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Summary of Comments on TEs by TC, Ross, Reese

Eric from BBI : Admin : 5/11/2014 3:44 pm
REESE:

Q: You didnt draft a tight end, are you set with what you have there?

A: Were always going to keep looking for players, but again, I said this a couple times already, we have a couple tight ends, young guys, who we want to stay healthy and weve tried to develop and its time for those guys to get out there and help us.

Q: Youre always keeping your options open but would you be content with the guys that are there now?

A: In personnel, sometimes you cant get everything. You cant just waive a magic wand and a tight end will show up. Weve had tight ends that weve been able to develop in the past. Again, we go way back to the kid, (Kevin) Boss. You can go back to Boss, hes coming from a tiny school, Western Oregon or something like that. Did anybody think this kid was going to be starting in the Super Bowl his rookie year and make some plays? You have to put them out there and you have to develop guys at some point. It would be great if you could have guys ready-made that could come in and just line up and be fantastic blockers and fantastic receivers but sometimes it doesnt work that way. Whatever the skill set is, youve got to bring them in and work to their skill set and you have to play the hand youre dealt and win with it. Thats just part of the business.

Q: How much did not getting a tight end at all in the draft have to do with the actual tight end class that was coming out this year? Maybe it wasnt as strong.

A: That probably has something to do with it. It just didnt fall our way for a tight end. If there was a tight end that we liked in our window, we would have picked him but it just didnt fall our way this time in the draft.

ROSS:

Q: You did not get a tight end in the draft. How much of the decision to not pick a tight end was the class not being as talented as in the past years?

A: We need a tight end or we need this or we need that. You get seven picks, and you cant take everything you need. You cant have first round picks at every pick that you want and things that you think you need. The tight end position wasnt a class we felt was very strong. Even with a couple of the guys there are things that to the outside eye you dont know about some of these guys that devalue them even more. For us we are comfortable with the players we took in our spots and we werent going to force any players or overvalue anybody or push them up because people may think we need a tight end. It is just not the way we operate. We take the best player and the window where we had those players we took the guys who we felt were the best.

COUGHLIN:

Q: At the league meeting, you talked about the tight end position and said that you need to do some work there. Since that time I think you added one guy, Kellen Davis. Are you concerned at all with that position? Is that still a worry moving forward at all or do you feel confident with what you have?

A: I will say this, it is worrisome when you look at the draft and like, for example, you go to the combine and you see all these numbers at all these different positions and then the tight end numbers are (not there). Thats a little bit scary. Where are those guys? Where did they go? What are they doing? Are they playing defensive end? What are they doing right now?

Q: I assume that was a big part of the reason that you guys werent able to draft one?

A: Well, there were some quality positions there, dont get me wrong. It has to work out for you and all of a sudden, bang, a couple guys were gone in that second round and you say, wait a minute, how deep is that position and then who? Two of them are gone. Yeah its a concern, its a concern in a lot of ways but weve got, as has been said, weve got a couple young guys here that, Fellas, if you cant see your way to the field now

Q: Coming in, did you think that in the second round that you could possibly get a guy there?

A: I wouldnt say that that ended up being the way that it paired out for us in terms of just the guys that we were talking about. It just didnt fall that way. We would have had to do some other things to get him in that spot.

Q: We obviously dont know Ben McAdoos offense yet, how critical is the tight end spot?

A: If you look at the different styles around the league, tell me one that doesnt feature a tight end that either is used more on the pass than the run or the other way around. Our guys are still blockers and kind of Supermen kind of people. They have to block, they have to be able to release off the line, they have to catch the football, they have to be people that youre looking for in that green zone area, get the ball up high.

Q: At this point, would you consider singing another guy, somebody like Jermichael Finley, who has yet to be cleared?

A: We have to, well be doing some more. Thats not enough numbers for camp. We need some numbers, yeah. I hope we can find some numbers, to be honest.

Q: If you stand pat, how much pressure would that put on a guy like Adrien Robinson? This is his third year now.

A: Adrien is very sharp and is able to count. Hes on the field with four guys. And hes handles everything very well to this point.
Giants Draft Andre Williams, Nat Berhe, Devon Kennard, Bennett Jackson - ( New Window )
Kellen Davis  
Sneakers O'toole : 5/11/2014 3:54 pm : link
I forgot we got that guy too.
and  
Eric from BBI : Admin : 5/11/2014 3:59 pm : link
Daniel Fells.
Sounds a lot to me like..  
NYGiants89 : 5/11/2014 4:03 pm : link
ASJ was their guy they liked in round two, from Coughlin's comments in particular. Referred to him as that guy and also mentioned that they might have had a tier for Tight Ends with Ebron and ASJ No. 1 and 2.
NYGiants89  
Eric from BBI : Admin : 5/11/2014 4:07 pm : link
sounds like that had someone in mind.

Might have worked out better...no OL in first two rounds could have been a bad thing.
...  
Eric from BBI : Admin : 5/11/2014 4:07 pm : link
they
Ross  
AcidTest : 5/11/2014 4:08 pm : link
seemed pissed at the question.

Marc, we get that you're not going to take a TE just to take a TE. We get it, and we agree with, or at least understand it. But that isn't the issue. The issue is why you let the position get to this wretched state. Maybe it gets better. Maybe Davis or Robinson show something. But that certainly isn't a given. And right now it's pretty fucking bad. Grimble, a rookie UDFA, might be the second best TE on the roster right now.
I understand that we couldn't improve all of our biggest needs  
Ira : 5/11/2014 4:10 pm : link
with three day 1 & 2 picks. I do feel we did well in free agency and in the draft. I'll just feel much better about this team if the front office finds a way to upgrade tight end and gets a good backup offensive tackle who could start if necessary.
Executive summary: Draft not deep in TEs and 'it didn't fall our way'  
Marty in Albany : 5/11/2014 4:16 pm : link
.
Reese sounds  
muhajir : 5/11/2014 4:38 pm : link
like he wants Coughlin to get the young Te's on the field.
reese wanted coughlin to get brewer on the field too  
GiantsFan84 : 5/11/2014 5:06 pm : link
we saw how well that worked out
Of course they're right  
RetroJint : 5/11/2014 5:47 pm : link
Sometimes the rounds don't play out for you the way you need to get your guy. As for the current group of tight ends, to summarize
Coughlin: Essentially plaintive, almost begging Robinson to seize the opportunity. Gravely concerned nonetheless.
Ross: Ornery about the subject. Reflexively defensive about the process.
Reese: Optimistic or is that whistling past the cemetery?
Liked Coach's line about the need for an accomplished TE in this system :
"Show me one in the league that doesn't ."
So, they've got an athletic guy that's been  
Gman11 : 5/11/2014 6:25 pm : link
in the system for 3 years now. A guy that a lot of people wanted to see more of at the start of the year (and a couple of guys with some NHL experience) and people are bitching because they didn't pick up a TE in the 5th or 6th round like they would have been a savior at the position.

I'm not sure what's worse, all the stupid mock drafts or all the stupid analysis after it.
Maybe Ebron  
TMS : 5/11/2014 6:30 pm : link
was who we really wanted after all. Thats why we did not take anyone else.
Big problem. Kudos to these reporters for digging there  
Jimmy Googs : 5/11/2014 6:40 pm : link
with their questions where they smell blood (but still being tactful).

I would be shocked if Giants don't add another Free Agent Tight End. Just not certain if its best to do prior to camp or at the end of pre-season cuts.
I think their draft plan was  
ZogZerg : 5/11/2014 6:43 pm : link
1. Beckham no matter what
2. Best OL they could get
3. TE, if one of the guys they liked was there (probably one of the 4 drafted before them in the 2nd and 3rd rounds). Since they couldn't go TE, they needed a pick. Probably planning to take the DT in the 4th round, but maybe no one else was worth a high 3rd to them so they took the DT.

It seems like Giants slotted guys this year. I'm thinking they planned on taking the safety in the 5th round as well. So, they end up with a stud RB instead of a TE.

Really, who was out there you wanted them to take  
BillT : 5/11/2014 6:46 pm : link
Ebron instead of Beckham? One of the 2nd round guys instead of the center? Not everything has worked out how they'd like mostly due to injury (remember they had young starting TEs for both SB teams that were gone because of injury) and a draft choice they like who has been slow to develop because of injury. What should they have done? Give some realistic options.
I had a hard time  
Sy'56 : 5/11/2014 7:12 pm : link
watching NYG pass on Niklas in round 2.
So no OL at all in this draft Sy?  
BillT : 5/11/2014 7:42 pm : link
Or certainly none that could be expected to start this year. Wow, that would have gone over well.
BillT  
Sy'56 : 5/11/2014 7:48 pm : link
Travis Swanson in round 3. Cyril Richardson in round 5.

I will discuss it depth once my draft overview is completed. Hoping for Tuesday.
I think Eli has got a lot on his plate this year...  
Jimmy Googs : 5/11/2014 7:58 pm : link
on top of rehabbing from the injury, he is walking into a totally new offense and OC; several new O-lineman including a new man under Center; a new starting RB, and a new starting Tight End (TBD). And he has to improve and develop his game rapport with outside WR Randle and begin a new one with Beckham.

Well, at least he makes like $20 million/year...
RE: BillT  
Reb8thVA : 5/11/2014 8:07 pm : link
In comment 11672417 Sy'56 said:
Quote:
Travis Swanson in round 3. Cyril Richardson in round 5.

I will discuss it depth once my draft overview is completed. Hoping for Tuesday.


Taking a hybrid S/LB, especially after drafting Taylor last year, while Richardson was still on the board really steamed me.
Couple of things  
Mike in NY : 5/11/2014 8:15 pm : link
1) Richardson is not a scheme fit. The pick of Richburg indicates that the Giants want interior OL who could pull

2) Nat Berhe is not a hybrid S/LB like Cooper Taylor. Berhe is more of a FS/SS hybrid in the Will Hill mold and is insurance in case Hill misses this season. Let's not forget that Rolle is a FA soon
Mike in NY  
Sy'56 : 5/11/2014 8:20 pm : link
Why do you think Richardson is not a scheme fit? Just curious.
Sy  
Mike in NY : 5/11/2014 8:29 pm : link
When I went back and looked at tape, there were a lot of times where it looked to me like he was playing in concrete. With his size he could outmass the DT opposite him so Baylor just used him going forward. Weston Richburg and J.D. Walton are more mobile OL and while Schwartz is more of a power guy, be did play on the move in Andy Reid's scheme
Understood  
Sy'56 : 5/11/2014 8:35 pm : link
Richardson's main weakness is that he doesn't always keep his feet chopping once he is engaged. He tries to hard to out-muscle guys with his hands and upper body. But I don't see it as a capability thing. He was asked to pull A TON at Baylor and he did it quite effectively. In addition...he played more snaps, sometimes even twice as many, as some OL throughout a game because of Baylor's fast paced attack. So I think you saw flashes of him being overly fatigued.

Richardson's game has some warts, but he is quick enough to play in a fast offense that demands lateral movement.
I mentioned before TE position is not  
prdave73 : 5/12/2014 2:38 am : link
area the Giants utilize much in the past, but we don't know going forward with McAdoo's plans.
Wow...  
Eric from BBI : Admin : 5/12/2014 8:17 am : link
NFLN said this morning only 10 tight ends were drafted.
Is it ideal not having a half decent receving TE?  
Big_Blue_Wrecking_Crew : 5/12/2014 8:46 am : link
No. But you can win with a good group of WRs which we seem to have. Plus maybe we see a trade or sign Finley.
RE: reese wanted coughlin to get brewer on the field too  
Ten Ton Hammer : 5/12/2014 8:51 am : link
In comment 11672137 GiantsFan84 said:
Quote:
we saw how well that worked out


Instead of redshirting Brewer for 3 years, they could have seen what they had way earlier than this.
RE: Wow...  
Mike in NY : 5/12/2014 8:53 am : link
In comment 11672998 Eric from BBI said:
Quote:
NFLN said this morning only 10 tight ends were drafted.


I guess teams realized that once you got past the TE's that went on Days 1 & 2 there was comparable talent as UDFA to the guys that were being drafted so teams went in other directions
Brewer looks good getting off the bus and that's about it  
gtt350 : 5/12/2014 9:20 am : link
.
TEs outside the box  
Colin@gbn : 5/12/2014 9:21 am : link
Morning guys: Anything new lately!! Very curious dealings with the TE position as it appears the Giants don't have any proven players at all at the position. One is tempted to accuse them of blundering, but say what you want about this organization, its a pretty professional group that just doesn't blunder very often. Indeed, the MO in the past has simply been to sign a very free agent (Bennett, Myers) to replace a departed free agent and it would have been very easy to do so this off-season. Certainly they had the cap space and have been hardly shy about signing vet FAs at other positions. It also would have been somewhat out of character for the organization to have gone to the draft looking for a starter at the position. As a couple of the posts noted this morning I am wondering if the Giants may be thinking of going in a completely different direction.

Certainly there is no rule in the NFL that you have to have a TE (you can look it up). In fact, the TE became extinct in the CFL over a decade ago, and one reason that there are so few quality TEs coming out of the college ranks these days is that so few college teams actually use a traditional TE. The TEs they do use are increasingly the big WR types in the mold of Ebron and Amaro.

And if I channel my inner Ben McAdoo I might start to think that if I already have one of the leagues best slot receivers in Victor, and a second guy who showed a ton of promise late in the season in Jernigan, maybe I think about using two slots as part of my base offense. (Whether this is what McAdoo and the Giants are actually thinking or not, I'll bet anyone a year's subscription to the GBN that if Bill Belichek had the Giants personnel up in the New England that that is what he'd be thinking!)

Obviously, that would be a huge philosophical change for the Giants. And I'm still having some difficulty reconciling where Tom Coughlin is on the buy. When interviewed TC is still talking what he's always talked - balance and the desire to have a power running game etc., but then you listen to the players talk about stuff they are actually running - Victor lining up in the backfield, up-tempo, no-huddle etc - and the two are almost mutually exclusive.

What I have heard from McAdoo though sounds like a huge sea change from the old Coughlin philosophy. Rather than 'we do what we do because that what we do' McAdoo appears to come from a school where the basic philosophy is to get as many playmakers on the field and put them in a position to make plays and put pressure on the defense. And one can just imagine the kind of pressure opposing defenses might feel if the Giants come out with Randle and Beckham wide and Cruz and JJ in the slots. First you have to have 4 corners just to match up; and then you'd probably have put a couple of safeties over the top, otherwise the Giants could just keep dumping it off and forcing the CBs to make tackle after tackle - remember Victor, JJ, Randle and Beckham were all kick returners in college and are pretty good after the catch.

You want to still run the ball. I've got fewer blockers, but now the defense has only 5 guys in the box to defend the run whereas in the old days they used to have anywhere from 7-9. And I have my 230-pound back with the ability to break a tackle (who cares if he can't catch) and turn a 4-yard gain into 15 And that doesn't even factor Wilson in the mix if he ever gets healthy.

We can only dream. Stay tuned. Could be fun!!!

TE or TE that is the question  
bc4life : 5/12/2014 9:40 am : link
But, what do you want from your TE. First, the Giants TE has to be able to block. Once they can get that done, they have to function as a receiver - 40-50 catches, some dump-offs and seam routes would be the norm. In order to do that they would only need to catch about 2 passes per game and have a few games where do more than that. Between Davis and the youngsters I think they can get that done.

Kellen Davis is a better blocking TE than they had last year at any  
Ten Ton Hammer : 5/12/2014 9:46 am : link
point, but I'm confident he can't catch. He's got Brandon Jacobs hands.

There has to be some mix of Fells, Donnell, and Robinson that can give you production. Robinson's problem isn't ability. It's never getting on field because he's always hurt.
Don't rule out Grimble  
bc4life : 5/12/2014 9:47 am : link
Underachieved in college, but, coming from USC he'll be more pro ready than guys like Robinson. And, he'll need to stay healthy.
Wow  
D HOS : 5/12/2014 10:00 am : link
I had been wondering if the Giants were to take Ebron if that signaled a new school offense with a new school TE. If they were to take Niklas or Lynch for example, if that signals ties back to a traditional offense or at least TE role and run game. But to take no TE as a possible signal that they might be so avant garde that they don't really even need one? That's a new thought for me.
From another thread: Grimble  
lono801 : 5/12/2014 10:10 am : link
Not saying he is the answer...

But one report said ' He needs more glass in his diet'

I'm not sure what that means...I have read and heard a lot of football cliches before....but never heard this one.

Does that mean tough guys eat glass?

I associate glass with a glass chin or he is a china doll....

I,like the way he catches the ball tho
Sounds like  
PeterS : 5/12/2014 11:10 am : link
they're hoping on Robinson and Donnell but Fells and Davis are insurance.

If Robinson can become the JPP of TE's ON the field we'll be in superb shape. If not we'll continue to be mired in mediocrity.
I am beginning to miss...  
manh george : 5/12/2014 11:30 am : link
Bear Pascoe already. He sucked, but at least you could have reasonable expectations that he was going to suck, unlike all of this uncertainty.
mmm  
sphinx : 5/13/2014 10:20 am : link
Art Stapleton ‏@art_stapleton 7m
In case you were wondering, a look at combined receptions for Green Bay Packers tight ends: 57 (2013), 76 (2012), 66 (2011), 57 (2010)

They had a lot of needs  
steve in ky : 5/13/2014 10:26 am : link
Fill one and that is one spot less to fill another. There will be players released prior to the start of the season and there is the likelihood the Giants add someone then if their young TE's don't impress to that point.
You want to know how weak the TE class was this year?  
Milton : 5/13/2014 10:52 am : link
The Giants had Blake Bortles as the 5th highest rated TE on their board!
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