The New York Giants Minicamp: New Faces, Old-School Philosophy

In an era where spread offenses, wild cat formations, and fancy blitz schemes are dominating the NFL, the New York Giants have done it a different way—the Tom Coughlin way.

While not much is known if there will be any changes to the playbook this upcoming season, one thing is certain: Pounding defenses between the tackles will be a sure fire smash hit this fall.

In his five year tenure with the New York Giants, Coughlin has utilized his backfield to the fullest, allowing Eli Manning to play off the run, rather than the other way around. This formula has seen six running backs top the 1,000 mark, including both Derrick Ward and Brandon Jacobs last season.

With such a diverse backfield, the Giants should be able to enjoy a lot of success on offense this season.  

Because of the smash mouth football Jacobs can supply, and the speed and versatility of Bradshaw, New York should be able to change the tempo of the game at any point they want, and not have to worry about being taken out of their element.

With Danny Ware and rookie Andre Brown also available on the depth chart, New York can punish defenses inside, and then burn their battered bodies outside.

If the Giants can find the right packages for each back in their arsenal, then it wouldn’t be surprising to see New York have the best backfield in the NFL.

Perhaps the most intriguing void the Giants need to fill will be to find which one of their running backs can help out Manning in the passing game. Departed Derrick Ward led the Giants backfield last season with 41 receptions, dwarfing Jacobs’s total of six.

If there are going to be any changes in the offensive playbook, look for it to involve more passes to the running backs, whoever it might be.

While Giants fans anticipate an exciting season from the young talent at the receiver position, don’t be surprised to see a run-heavy offense, Coughlin style.

As for the Giants defense, rookie defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan has no immediate plans of changing the schemes that has worked for them over the past few years. Although Sheridan will keep the defense as-is, he has admitted to making some “wrinkles” in system currently in place.

“When you get into zone dogs you have down guys dropping out, and you are never going to get away from that.  But as much as we can, we are going to try to orchestrate it where we have the pass rushers rushing, as much as we possibly can.”

Sheridan went on to explain that this approach will be different from the one his predecessor used. Last season, Spagnuolo dropped some of his pass rushers into coverage, and let the others chase the passer, but this season Sheridan will try to bring the house as much as possible.

The new defensive coordinator also explained the importance of the return of defensive end Osi Umenyiora. With Osi back on the depth chart, the Giants can keep Mathias Kiwanuka at end and move Justin Tuck around the field to create mismatches on certain lineman.

The addition of linebacker Michael Boley will also impact the defense greatly. Because of his ability to play the run and the pass, Boley can and will be a three-down linebacker.

With the exception of Antonio Pierce, the Giants do not have any linebacker who has the ability to produce on every down. Sheridan will not need to continuously sub players in and out to match up for run and pass downs. This gives New York much needed support at the linebacker position, something they haven’t had the past couple of years.

Although the Giants are littered with new personnel on both sides of the ball, the way they will go about this season will be the same old business-as-usual model they have dominated with over the past few years.