The Giants are set to open up a 3-day mandatory mini-camp. This will be the first mandatory OTA for Tom Coughlin and his troops.
This winter and spring brought about joy and excitement for BIG BLUE with the Super Bowl win and also with the drafting of players from football powerhouses.
Last season saw rookies Steve Smith, Ahmad Bradshaw and Kevin Boss on the offensive end, along with Jay Alford and Aaron Ross on the defensive side. There will now be a lot of position battles for the Giants coaching staff to evaluate.
The Defensive Tackle position is one of depth for the Giants, which includes Barry Cofield, Fred Robbins and Jay Alford. On third down, Justin Tuck will usually line up inside and rush the passer. All three of the other tackles have talent, are still on the upside and can rush the passer in Spagnuolo's high-pressure defense.
Alford had his glory in the Super Bowl and sacked Tom Brady to close the coffin on any comeback bid the Patriots had. I think that the starters will be Cofield and Robbins. Alford will wait his turn, but they will all rotate in and out.
Having fresh defensive lineman is a good idea to give the defense a look consisting of different players and also each player can give it their all because they will be well rested.
Today in the NFL, you need a two-running back system to be successful. The "problem" for the Giants is that they have four running backs who could play probably for any other NFL team.
Jacobs will absolutely, mark my word, will be one of those guys barring injury. That leaves my favorite player in the NFL, Ahmad Bradshaw, Derek Ward and Rueben Droughns to compete for one of those spots.
Ward is the best pass catcher, Bradshaw is the quickest and has the most upside and Droughns is the most experienced and also has been a feature back.
I think the second-most used running back will be Bradshaw, because he just provides the home run ability. If you turn on the Super Bowl, you will see that he runs really hard and can break tackles.
Ward, though, could see some action on third down and also occasionally can spell Jacobs or Bradshaw. Droughns will play special teams and could see carries in goal line and short yardage situation.
Recently in an NFL article on ESPN, they ranked the top 64 running backs and Ahmad Bradshaw was left off, yet Ward was ranked 58th, so maybe the Giants do like Ward.
Besides the Defensive line, what else helped propel the G-Men to their third all-time Super Bowl win? The answer is David Tyree, who could see some action although he is out until training camp.
Hopefully, the Giants will exercise loyalty and play him, because he made possibly the greatest play in sports history and also scored a touchdown in that quarter.
The Giants like a lot of these receivers, but really only four of them will play on a consistent basis. Plaxico Burress will be in there, everyone knows that. Plax is tough, big, physical and Eli's go-to guy.
Amani Toomer has been on the team since 1996 and is a tough-nosed receiver. He has lost a step but still provides veteran poise and leadership.
5 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Richard Sayre about 1 year ago
Not a bad break down but I'm not too sure about Tyree. There's a chance he might actually get cut from the team due to having too much depth at the position. I hope not, but we shall see.
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Stove Pipe about 1 year ago
I'm sure about Tyree, after having watched him at SU his whole collegiate career. He's a nice emergency receiver who consistently plays above his head and is a great special team player. He's really more of a the 4th or 5th receiver as well as special teams maven, kind of a modern day Phil McConkey. Much like Phil, they will always bring in guys to try and replace him. But also like Phil he always seems to play his way onto the roster by making big plays.
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john ferm about 1 year ago
solid piece. The jints are stacked on offense, and if they develop consistency, they could be a power/high scoring offense, much like the pats or colts. They have have one of the top O-lines in football (proven during 07 season and through the SB. The big ? is who ends up in our receiver corps. They will certainly not go into the season w/ the 11 they have currently: burress, toomer, smith, manningham, moss, tyree, hixon london, jennings, lowber and hall. burress, toomer, smith and manningham are locks. hixon has proven his return ability, but jennings and moss can both fill this role. I would love to see hixon catching passes, but he might be expendable. Lowber and London both long bodies w/ 1 year of experience, so they're like baby burresses w/ upside down the road (say hello to the practice squad for another year). The X factor here is Hall. he is a stud receiver who should have gone in the 3-4 round, broke about every receiving record at Alabama with a marginal QB in one of the toughest conferences in college ball. bottom line - he is clutch. I think he makes the squad and becomes this years bradshaw (in terms of risk /reward). Toomer is still performing well but he's 1-2 years from retirement, so they need to develop some of the younger talent. lastly, Tyree is def expendable...regardless of his SB heroics. I love the guy and he is a beast on ST, but it's a business, and the guy will be on crutches when these youngsters are laying it down to make the team.
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Michael Schlossberg about 1 year ago
yaa i agree about the WR's but I just hope that they keep Tyree he just deserves it, it would be a nice message to send in loyalty because without him they don't bring home the Lombardi trophy down the road from the Vince Lombardi truck stop...
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John Bishop about 1 year ago
I have my own projected rosters and position battles which I have to admit is much better than this. I have posted the Giants on gather here
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977378829
if you would like to check it out. Mine is position by position and is more up to date,and I have to say much easier to read. Hope you have a chance to check it out.
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