Really good interview with Banks on 660. He said he's been keying in on the LB'r in camp and had some insightful observations;
Greg Jones: Prefaced his comments by saying this has nothing to do with the Michigan connection but that Greg looks like he has great LB'r instincts. Does not waste even one step before moving to the ball. He sees the play developing and hits the hole immediately.
Dilliard: Said right now, he's "just a guy" and doesn't expect him to give Goff any competition at the MLB spot.
Kiwi: Said Kiwanuka has been penciled in as the starting SSLB but still has to develop LB'r instincts (mentioned LB'r instincts a few times with regards to Kiwi .) Said he was never used to moving backwards during College and that he has to continue to get comfortable doing so. He said that every single snap he wastes 1 or 2 steps before heading to the ball. He needs to improve his ability to diagnose plays at the LOS and start making the play. Said he is big and runs like a deer out there though.
Jacquian Williams: Said this kid is a freak. Looks like a young Derrick Thomas at LB'r. Still a "ball in tall grass" at this point (needs some time to develop.)
Banks said that the most impressive LB'r in camp so far to his eyes has been..........drum roll please........... Mr. Cint Sintim.
He said he has been playing great all camp. Playing with a purpose...like a man on a mission to start this season. He also said that he fully expects Sintim to give Kiwi a run for his money on that starting LBr spot before all is said and done.
I paraphrased all of this from memory. Please feel free to fill in anything missed.
It would mean great things about Sintim, and it would put Kiwi back in the DE rotation.
At the very least, this would give the Giants additional protection against a DE injury (assuming the Osi situation gets resolved).
Or is that just crazy talk?
great to here about sintim too ... the guy i'm watching closely this preseason is tracy
A future LB corp of Herzlich-Jones-Williams would be ideal if all three reach their potential.
Boley
Williams
Goff
Jones
Dillard
Sintim
Tracy
Herzlich
*Kiwi (he can be counted as either a LB or DE)
*DeOssie (I'm not counting him at all since he's just a Snapper at this point)
That leaves the Giants with 8 LBs, not counting Kiwi. In a 4-3, you usually keep one less LB than you would in a 3-4. The final number of LBs on roster in such a situation would be 7 or 8, but usually 7. It looks like one or maybe even 2 of those listed above won't be on the opening day roster.
Last year Tracy was in effect red-shirted when the Giants stashed him on IR. Herzlich may be a candidate for that this year just looking at how the numbers and game plays out in a logistical sense. The same may apply to Williams, but the Giants are super thing at Boley's WLB spot, even though technically in the Giants' system he's a SAM (whatever...).
Dillard looks like he might be a candidate to be outright cut, but that would leave Greg Jones as the primary backup at MLB for Goff, which isn't the smartest move to make because of the lack of classroom study time due to the lockout. Gonna be interesting to see how the roster shapes up come Final Cuts time with regard to the LBs.
I think it's a bit premature to bubble some guys, though Tracy was not so enthusiastically spoken about by TC whereas Paysinger (sp?) was.
MY UVA contact who knows the team well was extremely high on Sintim, so we'll see.
My hope is that Jacquian Williams is at least a ST beast to keep him on the roster and learn the LB position.
There are pratice players, and game day guys. He needs to do it on game day.
Greg Jones is the classic example of a player who embodies production over measurables as Tom Boisture used to say (paraphrasing here). Glad to hear Kirwin and Ryan be high on him. I haven't been listening to them as much as I used to due to school and all, but I have to catch up.
Once Osi is signed up for the season, the Giants can always say that Clint is playing exceptionally well, and decide to give Kiwi more time at Defensive End. The problem is that if we have 4 quality defensive ends, somebody like JPP, Kiwi or Osi could be unable to get as much playing time as they think they deserve. Kiwi will likely play linebacker at least on short yardage situations to increase Osi's playing time and Kiwi's playing time.
Paysinger was having a better camp than Dillard up until his injury.
What Banks said about Jones pretty much echoes my sentiments.. he just seems like a very NFL ready player. Not a freak athlete but his instincts are excellent and it should translate well to the pro level.
I don't think Boley is in any danger of losing his job. He's a good player.
Ingram, on the other hand.. I expect he'll be cut. Paysinger probably doesn't have much chance, either. I wouldn't really be shocked if they let Dillard go.
dorgan : 1:54 pm
what it takes to play the position, but analyzing performance in drills can be misleading. You have to see what happens when the shooting starts.
I will say that I like our chances of coming away with a few quality players from this group.
boley could be a surprise cut due to cap and items, age- lack of additional upside.
MLB- in certain pash rush schemes, with the MLB needing to run downhill anyway, there is no reason Kiwi or Sintim couldn't line up in the middle. what is being called 3rd down all bets are off stuff.
look for the team to keep young players in this unit as they look for longterm upsides.
Plax signed with the Jets, not us.
It seems that is the feeling on Herzlich from other reports that I read. It normally feels more like 'hey lets do this fluff piece first' and then they go on to focus on the other LBs that really impressed them.
The thing he said about Williams was great.
I don't think Kiwi should play like a traditional backer. He should be rushing in on most plays because that is what he is best at.