(50:45):
But the point with Russell is that I haven't seen
anything this spring. And again it's only a passing camp
and when we understand that, but I haven't seen anything
to think that his arm is shot. Certainly not with
the moon balls that he's throwing. He seems to be
moving around in the pocket pretty well. He's got command
of this offense, and you know, it just seems like

(51:07):
he has a purpose here. And you know, I thought
Tommy DeVito made a very good point yesterday. You know, look,
DeVito has seen what has happened at quarterback here the
last two years he's been in that room. He's been
on the inside. And I know fans don't look at
Tommy right now and say, oh, Tommy's not the future,
Tommy's not this. But what Tommy DeVito is is an

(51:29):
honest voice in that room. And what he said about
Russell Wilson yesterday I thought was very interesting. He said
he's never been around a quarterback who's as intentional in
his conversations and his communications with every player offense defense,
doesn't matter who's talking to Russell Wilson. He makes you
think that he is an intent in what he's saying

(51:51):
to you and what he's trying to communicate. And I
think that's a big, big factor here for quarterback because
they have not had that Eli Manning.

Speaker 3 (52:01):
Yeah, you know all right.

Speaker 2 (52:02):
Wilson goes by the theory that a high tide raises
all boats, and that's why I think he addresses everybody
on that roster as many times as he possibly can
on a regular basis. But I want to stay in
the quarterback room with you because I certainly did not
expect Jameis Winston to have an impact on that locker

(52:23):
room like he already has in being here for just
a short time. We always knew him as Doctor Jekyll
and mister Hyde.

Speaker 3 (52:30):
On the field. He knows he's the number two here.

Speaker 2 (52:34):
He knows he's not supposed to play as well as Russell.
Wilson does what he does, and maybe he even gets
skipped over by Jackson Dart at some.

Speaker 3 (52:43):
Point if they make a move later on in the season.

Speaker 2 (52:46):
So Wilson is under no fantasy that he is going
to challenge for the number one job. Now, maybe that
makes him more comfortable in his own skin, but what
we have seen and heard from him is that he
has also been a very valuable and tangible on this team.
I will tell you that surprised me. But even he

(53:09):
told us everybody had a perception of me for years.
I know what I am. My teammates and coaches know
what I am, and I've proven it wrong.

Speaker 3 (53:18):
Well, you know what, I believe him, you.

Speaker 4 (53:21):
Know, And that was I had asked him in the
press conference that you guys were at the other day.
You know, just the idea, you know, I wanted to
know because it's funny every person you talk to in
the Giants, the first thing you say about Jamis is
his personality, and everyone wants to talk about his personality.
And then they get to who he is as a
teammate and then you watch him play. I mean, the
guy threw for over four indred yards last year in

(53:42):
the game for the Browns, you know, against the Denver defense,
which was very good, and he also threw three interceptions,
two were returned for touchdowns. So that was Jamis in
a nutshell. But I asked Jamis in that press conference,
you know, are you bothered that that people want to
talk about you the character first? And he took that

(54:05):
a step further and he said he wanted to talk
about his character, but I meant as his personality. You know,
everyone sees him as a jokester and a funny guy
and a meme seemingly every time he opens his mouth.
But I think there's still that number one overall pick.
And Brian Dable mentioned that the other day, and it

(54:26):
really didn't hit me until he mentioned it. He said,
there's one number one overall pick in that locker room,
and that's Jameis Winston. And people forget it's been a
long time, but Jamis was a number one overall pick.
So I gotta imagine that just being on the field,
even if he's not in line to be that starter.

(54:48):
He was probably penciled in to be the starter for
about four days after he signed, until Russell decided to
sign afterwards. But I do think that that Winston does
bring something else to the table, you know, maybe perseverance.
Maybe it's you know, hanging there early on and you know,
kind of reinvent yourself, you know. So for if you're
a Jackson Darton, even a Tommy DeVito, and you you

(55:09):
see Jamis Winston, you know, Jamis isn't here slamming the
table saying, you know, in week three if things aren't
going well, that he should be the starter on this team, right,
And you know, I think they need a guy like
that too to be in this room to kind of
understand what his role is. And look, he signed here
for two years, guys, So all this talk about, oh well,
if Jackson Dart's ready trade Jamis all this stuff. When

(55:32):
Joe Shane signed Jamis Winston, it was very similar to
when they signed Tyrod Taylor. They saw a two year
commitment and that's for basically four million dollars a year.
I mean that's less than what they signed Drew Locke
for last year to be the backup. So they see
Jamis as a guy who's here more than just the

(55:53):
twenty twenty five season. Now, could that change, maybe, But
I think Jamis has slotted in here to be a
part of this team, not just this season, but next year.
And you can't say that about Russell Wilson. So it's
a very interesting dynamic for that quarterback room, and we're
going to continue to talk about it.

Speaker 2 (56:11):
And I know it's unfair for us to continue to
harp on quarterbacks in this conversation, and I apologize to
those folks out there who want to hear more about
some of the other spots, but Art, you're uniquely qualified
to talk about what Tommy DeVito has done for that
room as well. The Giants brought him back. I know
he was under restriction rules because he was only in

(56:32):
the league, you know, for a couple of years.

Speaker 3 (56:34):
But they didn't have to. They could have cut.

Speaker 2 (56:36):
Him and set him free and said, look, we've signed
the two veterans, we're going to try to get a
kid in the draft.

Speaker 3 (56:43):
We don't need you. But no, they thought enough about Tommy.

Speaker 2 (56:46):
They thought enough about his character, They thought enough about
his personality, his leadership skills, his ability to handle the
situation that they did allow him to come back, and
we've all heard it. He's the guy who knows stables
playbook better than the other guys. He's helping teach those
guys you.

Speaker 1 (57:06):
Could all get. The first week and a half a camp,
he was the best quarterback. He's had a.

Speaker 2 (57:10):
Really good spring Art and again, you know him a
long time. I think you're uniquely qualified to talk a
little bit about the value that he actually does bring,
even though nobody probably considers him much of an asset.

Speaker 4 (57:24):
Yeah, you know, I mean I thought he was the
most valuable quarterback that they could possibly have between now
and September because of the reasons you said. You know,
Jackson Dart's best friend in that locker room, in that
quarterback room, is not going to be Russell Wilson. It's
not going to be Jameis Winston. It should be Tommy
DeVito because if he's smart, Jackson Dart is going to

(57:46):
sidle up to the young quarterback who two years ago
had to learn this offense and learn it quickly, and
perhaps a similar situation that Jackson Dart will have to
learn it. You know, let's not forget the Vito went
without getting first team snaps that entire year when he
was an undrafted rookie until all of a sudden, Daniel
Jones and Tyrod Taylor both got hurt and then DeVito

(58:09):
had to play a game as the starter the following week.
And oh, by the way, then he finally got those
first team reps in practice. So I do think there's
value in that. I think listening to Davido yesterday, you
can see he and he and Dart are kind of
the younger guys. You know, Russell and Jamis both have families,
you know, so they're when they're away from the facility,

(58:30):
even though they're spending time together, they're doing different things.
You know, Tommy and Jackson are single guys in this area,
and you know, we all know Tommy is extremely popular
in this area. So for them to be together, Jackson
and Tommy, and I do think it says something about
Tommy too. And I think, you know, this means something
to him to stay here. You know, look, he's a competitor.

(58:53):
He could not have been thrilled that it was a
statement made that. You know. Look when they drafted Jackson Dart,
you know, they basically said, you know, we don't we
don't believe in you as this future starter here. I mean,
but it doesn't necessarily mean that we don't believe in
you to be a player here in this franchise, that
you don't have value. But everybody's got to do what

(59:14):
they got to do. I still think that Tommy DeVito
to be a player and a teammate, you know, that
has value in that locker room. And and what I
know of the Giants. I mean, if Tommy DeVito doesn't
play another snap in the regular season, and he doesn't
go to another team, and he somehow just you know,
is one of those guys who sits home and waits
for the call on Tuesdays to go do workouts and

(59:37):
you know, at other teams to try to get on
a roster. He's going to always have value in North Jersey.
And he's made an impact with the Giants, So I
think it has value for him to be here, to
be a good teammate, to put your expectations and your
ego aside and say, you know, what, what do I
got to do to be a part of this team.

(59:57):
Because guys, we've seen it, We've all been around this
a long time. You just don't know. I mean, Russell
Wilson last year got hurt in training camp. You just
don't know what happens. And I'm not talking about a
serious injury, but you know, guys pulled calfs. And look
what happened to Jalen Hiatt the other day. All of
a sudden, we're all talking about Jalen Hyatt is having
the best spring of any wide receiver in the building,

(01:00:21):
and then he comes down tweaks something, and you know
it doesn't practice the next two days. And I don't
think it's a serious injury, but those things happen. And
I think Tommy DeVito has value here, even though some
fans don't want to hear it.

Speaker 1 (01:00:34):
He's been taking Jackson Dart out to a bunch of
Italian restaurants that apparently has gone Long Art. I'm not
sure if you know this. Paul Detino, the man next
to me is a huge Love Island fan, and he
wants to get invited to their Love Island watch parties.
Can you call Tommy and see if you can set
that up. I don't even know where it is on
the map. It's a It's not a real place, Paul,
It's a TV show. I know okay, do you I'm okay,

(01:00:57):
are you really? I couldn't tell that it was really.

Speaker 3 (01:01:02):
Good, doesn't it.

Speaker 4 (01:01:04):
I think Paul fought Love Island is what they called
Julian Love when he was here.

Speaker 1 (01:01:11):
Line, you mentioned Abdul Carter. Your first answer, Art, what
do you think of what you've seen from the rookie class?
Unfortunately we haven't seen a ton of Cam Scataboo and
Darius Alexander. What have you thought about the rest of
the guys, especially the two at the top?

Speaker 4 (01:01:23):
You know, I I kind of tweeted this today and
I wrote it as part of the story tomorrow about
you know, like I said, the rising and you know, impressions.
Who had the best spring of the giants? I mean,
I thought Abdul Carter was a good player. I mean
obviously the guys you know, we all know John, I
remember you and I talked about him at the Combine
when you guys did shows live from Indy and it

(01:01:44):
was you know, well if they ever have a chance.
But you know, maybe that's why Tennessee was talking trade
at the time, because everyone expected Aduel Carter to be
number one. I mean, it wasn't talking about Travis Hunter.
It was the talk was about Abdul Carter was going
number one. Look, he's better than I thought he was
going to be at this point. And you know, I

(01:02:06):
hate doing that because we sometimes we get carried away
and you know, we talk about how good of a
guy is in shorts, but you just watch him from
the moment he stepped on the field at rookie mini camp.
He moves differently. You know, he reminds me of the
way Von Miller moves, you know what I mean like,
and I don't mean to say he's the next Von Miller.

(01:02:26):
You know, we had fun yesterday talking to Charlie Bullen,
the outside linebackers coach. He talked about you know, Abdul
and you know, he said January eighteenth, it was his
son's birthday back in January, and he got the call
from Team Brass saying, hey, start doing your homework on
Abdul Carter. He said. Normally they don't start looking at

(01:02:47):
prospects until the coaches do. Don't until late February, which
is you know, at the Combine. You know there maybe
they'll be at the Senior Bowl, but they're usually at
the Combine and they start digging in and he said
he got that call. He remembers it. I'll always remember it.
January eighteenth, it was his Sun's birthday. They went to
New York Aquarium and then on that Monday he started

(01:03:07):
digging in on Abdul Carter and he said he's special.
And the thing about Abdul that I can't wait to
see is they talk about finishing. And it's kind of
interesting that Keavon Thibodeau talked about it on Tuesday, about
his inability to finish plays, and he knew that that's
where he needs to improve. Not that he can't finish plays,

(01:03:27):
but he looks back at last year and he sees
a lot of plays where he didn't get a sack,
where he got a half a sack, and he knows
that if he finishes the play, he goes from having
four to five sacks to maybe twelve thirteen sacks, And
as an outside linebacker in the NFL, that is a
huge difference in terms of perception. So I'm excited to

(01:03:49):
watch Abdul Carter. I think he's got and Paul, you
go further back than Schmelk and eye, but I can't
remember later that he had much more. But I can't
remember a player with the kind of edge that Abdul
Carter seems to have. Like he seems to Yes, he
has his funning, he's got his Darth Vader stuff, which

(01:04:11):
you guys know I love, But the reality is he's
got that edge that it's almost like, you know, he
doesn't care about the Eagles, who he used to root for.
He doesn't care about the Cowboys, he doesn't care about
Kansas City walking in here, uh for the home opener,
Like he just seems like he's that no nonsense like

(01:04:33):
almost like has a Brandon Jacob's kind of attitude where
it's just like, all right, you want to you want
to come here and try to come come take us out?
All right, well I'm going to show you on the field.
And I think the Giants kind of needed that, you know.
And I'm certainly not calling Dexter Lawrence and saying he's
not tough, because he's a tough guy. But I could

(01:04:54):
think of one play, one time that this defense has
gotten into like a scrap or a fight on the field,
and I don't mean with their teammates. And that was
in Buffalo two years ago. That was when Kavon and
Dexter and Leonard Williams took issue with the play that

(01:05:14):
was at the bottom of a pile. Other than that,
these guys come off as like really happy guys, like
look at dex dex is sexy Dexy. I mean he's not.
You know, I'm gonna I'm gonna chew nails and spit
it out. He's not lt you know, Fire and Brimstone.
He's not. You know Carl Banks, you know who Bill
Parcells called killer. Okay, they don't have killers on this defense.

(01:05:39):
I think they do now. I think Abduel Carter is
a killer mentality that he's gonna step on this field
and it's going to be all right. You guys want
to play, let's play, and I like that. I'm excited
to see that from Abdul Carter.

Speaker 3 (01:05:53):
You gotta have some.

Speaker 2 (01:05:54):
Crazy wild dogs art, just like number fifty six said,
you got to have some of those guys real fast
because we're up against it. What I do want to
mention the revamp second secondary. We know they spend big
money on a debo, they spend big money on Holland
we know what Nuban is. We saw him last year
as a rookie and he was dynamite, but we're still
not sure what Tay Banks is because he was up

(01:06:16):
and down in this first two seasons.

Speaker 4 (01:06:18):
Yeah, definitely. I talked to Jason mccordy, who you guys
obviously knows CBS used to be on GMFB, you know,
doing a lot of ESPN stuff now, and I asked
mccordy about the Giants secondary, what would you do? And
he said, you know, he thinks Tay Banks will settle
in not being the number one, you know, the guy
who has to travel, the guy who's looking at that.

(01:06:39):
I wouldn't forget about Cortell Flot We've seen Flock at
some first team reps the last couple of weeks. I
wonder if it's a little bit of a mental game
with Ty Banks that the coaches are trying to see
what they can pull out of Tay to compete with
Flot there for and not give that job right to
Tay Banks. But you talk to some of the teammates
and you know they like what Tay brings to the table.

(01:07:02):
I think the interchangeability of what can they do in
the secondary to disguise their coverage and how can these
safeties play together. Drew Phillips is obviously a player that
in the nickel needs to be able to step his
game up. I mean the analytics guys from last year
love them, PFF loves them. I think Drew played well

(01:07:23):
at times but got banged up too. So yeah, I
mean Tay Banks. The Tay Banks Cordell Flot competition is
going to be something, even if it's not a competition,
because we saw it at the end of the spring
here that Flot was getting first team reps, Banks got
some second team. I think sometimes we read too much

(01:07:44):
into that, but coming into training camp, you can bet
that that is one competition that is going to be
If it's manufactured by reporters or not, that remains to
be seen. But I do think that Banks and Flat
in that spot is going to be very interesting.

Speaker 1 (01:08:02):
Art North Jersey dot Com the Record, anywhere thing else
you want to you want to put out there. How
about your podcast?

Speaker 4 (01:08:06):
Always Got the podcast go on a little hiatus over
the next couple of weeks, but all in with Art Stapleton.
We got that on on our North Jersey YouTube channel
and all of your favorite audio podcast platforms. So appreciate
you guys.

Speaker 1 (01:08:19):
Good stuff. My friend and enjoy your next thirty four
days of freedom, and then we'll see you, and then
all our lives pretty much come to a halt starting.

Speaker 4 (01:08:27):
O Dalas Fellas, enjoy the rest of the show tonight,
and then I'm sure we'll be talking even if we're
not talking, if.

Speaker 5 (01:08:33):
You know what I mean.

Speaker 1 (01:08:34):
Thanks Hart, You're the best Art Stapleton from the record.
You can just follow him on Twitter as well. He
mentioned his you mentioned his podcast All with Art Stapleton.
Check all of that out. That interview was brought to
you by Slowman's The Difference is Human eight eight one
zero one nine eight eight eight oh eight one zero
one nine. Get in. We got another thirty five minutes

(01:08:56):
or so to play with right here on the Giants
Mini Camp Review Special presented by Bob's Discount Furniture Official
Furniture Store, a Mattress partner of the New York Giants.
We'll take a time out, we'll come back. We'll take
your calls if you got them. We're gonna hear from
Jalen Hyight before the show is over, and we'll take
a look at some of the biggest questions heading into
trade camp.

Speaker 3 (01:09:16):
We'll be going back with.

Speaker 1 (01:09:17):
More right after this on the Fano Neel, We're back
on the Giants Mini Camp Review special presented by Bob's
Discount Furniture Official Furniture Store, a Mattress partner of the
New York Giants, Schmunck Tatina with you for another half
hour or so, get on the line, give us a

(01:09:38):
call eight eight eight eight one zero one to nine
and Paul Ewan. Art talked about the Giants secondary a
little bit at the end of that interview in our
previous second segment, and we appreciate Art Stableton joining us
from the record, and we haven't talked about that much
over the course of this two hours. And I think
Art hit one part of it that I want to
double down on having the two interchangeable safeties in Nubud

(01:10:02):
and Holland and another veteran the debo. The whole point
of Shane Bowen's defense is the ability to disguise right
and do stuff pre stap and post snap, to oppose,
to confuse opposing teams and that you know, Benba don't
break type of style of defense. You need that that
forces takeaways that make things more difficult on third downs.

(01:10:22):
The problem was last year with so many young guys
that were playing in their first and second year. They're
just trying to figure ou how to run the defense normal.
You can't give all that extra stuff to the Skies.
Now they're gonna be able to do that. That's going
to help number two. And talking again, I mentioned it before,
did around fifty interviews earlier this week. They'll be airing
on the Johnsonville podcast over the course of the next month.
Go check it out. Almost all the defensive players I

(01:10:45):
talked to made the point that they felt like Shane
Bowen has added more pages to the book and the
added talent on defense is allowing him to do a
lot more things, whether it is unique and creative defensive
front alignments. Yeah, but also mixing in some more press

(01:11:07):
man on the back end with Paul Sadadebo, Tay Banks,
Drew Phillips. He has more guys he can trust back there.
With those additions. Those guys know how to play pressman.
They're built to play pressman. So I think, and again
we'll see what the results are. This is it's very
easy to be sunny about things in the spring. Okay,
we get that, but I think there's a chance for

(01:11:27):
this defense to be pretty pretty good seeing what's happening
up front and what's happening on the back end.

Speaker 2 (01:11:33):
You know, John, there were many times last year when
people outside the building were questioning Shane Bowen's defense because
they got gashed Bible run.

Speaker 1 (01:11:42):
John Maris did it after the season, no doubt, no doubt,
whoa I was going earlier than well, yeah, I'm just saying,
gash Bible run and then gave up too many big plays, right,
and they couldn't get off the field when they needed
to and by the way, big plays in the run
game too.

Speaker 3 (01:11:54):
Well.

Speaker 2 (01:11:54):
Yeah, So so John Marris is after the season that
you know, that's gotta stop, right.

Speaker 3 (01:12:00):
So what happens. They go out and they sign Robertson Harris,
they signed Ledbetter, They signed Golston along the front, They
go and they draft Abdul Carter. They go and they
spend big money on Holland and on a debo. They
were incredibly aggressive in going out and getting guys who

(01:12:21):
were not just gonna be depth chart guys, but guys
who are going to start.

Speaker 2 (01:12:26):
And have a big impact on this defense. From the
very second that they signed the free agents along the
defensive line, the three guys I mentioned just before. It
was obvious to me, and remember I always talk about
the spider web, how all the strands are connected. It
was very obvious to me that by increasing not only

(01:12:46):
the talent level but the versatility of the defensive line,
you could now expand the playbook with your front seven
and in turn expand the kinds of things you can
do with your secondary. It was elementary. The Giants have
decided to add more ingredients to the soup because they
wanted to have more flavor.

Speaker 1 (01:13:08):
Now, to get to the pass rush and do all
those creative things in the secondary, you have to stop
the run first. And that's the one thing, no doubt,
we have zero idea about right now. They barely ran
the ball in spring. There's no pads on we have.
We can't tell you that the run defense again is
going to be better, except for the fact they have
better players and that should help them in that regard.
But we have no idea. If the run defense is

(01:13:30):
gonna be better, and if the run defense isn't better,
and by the way, if the offense isn't better, to
give the defense some leads where you can do those
types of things. Rest that too, those advantages They're not
gonna disappear, but their impact is going to be muted
a little bit. So that's very important as we talk
about this whole thing. To your point in terms of

(01:13:50):
it being all of spider Web, and.

Speaker 2 (01:13:52):
In terms of the run defense, I do believe the
plan is because the Giants.

Speaker 3 (01:13:58):
Have added some town and some experience up front.

Speaker 2 (01:14:02):
Bobby o'karake is a run and hit linebacker. He needs
some freedom to attack either the trenches, to attack the
gaps or for that matter, to roam between the tackles
or to get outside. He needs space to run and roam.
What did we see last year with him? He was

(01:14:24):
constantly getting blocked by the laundry guys were getting to
the second level from the offensive side of the ball
and getting hats on him and knocking him backwards or
out of the play. If the Giants defensive line can
hold their own with the line of scrimmage, they absorb
a lot of those blocks. And now Bobby is free

(01:14:45):
to do what he does and what we saw him
do two years ago was pretty darn good.

Speaker 1 (01:14:50):
And talking to Eggs John of Grogu, the Giants linebacker coach,
he said even right before that, okay, ok injury last year.
While Bobby and Bobby has said this openly, he was
not the way he played at the start of the
year last year.

Speaker 3 (01:15:01):
Snumbers were down right.

Speaker 1 (01:15:03):
And you know, sometimes it was getting blocked sometimes. He
was also not in the gap quick enough and not
the right gap quick enough. He really thought he was
hitting his stride right before he got hurt. And I
talked to Bobby and him and both eggs have said
that he feels much more comfortable to defense. They think
it's going to be better this year because that's going
to be a big part of this right because the
defense that does have the talent and the ability to

(01:15:25):
be great. But can all those factors that I talked about,
stopping the run, getting leon offense field position, being helped
by the offense, staying on the field a little bit longer.
Can they do all that to let the defense take
advantage of the special talent that they've added. Is something
wolf to wait and see, because we don't have the
answer to that yet.

Speaker 2 (01:15:44):
No, that is one of the biggest unanswered questions that
truly we were unable to pick up any clues about.
That's what you get with no contact practices. You're going
to have some things you just can't check a box on.

Speaker 1 (01:15:57):
Well, let's go through our biggest questions leaving the spring
brought to you by Sloman's. So we talked about that, Paul,
What else are you thinking about heading into training camp here?
I'm curious to see how they split the running back
duty's up. Because they've used all the guys with the ones, twos,
and threes, it's really been a pure even rotation between
the guys. I like the fact they're throwing it to
them a lot more, especially down the field. Sure, that's

(01:16:18):
been fun to see. I want to see how they
split that running back room up. I think that's gonna
be fun.

Speaker 2 (01:16:23):
I think, to be honest, John, the talent level on
the team is so much better all around.

Speaker 3 (01:16:27):
It's more balanced. Yeah, and it's deeper.

Speaker 1 (01:16:30):
Tight end, by the way, is the same deal? How
they use all these tight ends? Same same question?

Speaker 3 (01:16:34):
What about after the top four wide receivers?

Speaker 1 (01:16:36):
Yeah, who's the I think Smith Marshet's five because of
the Special Team's ability to the who's the next games?

Speaker 2 (01:16:41):
But Ford Wheaton's got to be on this team because
of his Special Team's ability.

Speaker 1 (01:16:44):
What if Zach Pascal or little Jordan Humphrey and their
special teams ability.

Speaker 3 (01:16:47):
Nots them off. So now what do you do.

Speaker 1 (01:16:48):
That's a great competition.

Speaker 3 (01:16:49):
Okay, but that's see, and this is.

Speaker 1 (01:16:52):
Better competition than we've had here at the back end
of via petition groups in a long time.

Speaker 2 (01:16:56):
It really is that very conversation that we can have
me means the Giants are.

Speaker 3 (01:17:01):
A much better team.

Speaker 1 (01:17:02):
I think, Paul, guys, the Giants cut in August this
year are going to get picked up by other teams.
That has not been the case for some time.

Speaker 3 (01:17:10):
There will be some very tough decisions. Let's put it out.

Speaker 2 (01:17:13):
I agree, And look, how about we just go to
the most simplistic one of all. Do we know as
we sit here tonight, who the best five offensive linemen
are going to be?

Speaker 1 (01:17:25):
You might have an idea, we don't think, Yeah, yeah,
you do?

Speaker 4 (01:17:29):
You know?

Speaker 5 (01:17:29):
The five?

Speaker 1 (01:17:30):
Yeah? And obviously that's always a question heading into camp
because we haven't seen guys in pads yet. Can Evan
Neal step up and steal the guard spot away?

Speaker 3 (01:17:38):
I don't know, you know, there seems to be some
optimism that he is right in the thick of the competition,
but we don't know how that's gonna solve itself.

Speaker 1 (01:17:47):
And I do think there is some comfort in having
that same group of five that started last year and
played particularly well. Like you talked to Jermain I Luminoi's like, yeah,
we were still getting better, like there was still wins
fars to continue to improve with that first, you know,
six game before Andrew Thomas got hurt. So you're right,
that's the question. Who's gonna be your starting five offensive line?
And if I have to bet right now, I would
think it's the same five to start last year. But look,

(01:18:08):
I think Evan the only these guys have have a
chance to slide in and win one of those spots.
Well off to wait and.

Speaker 2 (01:18:14):
See, especially when you consider Greg Van Rohten has been
in this league for a long time.

Speaker 3 (01:18:18):
Yeah, mostly as a backup. Now.

Speaker 2 (01:18:20):
We played well for the Giants last year. In fact,
he was the only guy on the offense who played
every snap. But at the same time, the sands and
the hour glass have fallen.

Speaker 3 (01:18:29):
On him too. Can I guarantee you that he's a
starting guard on this team opening day? I can't do
that yet.

Speaker 1 (01:18:35):
As a guarantee. No, I would not guarantee that.

Speaker 2 (01:18:38):
So you know there are questions all over wide receiver,
tight end, running back, offensive line.

Speaker 3 (01:18:44):
The good news is most.

Speaker 1 (01:18:45):
Of the questions I think are on offense, though I
think defense we have a pretty good field for a lot.
I agree with that. Now, there'll be some tough decisions
in the back end of the defensive line. There will
be where you have to make some real tough call.

Speaker 5 (01:18:54):
There will be.

Speaker 3 (01:18:55):
But the beauty of it is, John, we're not asking
about who's gonna fill that giant hole in the starting lineup.

Speaker 1 (01:19:01):
Correct, I mean, I think starting cornerback right, who's the
starter across from you know, Paul citd demo, Brian Dable was.
They tried to really get him down on who's the start.

Speaker 2 (01:19:11):
To get him to say something he wouldn't.

Speaker 1 (01:19:14):
Well, that's what Brian David was pressed. He's very good
at what he does, so I don't think, you know,
he basically said it's gonna be a competition between banks
and flopped for that spot. Frankly, Flott has done nothing
to lose that competition. He's in a nice spring.

Speaker 4 (01:19:24):
See.

Speaker 2 (01:19:25):
I do think, as Art Stapleton alluded to during his call,
I don't think it's a real competition. I think it's
a perception that they're putting in Tay Banks's mind because
they want him to believe he has to be pushed.
Maybe I believe what more than I believe it's a
real competition for attack.

Speaker 1 (01:19:43):
His flot's been very good.

Speaker 3 (01:19:44):
As you know. I've been a flat guy since the
first day he walked on the campus, and I like.

Speaker 1 (01:19:48):
The fact that they're basically only having him play outside now.
The flip flopping in the slot is his best position,
and always let's see if he can stay healthy. That's
the other problem with him. He has not been able
to stay healthy when he's playing a lot of snaps.

Speaker 2 (01:20:01):
As much as I am a flat guy, I'm also
with Tay Banks guy first, and I do believe that
this is more of a perception and a thing to Tay, like, hey,
you've been up and down for two years, don't get
too cushy. And by the way, hey you don't get
a guaranteed starting job. I think they're kind of prodding it,
but I don't think the competition is quite as real

(01:20:22):
as being perceived.

Speaker 1 (01:20:24):
I wish I could say some really nice things, or
even some bad things about Tay Banks the when he
did in the spring. Here's the problem. They rarely threw
at him, right. I was talking to Tay about that
in one of those interviews that I mentioned, and he's like,
I'm texting Russell Wilson time to throw at me more
so I can make plays on the ball. They just
really didn't throw in his direction a ton.

Speaker 2 (01:20:41):
We had that conversation, and one of the things that
I that I've always talked about, especially in the spring
passing camp type drills, is that you know, the things
that stick out are usually the negative things. As long
as you avoid those, you're gonna be okay.

Speaker 1 (01:20:55):
Usually if you don't mention a quarterback's name, that's a go.

Speaker 3 (01:20:57):
It's kind of like her offensive line.

Speaker 2 (01:20:59):
If you're not talking about them, that usually needs They're
just doing their business, all right.

Speaker 1 (01:21:04):
That look at the biggest questions heading into training camp
was brought to you by Sloman's The Difference as Human
Quick Time Out. We'll come back here from Jalen High
and wrap up the show. We'll return on the Giants
Minichamp Review Special presented by Bob Discount Furniture, Official furniture
store and Mattess partner of the New York Giants. We're
back on the Giants Mini Caamp Review special presented by

(01:21:26):
Bob Discount Furniture Official furniture store, Any Matches partner of
the New York Giants, Schmelk and Datina with you. Thank
you for being with us. We have about twelve minutes
to go. Here it's time to hear from another Giants player.
This time is Jalen Hiatt. Brought to you by quick Check,
Official sub of the New York Football Giants. Had a
chance to talk to Jalen or in the week. Here's
our conversation. Dale, what's going on?

Speaker 10 (01:21:45):
Man doing good? Man doing good?

Speaker 5 (01:21:46):
Blessed to be here.

Speaker 1 (01:21:47):
So it's been a lot of fun watching you in
the spring. Has it been as much fun working in
the spring has been watching.

Speaker 11 (01:21:52):
It's been fun, you know, getting back on the field
you know again, you know, being with new guys, you know,
with Russ and uh, you know, other guys that we
brought in from preigency or the draft, and you know,
just being there with him and uh to see what
type of team we can be, you know, this year
and uh, you know, developing that relationship.

Speaker 1 (01:22:09):
It seems like you've really developed a good relationship with
Russell Wilson. What Is it about the way he's approached you?
This first press conference he mentioned you he's single jet
as somebody who's looking forward to working to What has
it been like doing that relationship with him?

Speaker 10 (01:22:21):
Yeah, it's been good. Uh.

Speaker 11 (01:22:22):
You know, Russellill, he's a he's a true, true pro
And how he goes about his business, how he goes
about his day and for me, just you know, being
around that, you know, trying to see you know, his consistency.

Speaker 10 (01:22:32):
Uh see how he works every day and uh, just
a train.

Speaker 11 (01:22:36):
Uh, you know, change myself and change how I think
and you know my mentality, you know when I step
on that field.

Speaker 1 (01:22:41):
One thing all the receivers have said is that he
lets you know and he's very clear about what he
wants from you guys, what he wants you to do
with how he wants you to do it. What does
that mean in practice when you're right there on the field.

Speaker 11 (01:22:55):
Yeah, I mean it's all it's all time, and it's
all time and you know, you know, being in the
right spot, uh, you know when he wants you there.
Trusting you know, it's all about trust, you know, you know,
can you trust your receivers?

Speaker 10 (01:23:06):
Can you trust your quarterback? And you know, for a
quarterback perspectives, you know, can the receiver it be in
the spot that I want him at? And for a receiver,
you know, perspective is if I'm getting open, can I
get the ball?

Speaker 1 (01:23:15):
You know?

Speaker 11 (01:23:15):
And once those two sides are working, you know, that's
when the relationship you know, continues to build.

Speaker 10 (01:23:20):
So that's what I'm working on.

Speaker 1 (01:23:22):
What were your big goals just heading into this offseason,
trying to get back and be.

Speaker 5 (01:23:25):
A better player?

Speaker 10 (01:23:26):
Yeah?

Speaker 11 (01:23:26):
Uh, for me, it's just consistency, being disciplined, making the
players that come to me, you know, and once you
do that, more opportunities, you know, they come.

Speaker 10 (01:23:36):
So that's that's really my mindset.

Speaker 1 (01:23:38):
I'm sure you heard what your teammate Darius said. He said,
I think Jay will put on fifteen to twenty pounds
of muscle in the off season. I'm like, that's it's
a lot. Do you want to share how much you
did add if at all?

Speaker 5 (01:23:48):
Yeah?

Speaker 10 (01:23:48):
I mean I played at.

Speaker 11 (01:23:51):
Like one seventy one seventy one last year about now,
so really, yeah, I'm telling you that's what That's what
darkness does to you.

Speaker 10 (01:24:00):
It changes.

Speaker 1 (01:24:02):
Yep, you haven't lost any speed though.

Speaker 10 (01:24:05):
Oh now, speed stay there.

Speaker 11 (01:24:06):
But for me, it's just uh, you know, learning to
run out this way, learning to uh, you know, play faster,
play bigger, play stronger through contact. And you know, I
felt like I was one of the things that I
need to work on from last season.

Speaker 10 (01:24:19):
Just felt like, uh, just felt weak. So just had
to get stronger.

Speaker 1 (01:24:23):
I think that's fantastic. You mentioned trying to play through contact.
Now in the spring, there's not as much as that, right,
there's no pads. It's not really as much contact. You're
looking forward to seeing how this will translate once the
pads do come on. You know, they giant to bring
a pulse in the debo. That guy's a freaking monster.
He's like too ten Like, no, for sure using that
in the summer.

Speaker 10 (01:24:41):
Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 11 (01:24:43):
You know, like you said, you know right now it's
all about you know, developing relationships and you know, learning
your teammates.

Speaker 10 (01:24:47):
And you know this really in the end of the
real thing.

Speaker 11 (01:24:50):
Yet, you know, when training camp comes back and you
know about five weeks, you know that's when things start,
you know, really really start kicking in and uh preseason
and obviously you know the season, so you know, I'm
really that's what I'm looking forward to I've been looking
forward to the season since the last game of last year, so, uh,
it's been a long time, but it's coming now.

Speaker 1 (01:25:10):
I'm not tracking this every play, but I'm out here
watching every practice, and my sense is that they're moving
at all the receivers around a little bit more. Right,
I'm seeing you. I saw you inside a little bit more.
What has that been like moving to a lot of
the different spots, So just.

Speaker 11 (01:25:23):
You know, I had a good conversations with Dave's and
Joe Shane about, uh, you know, have the last year,
you know, what we can do to you know, have
a better you know year three, you know for me
going to my year three, And that was one of
things that you know, I know I pointed out was,
you know, I want to move around. Don't want to
just stay on the outside. You know, I play slide
at Tennessee, and uh, you know, I just want to
feel that slide again and at the same time still

(01:25:46):
play outside. You know, just moved me around so you
know you can get get in the game, feel the game.
Uh So that's really that's really what my mentality is,
and just being there, being being in the right spots,
that you know, rest wants me in or whoever the
quarterback is, and just trying to develop that trust, you
know with the quarterbacks.

Speaker 10 (01:26:02):
And also to my.

Speaker 3 (01:26:02):
Coaches, why do you like playing in the slot?

Speaker 2 (01:26:05):
Uh?

Speaker 10 (01:26:05):
You know, for me, it's just that's that's I'm just
used to it.

Speaker 9 (01:26:07):
Uh.

Speaker 11 (01:26:07):
You know, I played slot for three years at ten
Tennessee and you know, obviously played it in high school.

Speaker 10 (01:26:13):
Uh. You know, my first year playing outside was you know,
time I got to league. So just took me a
little minute.

Speaker 11 (01:26:18):
To the jest because you know, sliding outside receivers two
different things. But uh, you know, for me, it's just uh,
you know, I'm comfortable with both sides, you know, being
outside of inside. It's just I just love moving around
because you know, you get to see the matchup, you
get to see what's on, you get to see if
his man to see it's his own. You know, you
go against safeties, and not only that, you can feel,
you can feel the game, feel the speed.

Speaker 10 (01:26:39):
So you know, that's that's that's probably why.

Speaker 1 (01:26:41):
And by the way, Paul, that's what he did at Tennessee,
as he mentioned, now he used a slot guy there,
so he's getting back into his comfort zone. He's off
the line of scrimmage a little bit. It's all tougher
for teams to jam him at the line out one
ninety four. That might not be as a big problem anymore,
but it'll give a little bit more of a runway.
You get some mismatches in there to use his speed.
And I know there was some talk that you know,
he was very unhappy than the last year. Sure seems

(01:27:03):
like they had some birthday productive conversations with the coach
and the GM after the year for how they could
use him better to be a better player of the
following year, which is what you want.

Speaker 2 (01:27:10):
I've always seen and talked to him during the off season, and.

Speaker 3 (01:27:14):
He is a workahole. He's always trying to get better,
great attitude.

Speaker 2 (01:27:18):
I yeah, I don't know where those those things came from,
but I will say this, if he can get things
to click, and they decided now that maybe playing some
inside could be really exciting for him.

Speaker 3 (01:27:31):
Think of this now, two by two set, all right,
Robinson and Hyatt as your two slot guys on either side,
neighbors and Slayton on the outside.

Speaker 5 (01:27:40):
Good not bad.

Speaker 1 (01:27:41):
And that's coming from Paul Latino, who never wants to
see four wide receivers on the field at the same time.

Speaker 2 (01:27:45):
Sometimes you gotta you gotta get heard of a double
tight end every once in a while, don't you, John,
You do, but it should be exciting.

Speaker 1 (01:27:51):
And look, people forget that when Jalen Hyatt came out
of the head to see the reason he dropped to
the third round in that draft was because look that
Henna see josh Hipel's system. It's very rudimentary. They don't
do a whole lot. You're off the line of screams.
You don't get jammed, you don't face press, you don't
run a full route trade. Now he's taken to the
route stuff pretty well. He's gotten better at that and
I think that's come along fast. But you know, dealing

(01:28:13):
with the physicality and stuff, and it's gonna take some
time with Jalen. Hopefully if he gets enough snaps, then
it's gonna be tough. It's a good room, it's a
deep room. This gonna be a breakout yere for it.

Speaker 3 (01:28:22):
If it clicks for him. It takes the Giants passing
game to.

Speaker 2 (01:28:24):
Another level because it also opens things up for other receivers.

Speaker 1 (01:28:28):
You got the speed of Hyatt and Slayton. It's gonna
be tough for the double team nighbors right, without a doubt,
so it'll be a lot of fun. That's all the
time we have today. Thanks for being with us in
the Giants midi Caamp Review Special presented by Bob's discompt Furniture,
official furniture store and a Mattres partner of the New
York Football Giants Great show. We thank all of our guests,
including our Stapleton four fall to Tino. I am John Schmelt.

(01:28:51):
Giants are back in training camp again. They were put
on July twenty.

Speaker 2 (01:28:54):
Seconds thanks to Zoo and our Zuoman.

Speaker 1 (01:28:56):
Back in the shop and we'll talk to you a
little bit and have a good one, folks,