Key Takeaways from NY Giants GM Jerry Reese's 2015 Training Camp Presser
It wouldn’t be training camp without an appearance from New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese, who every year provides an overview of where the team is in terms of its collective “health.”
As in years past, Reese exuded positive vibes, consistently professing his confidence in the roster he and his staff put together, one that ownership is hoping can put an end to the three-year playoff drought that has begun to tarnish the respective legacies of Reese and head coach, Tom Coughlin.
Although Reese is typically guarded with what information he disseminates to the media—he held true to his practice of not discussing any player contracts such as what’s ongoing with quarterback Eli Manning—and with selected topics such as defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, there were still enough nuggets to provide a detailed insight into the state of the team.
Let’s run down those key takeaways and see what they mean in terms of the overall picture.
They’re Going to Be Okay at Defensive End
1 of 6
What He Said
"When you have an injury, somebody can step out of the shadows and do something great. It’s a great opportunity for some more guys at that position to step out of the shadows and do that.
"There’s some guys that have been around for a while—Damontre Moore is a guy that sticks out in my mind, Kerry Wynn. We’ve got some other guys, we drafted Owa [Odighizuwa]. There’s some more guys at that position that we like and think can help shore up that position for us."
What It Means
Regardless of how anyone feels about the foolish set of circumstances that led to Jason Pierre-Paul suffering serious burns and the loss of his right index finger, the Giants are facing the start of the 2015 NFL season without their most complete defensive end.
Last year, returning Giants defensive ends Robert Ayers, Kerry Wynn and Damontre Moore combined for 12.0 sacks, one-half less than Pierre-Paul's 12.5 sacks.
Ayers and Moore also had their share of struggles against the run, with Moore, a third-round pick only taking 90 run-game snaps out of the 326 he received.
When a team doesn’t have a complete defensive end, e.g. one who can play the run and the pass equally well, that’s a problem.
Perhaps this might be the year one of the defensive ends on the roster “steps out of the shadows” as Reese likes to say.
If not, it could be a long season for the defense.
They Have High Hopes for the Defense
2 of 6
What He Said
“I think we’ll be really good defensively. I think we’re going to surprise people. I do think our defense is going to be a better unit than it was last year. I’m excited to see them out there playing.”
What It Means
With the defense finishing 29th last season, certainly there is no place to go but up. However, if Reese is banking on defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to work the same magic that he did in 2007 and 2008, it might just be a good idea to pump the brakes on that a little bit.
By now, everyone knows what the question marks are—the inexperienced safeties, the starting defensive ends and linebacker Jon Beason’s health.
On paper, they certainly have the ability to be a top defensive unit, but then again, the same argument could probably have been made last year until injuries literally forced former defensive coordinator Perry Fewell into a conservative shell.
It’s okay to have high expectations and to put that on the defense—Beason, the unit’s leader, told me he enjoys being challenged because he thinks it brings out the best in him.
However, just as the offense took some time to come together last season in its first year under a new coordinator, it would be foolish not to expect the defense to turn into a multi-year project while some of these newer and more inexperienced parts begin to jell.
They Don't Feel Any Extra Pressure Than Usual to Win
3 of 6
What He Said
"In the National Football League, every year is a win-or-else season in the National Football League. That never changes, either."
What It Means
While Reese is correct, that the goal every year is to win, the fact is that the last three seasons, the Giants have gone backwards as a team.
This is a team that, in 2011, won the Super Bowl coming off a 9-7 record. After posting a similar record in 2012, a year in which they didn’t make the postseason, the annual won-loss record continued to regress, falling to 7-9 in 2013 and then 6-10 last season.
That’s not progress—that’s not even holding steady. That’s deterioration that needs to stop, regardless of the factors causing it.
Yes, it hasn’t helped that the Giants have been the most injured team in the NFL during those two seasons. However, the front office needs to take its share of the blame for its poor drafting that has left certain positions bare in terms of depth, such as the offensive line, linebacker and cornerback.
The Giants appear to have a set formula for how they build their roster, a formula that for whatever reason just isn’t yielding the desired results and that doesn’t hold up to the challenges brought on by injuries.
So yes, the “win or else” proposition doesn’t change from year to year, but perhaps it needs to change this year, especially where the personnel decision makers are concerned.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
WR Victor Cruz Still Isn’t 100 Percent
4 of 6
What He Said
"It’s a long way back, [Victor Cruz] had a big injury. I still don’t think he’s 100 percent back but I think he’s close. We’ll continue to take him slow."
What It Means
Despite the fact that Victor Cruz passed his physical and has seen snaps with the offense and looked good, Reese said that Cruz is still not at 100 percent back from a torn patellar tendon injury suffered last October.
It’s easy to understand Reese’s trepidation about Cruz, whom he also said would be limited early on. To date, Cruz has worked mostly against air, meaning he hasn’t really gone against live competition. He has also worked primarily on grass fields, which of course is a more forgiving surface than field turf.
In addition, by Cruz’s own admission, he has yet to try to work in full football gear, the weight of which puts additional stress on the body and changes the dynamics of how the body moves and reacts when making sudden movements.
“You can run hundreds [and] you can run sprints all the time but when you have pads on, you are running routes, you are stopping, you are starting, you are sprinting and you’re going, so that is a little bit different endurance that plays a part when you are out there on the field so I still have to develop that little by little and take it one day at a time,” Cruz said earlier in the camp.
That’s why it makes all the sense in the world for the Giants to continue to bring Cruz along slowly, something with which the receiver is fully on board.
“Yeah, I expect it to be incremental, kind of start off slow and then build as my progression goes and build from there so we will see.”
They Like What They Have on the Offensive Line
5 of 6
What He Said
"We’re going to get Will Beatty back at some point, hopefully, maybe in October. ... He’s working hard trying to get back.
"We drafted Ereck Flowers, obviously. He’s working hard out there at left tackle. We got a couple young veterans that we’ve drafted lately, and a couple older guys that we have in our offensive line.
"There’s some guys behind them, as well, competing for some positions. I think we’ll have enough to get us through and play well up front."
What It Means
Okay, realistically speaking, what was Reese supposed to say here? (And for the record, I was the one who asked the question.)
However, Reese’s sentiments might simply be a matter of approaching things with the “glass half full” approach. It was Reese, after all, who chose to sign Marshall Newhouse, a journeyman offensive tackle who per Pro Football Focus, hasn’t graded out very well in any facet of the game in the last several seasons.
It was Reese’s decision to draft two rookies in the first and seventh rounds of the draft, Ereck Flowers and Bobby Hart respectively, with an eye toward the future that suddenly is now thanks to the pectoral muscle injury suffered by Will Beatty.
And it was Reese who kept bringing up Beatty’s name during his presser so many times that it was surprising a healthy Beatty didn’t suddenly appear out of nowhere like Beetlejuice.
The bottom line is that the Giants are still an injury away, particularly at offensive tackle, from this unit morphing into a complete disaster, so much so that Reese admitted that if they had to, they could always move Justin Pugh back from left guard to tackle in a pinch.
It might not even take an injury for the Giants offensive line to be thrust into a state of disaster, not unless Newhouse proves that he is much better than what he showed the last few years.
So far, that’s been an iffy proposition, as Newhouse appears to have gotten out of the gate slowly and has probably been the clear winner among the starting offensive linemen who have been beaten.
A look at his penalty report from 2011 through 2014 (via NFL Game Statistics and Information Systems) revealed that Newhouse has been penalized 19 times over that period, with four games in which he was penalized multiple times in one game.
His most common infractions?
Holding and false starts.
The defense rests.
They're Not Really a Fan of Advanced Analytics
6 of 6
What He Said
"Everybody is trying to implement the analytics part of evaluating players, but here with us, we evaluate guys with our eyes. ... Analytics play a role, we try to look at it, but the number one thing we use here is our eyes. Our eyes tell the story; believe what you see."
What It Means
While Reese is correct in not relying on advanced analytics as the be-all, end-all measuring stick for evaluating talent, solely relying on the eyeball test shouldn't be the lone evaluation method either.
Just look at the team's track record with the middle to late rounds of the draft from 2010-2012; it's hard not to wonder if advanced analytics might have made a difference in helping the scouts identify football players from athletes.
Advanced analytics via Pro Football Focus unless otherwise noted.
Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information were obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
